Cold in winery

[rrawhide]

By the way - do you start kits and fermenting in the winter? How do the
brew belts work out? The temp in the
winery right now is about 48 degrees and we have not had very cold weather
yet. Only has gotten down to the high
30's so far. If a usual year, we should hit low 20's sometimes but not for
long. We have a lot of citrus trees in the area and
their wind machines will be revved and up running hard. Temp may drop low
at night but warm up above freezing most
days. I imagine the winery will get down into the low 40's or maybe high
30's. Will I need to run some heat out there or
just not worry? Will the winter temps affect the overall stability of the wine?

Thanx

 

[grapeman]

The more stable the temps the better it is for the wine. Since you use the area for fermenting and storing, you have to compromise. The lower temps are OK for storing, but 30's and 40's are a little low. It would definitely be too cold to ferment a kit, I would think even with a brewbelt. Those really only raise the temp about 10-15 degrees. You will likely have to wait to start kits until warmer weather or start them and let them run most of the course before moving out there for bulk aging.

 

[joeswine]

HI. me thinks way to cold,is this a out building that your using,like a shead ? way to cold unless you were stabilizing even then you would need graudiated warm up not to shock the wine,

who's kits are you doing and what type,I MAKE ALL TYPES FROM FRUIT TO JUICE AND KITS,I'am located in new jersey and so far so good with winter,I have my cellar transformed into a winery best I can anyway,good talking to you/////jp

 

[joeswine]

APPLEMAN good to see someone from the north east here,hows the winter so far for you ///joeswine from new jersey,anyone else out there from our neck of the woods??

 

[uavwmn]

Is 60 - 65 degrees a good temp to store wine?

 

[grapeman]

Sorry I missed your post joeswine. There are others from the Northeast here. A couple names you will recognize are Joan, Masta and Wade. There are lots of others too but they post less often so you might not recognize them. Our winter is like an average winter here, cold with a little snow. Not at all like the last couple years here.


uavwmn 60-65 degrees is fine to store the wine at. Low 50's would be better, but as long as you keep the wide temperature swings away it will be fine. The warmer it is the quicker it matures and goes past, so keep the temps as low as you can and have it remain stable.