Newbie question: specific gravity and secondary fermentation

[Quentin Quaranvino]

I've decided to take the plunge during the lockdown. I recently started a Cru International Australian Cabernet Sauvignon wine kit with the Master Vintner kit from Midwest Supplies. I am on day 15 of my kit. Unfortunately, the hydrometer was missing from my kit, and I'm yet to request a replacement. I didn't think I needed to worry. One person said to just follow the times on the kit, and I also happened to have a refractometer from my aquarium days. So here is my problem. On the first day, my SG was out of the allowable range (1.000–1.070) and after that, it dropped and recently stalled at about 1.045 (60 ppt). I became curious and came to realize that SG readings for salinity aren't equivalent to sugars. So after looking at https://www.topac.com/Salinity_brix.html and
https://homebrewsupply.com/brix-conversion-calculator/, the best I can tell my SG is somewhere around 1.0285. If anyone thinks this is wrong, please let me know. The instructions say that I should be going from primary fermentation to stabilizing/clearing at this point, but it says not to do so until reaching 0.998 SG and I'm worried it's not ready. Also, my wine kit instructions don't even have a secondary fermentation step. Maybe this has something to do with grape skins that were included and the fact I am supposed to stir it every two days? Am I missing something by not doing a secondary fermentation? I can definitely smell the alcohol, though it is a fruitier smell than wine. I'm just not sure if I should move to the clearing step now or not. I'd hate to mess something up. Should I follow the original advice I was given to ignore SG and just stick to the timeline on the kit? Thanks.

 

[doug293cz]

A complication when using refractometers, is that the readings are affected by the presence of alcohol. This makes them read higher than the actual SG. So, your current SG is most certainly less than 1.028. For beer there are calculators that attempt to correct for the alcohol effect on readings, and they get pretty close to what you would read with a hydrometer. I have no idea how these calculators would work with wine.

Your best option is to get a hydrometer ASAP. Second best option is to just go by the time specified in the instructions, as these are often conservative (meaning there is some allowance for things taking longer than they normally do.)

Brew on

 

[Seamonkey84]

I would normally throw the time table out the window, and go by readings. But as mentioned above, the company tries to make these kits fool proof. As long as you weren’t fermenting at too low of a temp, you should be fine to go as directed.

 

[doug293cz]

I would normally throw the time table out the window, and go by readings. But as mentioned above, the company tries to make these kits fool proof. As long as you weren’t fermenting at too low of a temp, you should be fine to go as directed.

That's my standard advice as well, as long as a hydrometer is available.

Brew on

 

[Quentin Quaranvino]

Thanks for the advice. I am on Day 15 now. If I can't get a hydrometer tomorrow, then I'm just gonna go ahead and stabilize/clear then. My house stays relatively warm, usually around 75 ºF.

 

[JAReeves]

For what its worth, and this might be late to the discussion, but you could play it safe and leave the wine in the primary a little longer and/or find a way to rack it to a secondary to assist the yeasts and clarification. Our first wine kit, we left on the gross lees for 4 weeks, and then on the fine lees for 4 weeks, and now we are ready to bottle and age in the cupboard. Every sample has tasted excellent.

 

[Quentin Quaranvino]

Thanks. Yes, I already transferred to the carboy and proceeded with stabilizing/clearing, but that is good to know. I was on Day 17, so 3 days past the recommended time for the kit in a relatively warm room. I gave it a little taste and there was definitely a strong alcohol taste and it was much better than I expected. At that point, I still hadn't heard back from the online supplier about getting the missing hydrometer and my local brew supply wasn't answering the phone. I did finally hear back, and my hydrometer was shipped out yesterday. Next time! Of course, now I'm considering a brix refractometer, but baby steps I guess.