I have made a few batches of beer and want to try a wine. I'm a
little confused about the procedure. It appear that it is recommeded
to top off in the secondary, why? Is wine that much more sensitive to
oxidation than beer? The few books I looked at all seem to guess when
fermentatiopn is done, cannot you use a stable SG as a sign that it is
done? Look forward to your insights.

Rich,
A good wine takes more than a couple of months to age well, after
fermentation is complete, as compared to beer which may only take 2-3
weeks( depending on if you 're making a lager or ale).
O2 can really affect the color, taste, and feel of both beer and wine, but
the length of aging required for wine makes it a target for oxidization
problems which is why it needs to be topped up.

Hope that explains it a little


--
Roger & Lynda

"Rich" > wrote in message
om...
> I have made a few batches of beer and want to try a wine. I'm a
> little confused about the procedure. It appear that it is recommeded
> to top off in the secondary, why? Is wine that much more sensitive to
> oxidation than beer? The few books I looked at all seem to guess when
> fermentatiopn is done, cannot you use a stable SG as a sign that it is
> done? Look forward to your insights.

Wine is different than making beer. With wine, you'll have that first very
visible fermentation in your primary. If you have a hydrometer, you'll be
able to tell when your wine has fermented to dry - your reading will be 0 or
below (which can take 1-2 weeks depending on the yeast and the temperature).
But if you're like me, who likes a semi-sweet wine, and you want some sugar
left in the wine, then there's always a chance that one yeastie-beastie will
use that sugar to start things again. After the initial ferment is over, I
put my wine into a secondary for up to 7 months (racking as needed). I've
had wines, which I thought were done, restart again in the secondary, and
after bottling (popped corks and a mess). I now stabilize my wines. As
Roger pointed out, beer can be done in 2-3 weeks, but wine can take months
and then years to age, so oxidation is a greater concern when making wine.
Hope this helps.
Darlene

"Rich" > wrote in message
om...
> I have made a few batches of beer and want to try a wine. I'm a
> little confused about the procedure. It appear that it is recommeded
> to top off in the secondary, why? Is wine that much more sensitive to
> oxidation than beer? The few books I looked at all seem to guess when
> fermentatiopn is done, cannot you use a stable SG as a sign that it is
> done? Look forward to your insights.

"Rich" > wrote in message
om...
> The few books I looked at all seem to guess when
> fermentatiopn is done, cannot you use a stable SG as a sign that it is
> done?
No, because a stable SG just means that the yeast are not fermenting
anymore. This can have a number of causes, one of which is that there is no
sugar left, which is obviously the most desirable one.
Also, once there is only a small amount of sugar left, it is almost
impossible to detect changes in sugar level by SG measurements. If any sugar
is left, spoilage bacteria can rapidly convert even the smallest amount of
sugar into some fairly unpleasant flavours. Unfortunately, expensive
enzymatic or HPLC methods are the only sure way of telling there is no sugar
left. But you can go a fair way using Clinitest or some chemical methods.

Cheers,

Andrew

Yes you can use a stable SG as a good indicator that the wine is done. That
is if the SG is low enough. If the SG is 0.992 and not changing and no
bubbles given off you can be pretty sure that the wine is done. If the SG
is 1.005 or even 0.999 and no bubbles are coming off, it may be stopped but
you can not be sure it will not start up again as there is still sugar in
it. You should stabilize the wine. In both cases the SG helps you decide
what to do.

Ray

"Roger" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
> Rich,
> A good wine takes more than a couple of months to age well, after
> fermentation is complete, as compared to beer which may only take 2-3
> weeks( depending on if you 're making a lager or ale).
> O2 can really affect the color, taste, and feel of both beer and wine, but
> the length of aging required for wine makes it a target for oxidization
> problems which is why it needs to be topped up.
>
> Hope that explains it a little
>
>
> --
> Roger & Lynda
>
> "Rich" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I have made a few batches of beer and want to try a wine. I'm a
> > little confused about the procedure. It appear that it is recommeded
> > to top off in the secondary, why? Is wine that much more sensitive to
> > oxidation than beer? The few books I looked at all seem to guess when
> > fermentatiopn is done, cannot you use a stable SG as a sign that it is
> > done? Look forward to your insights.
>
>