I have had a fair look over the forums for answers to my questions, but have come up still scratching my head (but with a lot more info in it now)
The problem:
I have 2 wines (lemon and mulberry) and a mead on the go in 1 gallon demijohns. I have racked them recently but did not top them up with water. How badly will this affect them? I did not use any campden tablets when syphoning but did lose a little of the liquid (naturally) in the process.
The mead was made in July and has been racked twice. The mulberry wine and lemon wine were made in September and have each been racked once. There has always been a bit too much space in the mead and mulberry wine and the lemon only dropped from near the bung when I racked recently (within the last few weeks).
The mead did taste quite good and the lemon wine was a little harsh but they were not terrible and my limited tasting experience (none) did not point to any infection or oxidation. The colours have remained the same as when first made them. Nothing has fallen clear, which is what I am waiting for to bottle them. Should I top them all up to near the mouth of the demijohn or just leave them now? This was my first attempt at anything like this and it was only after reading up a bit about them that I have realised the potential for oxidation.
Also, the liquid in the airlock has been swinging back and forth recently as the temp has been changing but there doesnt seem to be any more fermentation and the temp, while not steady (it is on the kitchen bench) is around 25C-30C all the time (am in Sydney, Aus.) Should I just bottle them and hope? I don't want to use chemicals so I know it is hit and miss, but I want to keep it as chemical free as possible.
This is about all I can think of atm, so will post more questions if they come up. Any answers would be more than appreciated.
Oxidation of wine.
-
StripyPixieSocks
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 1175
- Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:34 pm
- Location: Carnyorth, Cornwall
Re: Oxidation of wine.
Firstly, welcome to the forum 
If you top up the demijohns you will weaken the drinks so that is a personal choice but as long as it has got an airlock on it you should be fine and the risk of oxidisation is slight as long there is still water in the airlock. Keep an eye on the lever of water in the airlocks as they can run dry occasionally and then you are running a big risk of oxidisation.
We have several demijohns of various things with large gaps and a slight scum on the surface which have been there for almost a year now and they still smell and taste fine.
Your current temperature is what is keeping it from clearing, if you have a cold room or a fridge you can put them in they will clear much quicker.
Once cleared and racked you can then top it up with any fresh fruit juice really, we have used Grape, Raspberry and Cherry in the past but beware that if the fruit is sweet then it will sweeten the wine as if it has been racked several times it should not ferment out any further.
If the mead tastes nice already, bottle it as soon as it's clear and leave in a cool place to mature further, although drinking now won't be a problem but it should improve the longer you leave it!
If you top up the demijohns you will weaken the drinks so that is a personal choice but as long as it has got an airlock on it you should be fine and the risk of oxidisation is slight as long there is still water in the airlock. Keep an eye on the lever of water in the airlocks as they can run dry occasionally and then you are running a big risk of oxidisation.
We have several demijohns of various things with large gaps and a slight scum on the surface which have been there for almost a year now and they still smell and taste fine.
Your current temperature is what is keeping it from clearing, if you have a cold room or a fridge you can put them in they will clear much quicker.
Once cleared and racked you can then top it up with any fresh fruit juice really, we have used Grape, Raspberry and Cherry in the past but beware that if the fruit is sweet then it will sweeten the wine as if it has been racked several times it should not ferment out any further.
If the mead tastes nice already, bottle it as soon as it's clear and leave in a cool place to mature further, although drinking now won't be a problem but it should improve the longer you leave it!