1st time stupid question

[Millzy64]

Great forum. Just spent an hour searching and reading. Here's my newbie question. I am making a batch of chardonnay. It is now in day 2 of the primary fermentation. Bubbling along nicely, so mush so that I cannot put the top on tight yet with the airlock so it's just on loose with some cheesecloth over it. My questions is once it's done cooking and I go to do the initial racking, how do I avoid that nasty layer of foam on the top. I know the bottom can be avoided easily but that top layer looks pretty nasty. Should I be skimming this off prior to my 1st racking? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wade E]

That layer will settle down and wont be there or be much much smaller when you go to rack it and you will insert the racking cane right through it if you dont have a spigot on the bottom of your bucket but most likely that layer wont even be there. Glad to have you aboard and welcome. You should see a red wine when it is first fermenting. Heres a good pic of a red during the first days to give you an idea.

 

[Millzy64]

Hmmmm....looks kind'a like a cupcake! I've actually made red wine with my brother-in-law before with the skins and all floating on top but I didn't expect such a thick foam layer on the white with nothing but the juice. Of course he makes it "old world", no yeast, no nothing. Just the grapes and the barrels. I know with the red the "cap" gets pushed down into the juice but I wasn't sure what to do with my white.I guess I'm just nervous about my first attempt and want to make sure I don't screw it up! Looks like there's allot of great advice and help here though. Thanks again for the reply.

 

[smurfe]

Thats just a good fermentation going on. As Wade said, it should settle down and fall out. It is quite common. Don't be surprised as well if you make a batch and don't see the big rolling fermentation. Some yeasts make you wonder if you have any fermentation going at all. Your hydrometer will let you know though. Welcome to the forums and keep the questions coming. There is no such thing as a stupid question here!

 

[uavwmn]

Mill, welcome to the forum!!! Great advice and people here.

That foam or cupcake layer will dissipate in a couple of days. It smells wonderful, I think.
I usually don't put my lid on tight, I lay a washcloth over the hole in the top.
Sounds like you are right on track so far!

 

[Millzy64]

Thanks all. I went down this morning and it's already settling down enough for me to put the lid and air lock back on. It's still percolating the air lock nicely, but the layer is getting a little smaller. You're right Smurfy, yesterday it was boiling so much you'd think I had it on a hot plate. I guess so far so good. It kind of freaked me out though. I'm used to seeing my b-in-law's reds in those big barrels with no yeast. They "simmer" but never react the way mine did with the yeast in there. Anyone here ever go without Campton tablets or Potassium? I'm now comtemplating leaving it out of the mix. I am going to do the MLF with the secondary fermentation as well as some oak chips but I'm on the fence with the additives. I know at least 8 people that all swear it's not needed but online it seems everyone uses it. They all use old wood barrels that only get a quick water rinse out each fall before use and they're wine is always exellent. I don't want to risk the wine but I don't want hangover wine either. Decisions, decisions........

 

[grapeman]

Welcome Millzy. If this is a kit, don't do a MLF on it. If it was from all juice you could do an MLF, but unless it is high in acid, I wouldn't. You are more likely to get a hangover from the histamines that COULD be produced by the MLF bacteria than from a proper dose of sulfites from campdens or k-meta.


A bit more information here would be helpful unless I just plain missed it. Is this a kit, fresh juice, etc. What yeast did you use, any nutrient, etc. A recipe would be nice.

 

[Millzy64]

Thanks Appleman. It is not from a kit. I started with 3 cases of Chardonnay grapes, hand crushed and de-stemmed and then pressed in my trusty old Jaffrey cider press. Everything was disinfected, including the press. The juice was put into the tub with the yeast. I'm at work right now so I don't have the specifics on the yeast. No skins, etc, just the sqeezin's. We really love the buttery flavor from the MLF fermentation so that was the rationale on that. Being new to this I am certainly open to suggestions though.

 

[grapeman]

Great, it sounds like you have it under control. You could follow the process for a Buttery Chardonnay Tim Vandergrift uses -(sur lie). If you can get a small amount of malo bacteria like the White Lab George carries, you could do it. Just be sure you have little S02 in the wine when you start it. Tim's method gives the same results and I think would be easier- just give it a stir ever so often.


Here is what Tim has to say about it.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" ="ingNew">
<T>
<TR>
<TD>Buttery Chardonnay </TD></TR></T></T></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" ="maintable"><T>
<T>
<TR>
<TH scope=col>
Our kits tend to have a softer, more complex flavour profile than you might expect. We achieve this partly by carefully choosing our oak styles and the protocols for using them. By including the oak in with the fermentation (instead of after) we get a much softer profile, which includes some butter and vanilla notes, as opposed to woody or smoky characters.
Now you can’t do malolactic on the kits. It will end in tears if you try. However, there is a technique called ‘battonage’ that will help fatten up the finish of the wine, and give it a rich, creamy mouth feel. Here’s the deal:
<DIV align=left>
<UL>
<LI>Make you kit up as normal, and rack to the secondary carboy on day 5-7 as directed.
<LI>After ten days, ignore the instructions about fining and stabilising. Instead, add one-quarter teaspoon of metabisulphite powder to the wine, and gently stir it up with a sanitised spoon.
<LI>Get all of the yeast sediment in to suspension, make sure it’s nice and cloudy, but don’t splash or agitate.
<LI>Top up with some decent Chardonnay wine (this is better than using water for this technique). At three or four day intervals, go back and stir the yeast up again.
<LI>Repeat every three or four days for a month.
<LI>Let the wine settle for two weeks, rack it into a clean, sanitised carboy, and follow all the remaining instructions on schedule, omitting no detail however slight. </LI>[/list]
By stirring the yeast into suspension repeatedly you get the benefits of the amino acids they carry, along with a host of compounds—principally mannoproteins, which give they creamy aroma and mouth feel.
Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your kit.
Cheers,
Tim Vandergrift
<DIV align=left>Technical Services Manager </TH></TR></T></TABLE>