Nice Racking Job! :)
Today I racked my Dark Cherry Wine and June Berry Mead.
"But put very simply, racking means to siphon the wine must from one container to the next, so as to leave any sediment behind. In fact that is the sole purpose of racking, "to leave the sediment behind." When To Rack. THE FIRST RACKING: The first racking should normally be done around 5 to 7 days into the fermentation." - EC Kraus
Not to brag but I sort of killed it with the Mead...There's no sediment ...No Fruit flies left...And no bubbling on the top!
I'm not even sure I'm going to rack the Mead again! And i tasted some of it on accident. Pretty great for yeasty pre-mead!
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The Dark Cherry Wine is proving more difficult. I didn't seal the airlock properly and fruit flies got through. One bottle developed a vinegar mother. Another developed a while film. You can see I'm using tinfoil which is obviously not ideal: But when my neighbor said she had airlocks for me I kind of assumed it would come with a plug to seal the airlock. {You know what they say about assuming things...} But, the show must go on as they say. Hopefully the extra air didn't effect the flavor too much. As long as the single bottle of cherry wine I have doesn't go vinegar, ill be happy with my results.
P.S - These two bottles were made using BLANC yeast with NO sulfates :)
Check a brewing supply shop, there are a ton of them online. I recommend an assortment of cork sizes and some more airlocks. The various corks will fit different sized bottle openings and allow you to use the airlocks properly.
Being able to keep the air out makes a HUGE difference.
A quick and dirty method (that works with some care) is to use juice containers with airtight screw-top lids. Cap the bottle tight, shake vigorously, and then ever so slowly crack the lid until you can barely hear gas escaping.
Close tightly and shake a couple times a day, always re-opening the lid until you can barely hear gas escape.
When you shake the container and there really isn't any gas buildup, it's pretty much done. Close it tight, put it in the fridge to crash the temp and clarify for a day or so and then rack.
lol Works when you don't have access to corks and airlocks. :D
Ill try that cap method.
Sounds excellent until i get new corks.
You got a 6.17% upvote from @brupvoter courtesy of @liquid-mike!