dried cranberry belted

[jojo]

Started a 3 gallon batch of Kellers Dried Cranberry two nights ago. I put the Brew Belt on her as the basement temp is mid to low 60s lately. I followed the recipe to the letter, but am tempted to add vanilla. This is one of two batches for 2006 holiday season.

The other batch of cranberry was Kellers cran/currant which I oaked for 4 weeks with french cubes. It's smelling pretty nice so far.

This is the first time I am using the Brewers Belt. It's a plastic pail. I felt it a few times and it seems like it won't be trouble. Any advice?

 

[summersolstice]

Hi Jojo-


I'll confess to never having tried the brewer's belt, but I do have five 1-gallon batches of mead bubbling away, another three gallons clearing, and three more gallons on raspberry/blackberry wine aging on oak. These are all in my basement and the thermometer sitting beside the carboys reads from 60-65 degrees, depending on whether or not the heater blower is running. The fermentation is a little slower but still bubbling away. The 8-10 degree lower temperaturesseem to beadding about 2 weeks to finish onmy meads.


However, I am looking for an easy way to melt about 3 gallons of crystallized honey stuckin a 4-gallon pail. Think it'd work?

 

[jojo]

I think it'd work fine Rule G. Do you have a warmer place to melt it in?


Looks like I'm pushing 72 so far with the belt. SG is 1.090. She is sitting pretty. We'll see how this goes.

 

[jojo]

It has no foam, but fermenting well w/ the belt.

 

[MedPretzel]

Sorry, just noticed this post now.


Anyway, I would definitely say everything is normal. I use a brewbelt practically the whole winter (started late Nov, finish usually around March/April). So, yes, I can give some advice, or at least share my experience.





The instructions say not to put it on glass carboys. I've never had a problem with that, and I do put them on glass carboys. It also is advised to use them only around 1 primary. I put them around 2, however, and then group other carboys so that the belt is touching them too. I usually can get 3-4 carboys heated up just enough to keep fermentation really nice.


The theory of not "doubling" up with the brew-belt has to do with the built-in thermostat this thing has. Some say that it will overheat if you double up. I ahven't noticed this yet, and I've been using the brew-belt for 2 years now.


So, my ultimate feeling is, "wing it" Take what I said into consideration and see if it is important to you or not. To me, it wasn't important, and I was successful.

 

[jojo]

Thanks Martina! I had a feeling it would be okay to use on glass. The owner of the local brew shop indicated it would likely be okay. I'm going for it. So far it looks well. It isn't hot enough to melt anything and has kept the airlock bubbling. A few more days of primary outta do it.

 

[MedPretzel]

Well, if you are using a newer carboy (i.e. not a lot of stress in the past), it should be okay. Use it in temps lower than 65 (I use it lower than 60*F). Most yeast are okay until temps until about there.


My basement temps fluctuate about 15 degrees during the year, no matter what storms I put on my basement windows or how much I insulate those old coal shafts. I think I have reduced the fluctuations, however by about 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit over the years by doing little improvements.


I started intensely looking at temperatures the second winter I was vinting. The lowest temp I recorded the first year, however, was 55*F. With make-shift storms on my single-paned glass windows, I have been able to raise the temp in the basement to about 62. Unless we have 3 weeks of constant below-zero weather, we're almost never below that.


The brew-belt keeps your wine at about 75 or 78 (of course depending on the ambient temps too), and here on the northcoast, it seems to be necessary until about Mid-March.... That's why I usually double up. I also have a heating pad if I have more wines than 3 or 4 actively fermenting (that means, until it hits 0.990). I mainly look at the ambient temperature, however, to see if I need it or not. This is my practice, might not be the correct one.


This winter, it's been quite warm here, so I'm lucky. I needed the belt for about 2 weeks in December, but not now. Although we all feel lucky for the warm weather we're having, it's a little scary to me for the general climate of the area. Just not normal.





Hope this helps, and I wish you happy vinting, and warm vinting! BTW, where are you located?





