Is everything ok?

[dutman]

I have a 23L carboy/demijohn with my first attempt at wine in there at the moment. It's a kit wine, and spent 8 day in a fermenting bucket before siphoning to carboy. Since being in the carboy there have been very few bubbles, just a few small ones sat on top.......Is this normal? The cap on my carboy doesn't seem to be airtight as I have nothing going through my airlock.......Will this affect my brew?
Cheers

 

[RobWalker]

is there pressure in there? there's usually a foam, it can be very very minimal though. providing it doesnt look just like flat grape juice - one colour, no texture or bubbles whatsoever, it's probably done something. does it smell of alcoholic wine or sweet fruit? best way to see what's going on is to take a sample and measure the gravity with a hydrometer.

it's fine to ferment when it's not under airlock most of the time, but not desirable - you will want it under airlock when it slows down and stops because it's at risk of infection or oxidization after that.

 

[dutman]

Not sure there's pressure in there..........It did foam up in the fermenting bucket but then instructions say to siphon into carboy. There are a few bubbles on the top, but not many. It certainly smells like fermenting wine. I will take a gravity this evening, and invest in a proper bung rather than the cap that was sold to me............It's only been in the carboy for 2/3 days......

Thanks

 

[RobWalker]

Never a bad thing. you will be amazed at how many you end up needing! You will have to excuse us a bit, as this forum is UK based and we tend to say demi john, fermenting vessel or bucket, keg etc. :p

Did the kit tell you to add any chemicals when transferring? It seems a strange step to me unless its to get it off the **** at the bottom. Kit instructions are dummy proof, but its entirely fine to ferment it from the start down to dry in the first vessel, bucket or otherwise, and move into a secondary for clearing, stabilizing, sweetening etc after that.

But it sounds fine to me anyway, no major hiccups so don't worry.

 

[SloeBrewer]

It sounds like your main fermentation is over, in that case. Kit wines ferment out pretty fast. The best thing to do is take a hydrometer reading, that will give you an idea of how far along the fermentation is, or if it has in fact stopped.

 

[dutman]

Thanks guys.......I'm UK too, but bought it as a 'carboy' and just got used to calling it a carboy...........I believe the transferring was to get the wine off the ****, but I won't bother with that step next time.......
Gravity was down from 1082 to 1008 at the transfer stage, and should now (according to kit instructions) continue to ferment for another 14 days until gravity reaches 0995. If it's down to 0995 now, do I start degassing or leave a little longer? It's only been fermenting for about 11 days in total.

Thanks again for your help......newbie to wine brewing and quite new to all brewing.

 

[dutman]

Oooh forgot to say......No chemicals added at transferring stage......

 

[SloeBrewer]

It should be down to 0.995 or thereabouts, you degas before adding the stabiliser.

Which kit is it? The instructions in the California Connoisseur are really good, but I've not done any other kits.

 

[dutman]

Just taken gravity reading and it's 0994..............time to degas?

 

[SloeBrewer]

Sounds about right for degassing and stabilising :thumb: