I started the Brew King International Series Australian Cabernet 6 days ago.
The initial SG reading was 1.11. Last night I measured it for the first
time and it was 1.04. It's still fermenting, though quite slowly as I am
fermenting it at the lower end of the suggested range.

Right after measuring I dropped the hydrometer and now its gone. It could
easily take me a couple of weeks to get another. It's a busy season. The
truly embarassing thing is that this is the second one I've lost in the last
couple of months.

I'd like to ferment it down to about 1.00 before racking.

My guess based on what I've seen so far is that I should give it a couple of
more days and go ahead and rack it. Does this seem about right to you?

Dave

FWIW, I like to rack before it gets too close to 1.00 or less.. Towards the
end of the ferment, less and less CO2 is getting produced, which makes the
wine more vulnerable. The CO2 wards off nasties and protects the wine.
Racking a bit early is usually the way to go. I determine when to rack by
the amount of CO2 coming off the wine, not by the SG, anyways. If your
primary has a bit of airspace on the top, you should definately avoid
letting it get down to 1.00 before racking it into a regular topped-up
carboy.

LG

>I started the Brew King International Series Australian Cabernet 6 days ago.
>The initial SG reading was 1.11. Last night I measured it for the first
>time and it was 1.04. It's still fermenting, though quite slowly as I am
>fermenting it at the lower end of the suggested range.
>
>Right after measuring I dropped the hydrometer and now its gone. It could
>easily take me a couple of weeks to get another. It's a busy season. The
>truly embarassing thing is that this is the second one I've lost in the last
>couple of months.
>
>I'd like to ferment it down to about 1.00 before racking.
>
>My guess based on what I've seen so far is that I should give it a couple of
>more days and go ahead and rack it. Does this seem about right to you?
>
>Dave
>

I concur, unless it's already in a carboy and can be sealed well with
an airlock. If that's the case, I would wait another few days until
you started to get a lot of sludge (the yeast falling out of
suspension) and then rack. I always found with these kits that the
majority of the yeast would seem to fall out in a 24-hour period and
immediately after that happens is a great time to rack. But as you
pointed out LG, if the wine is still in an open fermenter that can't
be well sealed, you're safer racking it right now.

Richard

LG > wrote in message >. ..
> FWIW, I like to rack before it gets too close to 1.00 or less.. Towards the
> end of the ferment, less and less CO2 is getting produced, which makes the
> wine more vulnerable. The CO2 wards off nasties and protects the wine.
> Racking a bit early is usually the way to go. I determine when to rack by
> the amount of CO2 coming off the wine, not by the SG, anyways. If your
> primary has a bit of airspace on the top, you should definately avoid
> letting it get down to 1.00 before racking it into a regular topped-up
> carboy.
>
> LG
>
> >I started the Brew King International Series Australian Cabernet 6 days ago.
> >The initial SG reading was 1.11. Last night I measured it for the first
> >time and it was 1.04. It's still fermenting, though quite slowly as I am
> >fermenting it at the lower end of the suggested range.
> >
> >Right after measuring I dropped the hydrometer and now its gone. It could
> >easily take me a couple of weeks to get another. It's a busy season. The
> >truly embarassing thing is that this is the second one I've lost in the last
> >couple of months.
> >
> >I'd like to ferment it down to about 1.00 before racking.
> >
> >My guess based on what I've seen so far is that I should give it a couple of
> >more days and go ahead and rack it. Does this seem about right to you?
> >
> >Dave
> >

Thanks for the comments. They made a lot of sense. I racked as soon as I
read them, which was a full day earlier than I would have otherwise.

Dave

"Richard Kovach" > wrote in message
om...
> I concur, unless it's already in a carboy and can be sealed well with
> an airlock. If that's the case, I would wait another few days until
> you started to get a lot of sludge (the yeast falling out of
> suspension) and then rack. I always found with these kits that the
> majority of the yeast would seem to fall out in a 24-hour period and
> immediately after that happens is a great time to rack. But as you
> pointed out LG, if the wine is still in an open fermenter that can't
> be well sealed, you're safer racking it right now.
>
> Richard
>
> LG > wrote in message
>. ..
> > FWIW, I like to rack before it gets too close to 1.00 or less.. Towards
the
> > end of the ferment, less and less CO2 is getting produced, which makes
the
> > wine more vulnerable. The CO2 wards off nasties and protects the wine.
> > Racking a bit early is usually the way to go. I determine when to rack
by
> > the amount of CO2 coming off the wine, not by the SG, anyways. If your
> > primary has a bit of airspace on the top, you should definately avoid
> > letting it get down to 1.00 before racking it into a regular topped-up
> > carboy.
> >
> > LG
> >
> > >I started the Brew King International Series Australian Cabernet 6 days
ago.
> > >The initial SG reading was 1.11. Last night I measured it for the
first
> > >time and it was 1.04. It's still fermenting, though quite slowly as I
am
> > >fermenting it at the lower end of the suggested range.
> > >
> > >Right after measuring I dropped the hydrometer and now its gone. It
could
> > >easily take me a couple of weeks to get another. It's a busy season.
The
> > >truly embarassing thing is that this is the second one I've lost in the
last
> > >couple of months.
> > >
> > >I'd like to ferment it down to about 1.00 before racking.
> > >
> > >My guess based on what I've seen so far is that I should give it a
couple of
> > >more days and go ahead and rack it. Does this seem about right to you?
> > >
> > >Dave
> > >

You have already taken action so I will not comment on when to rack the wine
but one other comment that might be made: Get several hydrometers. I have
3 right now. Just in case. (Not that I ever break one.) They are not that
expensive and it is guarantied that it is when you need it the most that you
will break one. They are fragile.

Ray

"Dave" > wrote in message
. ..
> I started the Brew King International Series Australian Cabernet 6 days
ago.
> The initial SG reading was 1.11. Last night I measured it for the first
> time and it was 1.04. It's still fermenting, though quite slowly as I am
> fermenting it at the lower end of the suggested range.
>
> Right after measuring I dropped the hydrometer and now its gone. It could
> easily take me a couple of weeks to get another. It's a busy season. The
> truly embarassing thing is that this is the second one I've lost in the
last
> couple of months.
>
> I'd like to ferment it down to about 1.00 before racking.
>
> My guess based on what I've seen so far is that I should give it a couple
of
> more days and go ahead and rack it. Does this seem about right to you?
>
> Dave
>
>