Bulk aging in Texas heat, help!

[lillypad297]

Newbie fruit winemaker help and first post!!!!!

I have 1 gallon of Strawberry and 1 gallon of Red Raspberry that are only 2 months out of the Primary. Temps are rising here and soon will be in the 90's and 100's. It is impossible to maintain the house temp at even 70 unless you have boat load of money.

I would like to age them at least 6 months, so my question is can I put them in our garage refrigerator that maintains a constant 40 degrees to bulk age?

And if so, when I'm ready to bottle should I bring them out a couple of days before to come to room temp?

 

[Arne]

If you get them down to 40 degrees, they will not age very fast. Also if not already degassed, they will not degass at 40, at least not very fast. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[robie]

I agree with Arne. At 40F, the wine will not age much even in a year. At 70F it will age much faster but not as well as at, say 55 to 60F.

Still, you have to work with what you have and warmer temperatures is exactly what you have, so I would go for the 70F and just understand it will age faster.

 

[lillypad297]

Thanks for the response. I guess I'll go another month then degass and add fining agent and wait to turn crystal clear and bottle. Only getting about a 1/16" sediment at the bottom now. I will start these in the fall from now on, it's just so addicting.

 

[Downwards]

You could put them in the fridge over summer. Probably wouldn't age as folks are saying here, but at least you wouldn't have exposed them to high heat. Sounds like you won't even have 70 to work with right? Just make sure that your fermentation is totally done, it won't continue in the fridge.
Maybe turn the refrigerator on warmest setting?

There is also the old swamp cooler method. Put the carboys in some basin that can keep water off the floor, wrap them in a towel so that the water wicks up the towel and then blow a simple fan over them. As the water dries off, you'll be cooling them. Might want a thermometer on them to see how much, and you'll have to refill that basin as needed.

 

[lillypad297]

Thats why this forum is so great, HELP is just around the corner.

 

[robie]

Thee are threads on the forum concerning using an external thermostat to control a small frig. You can set it to, say, 55 or 60F and it works out great. It is easy to find the used refrigerator on Craigslist. Stick it in the garage and forget it.

 

[lillypad297]

I was thinking if insulating the 1 gallon jugs, say with a bath towel wrapped around it several times if that might keep it at 50 degrees or more in the 40 degree frig. I have an infrared thermometer to take surface temps every now and then to monitor.

 

[moesagoodboy]

If you have a spare refrigerator add an external temperature controller like this one:

[URL="http://http://www.midwestsupplies.com/johnson-digital-temperature-controller.html"]They also make an analog one for $20 less.
Joe