The yeast took off, and after 2 days the shower smelled like wine!  It’s cool and creepy all at once.  The instructions said to wait 5-7 days to check the specific gravity, so I checked it the next weekend after starting it out of convenience.  The SG was just right, so I put the bucket up on the counter and racked (siphoned) it into a clean glass carboy.  The oak chips and most of the yeast was left behind, although a little bit of yeasty stuff did get transferred.

I checked with the good people at Winexpert via email if this was OK, and they said I was good to go.  They have GREAT customer service, and answer questions right away – I guess they know you’re probably freaking out about your wine and need a quick response or else you might be tempted to do something bad.

There was a lot of space at the top, but it’s OK at this stage.  Back to waiting ….