Your wine is now bubbling merrily along in your primary fermenter, the yeast cells working furiously to create alcohol for your drinking pleasure. Soon fermentation will slow down, and it will be time for the first racking, moving the wine from one container into another. This post will outline equipment needed for racking wine into a container for secondary fermentation, the second, slower stage of fermenting; and bulk aging. (For info on equipment up to this stage see Pt. 1a) What you’ll need at this point will again depend on how much wine you’re making, and what you are making it from.

First you need something to put the wine in. By far, the most commonly used receptacle by home winemakers is the glass or plastic carboy, a large narrow necked jug, like the old fashioned water cooler bottles. These come in various sizes from 3 to 6.5 gallons. For smaller batches 1 gallon glass jugs are easy to come by, just buy a jug of cheap red wine and make a batch of homemade sangria. I use glass jugs exclusively as I think they’re easier to keep clean, and you can readily see the lees, dead yeast cells and other solids that settle to the bottom of the jug during fermentation; and how clear your wine is getting. They are heavier though, and if your back is an issue you may want to stick to plastic. You’ll want to choose the size of jug to match the amount of wine going into it as it’s important to keep the amount of airspace in the jug to a minimum. Get at least 2 of the size of jugs you’ll be using as later in the process you’ll be transferring the wine from one to the other. A sling type carrier makes moving full carboys less of a chore.

Before secondary fermentation begins you will need to separate the liquid from the solids in the must. If you’re fermenting crushed grapes or other crushed fruit you may need a press to squeeze the juice from the solids. For small batches, a nylon mesh bag can be loaded and squeezed by hand. Even if your primary fermentation was started with juice only, you’ll still have some solids to remove before or during racking. A skimmer can be used to remove the cap, solids that have risen to the surface and formed a cake during primary fermentation.

Next you need a means of transferring the wine. This is most often done using a siphoning system consisting of several parts: a racking cane, a rigid plastic tube curved at one end; a length of siphon hose; and a clamp or valve to stop and start the flow. You may also want a racking cane tip, a small piece that goes on the long end of the cane to raise it off the bottom of the container and keep the suction above the lees. During siphoning you’ll want to remove suspended solids that are sucked into the hose. This can be done by using a funnel with a built-in strainer, cheesecloth, or a mesh bag. There are siphon starting devices you can purchase, but lung power works just fine, and if you get a mouthful, well you should be tasting as you go along anyway.

Once you have transferred your wine into the secondary fermenter, you’ll need to attach an airlock, a device to allow gases created by fermentation to escape and keep outside air, dust, fruit flies, etc. out; to the container. Airlocks are cheap, the only other thing you’ll need is a rubber stopper of the correct size for your jug. Soon, fermentation will resume, and you’ll see gas bubbles dancing though your airlock. Racking is done several times during this final stage of fermentation, and wine can be bulk aged in the jug after fermentation has stopped. Once your wine is clear and stable and has bulk aged to your satisfaction, you’re ready to bottle!

Front to Back: Racking cane with tip; carboy bottle brush; siphon hose with clamp; 2 types of plastic airlocks; 1 gallon jug; 3 and 5 gallon carboys. The 5 gallon carboy has a thermometer strip to monitor the temperature of the wine and a sling carboy carrier on it.