M.

 

[jojo]

Martina -


Your basement sounds a lot like mine. It's steady at 55 now, but fluctuates through the year. It's dry here and the big worry I have is lack of humidity. I live in Erie, Colorado, about 20 minutes north of Denver.


John

 

[jojo]

It appears to beworking. It's in secondary with wikkid thick lees striped vertically with bubble lines. Temp is at 75F, at least during the day. I kicked it up with a little nutrient. I checked the smell and the sulfur isfaint with definite alcohol behind it. I'll guess another week to ten days until it comes dry.



Edited by: jojo

 

[MedPretzel]

good job, jojo.

Sounds like a winner. These old basements can be great (especially in the summer), but in the winter, they're a bear. But for every problem (or challenge), there is a solution.

Once you've finished fermenting, I have noticed that I can shut off the brew belt. Fining and clearing don't seem to mind the cooler temps as much as the yeast do. To degas, however, consider warming it up a few degrees. You don't have to, but it makes the process quicker.

 

[jojo]

thanks martina

this hobby is funny. things going from stinky to beauty and all.


my wife thinks i'm nuts.

 

[peterCooper]

She's probably right, but you can always point out there's a good kind of nuts and a bad kind of nuts.

 

[MedPretzel]

yes, i believe your wife may be on to something.

But boy will she change her tune when she tastes your belted dry cranberry wine!

At least that's what my husband says. He knows a lot aobut the process without ever having made wine (except as a chemistry experimetn in high school).

 

[redderthebetter]

I have a question about the SG and when to transfer to secondary. I started up a dried cranberry last week. I started out a bit high 1.12 and I watered it down to 1.108 and added the redstar yeast. on the fifth day it was @1.08 and has dropped a .01 each day. tonight it is at 1.05. I'm shooting for 1.01 before transfering. If it goes at this pace, should I just cut it off and go to secondary? I have been stirring twice daily. Is spoilage an issue as long as it is still fermenting?

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Redder - Spoilage is an issue always, but should not be a worry if you are
keeping things clean and sanitized, i.e. your stirring spoon or your
thermometer. Keep a lid on the fermenter. Transfering to the carboy at 1.01
is a general target which you can tweak depending on the vigor of
fermentation. If it is just a gentle fizzing, you can probably transfer
tomorrow at, say, 1.03 or 1.04. Just keep several inches of head space until
any chance of foaming through the airlock is over. This may mean a little
excess from the primary has to be put in a small jug or bottle, which is fine.
This can be used to top off the carboy later on.

 

[pkcook]

What yeast are you using? I've notices huge differences in the foaming action with different yeast strains. If the foaming is minimal, I'd rack it to a carboy. If the foaming is heavy, leave it a couple more days and transfer. Montrachet is the heaviest foaming yeast I've encountered. The Red Star Cote De Blanc is the yeast I'm using with my Concord right now and it has practically no foam, but the must is rolling with a carbonation-like top.

 

[jojo]

Thick lees and a going strong. RC212.

 

[pkcook]

Jojo,


That is one yeast I have not used, but have two packages waiting for something to ferment

. As you describe, I'd wait a day or two and then transfer.

 

[jojo]

The ferment is really drawn out on this one. It's on its second week and at 1.030. But it looks like the yeast are working hard. I wonder if this has to do with the fruit being dried instead of fresh.

 

[peterCooper]

Don't worry about time. The longer you leave it the less time you will have
to wait. I have a VR Pinot Grigio going at the moment that was a week in the
primary and has been three weeks in the secondary, was .994 two weeks
ago and is STILL fermenting a little. Clear enough to drink too, though I
can't because I haven't stabilized or anything yet (obviously).

You can transfer at any old time once the SG is down close to 1, I don't think
you have to be too exact. Just make sure that it doesn't stop fermenting
before you rack to secondary. You want some CO2 production to continue
in secondary to keep the O2 off the wine.
Edited by: peterCooper