Mosti Mondiale Slow Fermentation

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mharris

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Hello everyone. This is officially my first post on this site
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I'm pretty new to this wonderful hobby, and still have allot to learn. Thankfully, with the aid of this site, I've been able to learn quite a bit. I've only made a few kits thus far, and all seem to of turned out fine ( Heron Bay 10L Shiraz, Cellar Craft 15L White Merlot, Cellar Craft 16L Merlot, WinExpert 10L Chardonnay, WinExpert 10L Sangiovese).

I've been somewhat disappointed with the 10L kits -- mainly because they seem to be rather thin/watery and lack body. With that said, all of them are rather young and will hopefully improve with age. One of the many things that I've learned on this site is that the larger kits provide more body - hence my trying Mosti (they seem to be very popular on this forum).

On to my question (finally
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I started an All Juice Borolo kit a couple weeks ago. I followed the direction to a tee. The initial sg was 1.086 and the temp was around 66 degrees. P

Primary fermentation started off very slow. After 5 days of very slow bubbling, I decided to get a brew belt (I live in Michigan, and it's starting to get cold already). This really accelerated the process. In fact, it started bubbling like mad. The temp was around 75 degrees.

After a few days of the new temperature (8th day overall), the sg was finally within range @ 1.045, so I decided it was time to xfer to the carboy. I added the yeast nutrients and made the transfer (juice + must ).

The first day or two in the carboy went very well (lots of bubbling). At which point I removed the brew belt and put it on another batch still in the primary (hard cider). Which is when the action really slowed down -- pretty much to a crawl. My sg is now ~1.031 (for two days now), and there is very little bubbling. The temp in the carboy is ~68 degrees. I'm guessing that the wide temperature variation did not sit well with the yeasties. A stupid beginners mistake. I'm wondering if I should just be patient, or take other action(s). I really don't want to throw out a $100+ wine kit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
You may want to pick up another belt. My guess is the temps have encouraged the yeast to simply take a nap. DON'T toss the wine, just pick up another belt and relax. Patience is the key!
Yes the smaller kits, especially the reds are thin. Give them some time and believe it or not they are not bad. And you can drink them while you are waiting for the larger kits to mature.
Welcome to the forum.
VC
 
Welcome to FVW, mharris. Sounds like you have been bitten hard by the winemaking bug!

+1 on vcasey's suggestion for a 2nd brew belt. That should take care of the fermentation issues.

Some 10L kits are more full bodied than others. I have done only WE 10L kits so far, but their Trinity Red and Mezza Luna Red are quite good at 6 months and improving. They don't taste thin to me at all. I also made the Cab, Merlot, Chianti, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel 10L kits and they were thin initially. The Chianti is very drinkable with many hours of decanting as is the Zin.

CC 10L kits come with grape packs and have a good reputation on the forum.

I really like the WE 15L Barolo (style) kit. Let us know how the Mosti turns out!
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Thanks to the both of you for your help! I will get another brew belt and try to be more patient (which is not one of my finer qualities).
 
I have the same problems as you. Slow fermentation in the winery now that the weather has cooled off dramatically. The carboy temps were around 65 and things were not progressing very well. I warmed up the room to ~70 degrees with some small heaters and things picked up just dandy and went to dry in a short amount of time. The brew belt or a heater should do the trick nicely.

Oh and welcome to the FVW forums!
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It is alive
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I put a brew belt on the carboy after work yesterday. It was slowly bubbling when I checked on it this morning (1 bubble every 15-20 seconds, which is much better than it was). Hopefully it will continue to gain momentum.

Thanks again for your help.
 

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