DUHHH!

[bmorosco]

Ok so I started a Reisling Ice Wine. everything was going great..Then I reached to my CARBOY rack to realize!!!! I did not have a 3gallon Carboy!!! So my fingers dialed 1-866-417-1114 FVW and talked to Mark and ordered myself one......I asked them if it would be a problem that it sits in the primary a little longer they said it should not be a prob...


I just can not believe I did something like that!!!

 

[grapeman]

Keep an eye on the SG and if it goes below 1.005(maybe even a little higher for an ice wine)before you get the 3 gallon carboy, make sure you have the airlock in place and the lid snapped down. At that point the gas production will be down so you will need some protection from the air. Hopefully New Year's Day doesn't slow Fedex down too much.


It seems everybody is doing Ice Wine these days- it must be good..

 

[smurfe]

I don't know where you live but if it is cold out you can keep the temps down in the house. Get the fermentation going good at a normal temp around 70F or soand then reduce the temp so the must is around 62-65F. This will slow things down a bit and give you a few extra days.
On a side note, I have had kits ferment close to dry before I could get them into the carboy. I normally ferment with the lid snapped down and an airlock in place though. I don't recommend it but it has happened to me a couple times when I was working a crazy schedule after the two hurricanes (Katrina and Rita)that visited me back to back. I also lost power fora weekwith Rita and didn't loose the 2 batches I had going.
Smurfe

 

[bmorosco]

Got the temp down to 60 and hopefully will buy me some time...

 

[geocorn]

Wish I had seen this post sooner, butDON'T lower the temperature on a WE selection special kit. If it stops fermenting, it is extremely difficult to getting going again. Warm it back up as soon as you can. The carboy left yesterday and you should have it by Wednesday. If you leave the lid on the bucket, you will be fine.


As an aside, all of the WE Selection Specials are very tempermental and you want to keep them as close to 73 degrees as you can until fermentation is finished.

 

[smurfe]

George, do these kits use a special type of yeast that only tolerates a particular temperature range even after fermentation is set? I see in the instructions where it says to assure temps of 65-75 to pitch the yeast but it didn't say to assure this temp throughout fermentation.


Sorry if I gave a bad suggestion. I was going by how we do the regular kits. I always keep mine at around 70 until fermentation is going good and then lower the temps mainly due to the temps we keep in the house.


Sorry bmorosco, if your fermentation stops, let me know and I will replace your kit.


Smurfe

 

[geocorn]

No problem, smurfe. It has something to do with the high alcohol level that you want from these wines. I have talked with WE about these kits and they recommend that you make them to EXACTLY 3 gallons and keep the fermentation temperature at 73 degrees. If you don't follow these guidelines, you can get stuck fermentation that can not be restarted.


The question here is really "how long can you leave the wine in the bucket?" The answer is several weeks, as long as you leave the lid on to keep the CO2 trapped in the bucket. If you transfer the wine to the carboy after the fermentation is complete, there is still plenty of CO2 still in the wine to form a new cap. Always remember, the instructions are written to maximize your chances to produce a quality wine. As long as you follow good cleaning and sanitizing procedurers and keep the exposure to oxygen to a minimum, you should always produce a good wine.

 

[Coaster]

Keep an eye on the SG and if it goes below 1.005(maybe even a little higher for an ice wine)....


It seems everybody is doing Ice Wine these days- it must be good..

Appleman, the finishing SG is going to be about 1.055, way above what we are use to because the starting SG is like 1.170. My ABV was close to 15%.


As for goodness, wellI know it's a matter of taste but my wife likes to say this is better than liquid ice cream. As a matter of fact, I just bought several kits from George over the Holiday and now my wife is wondering if we shouldn't order two more ice wine kits and make a 6 gal batch. We drank all the first batch (and gave several away for the holidays) in under a month and I have a second batch just about to go into clearing, but I know it won't be done soon enough.

 

[Wade E]

Wow Coaster, went like hotcakes huh!

 

[PolishWineP]

We just got our Ice Style Riesling started today. (Santa was just the best here!) We are so looking forward to this!

 

[bmorosco]

Wish I had seen this post sooner, butDON'T lower the temperature on a WE selection special kit. If it stops fermenting, it is extremely difficult to getting going again. Warm it back up as soon as you can. The carboy left yesterday and you should have it by Wednesday. If you leave the lid on the bucket, you will be fine.


As an aside, all of the WE Selection Specials are very tempermental and you want to keep them as close to 73 degrees as you can until fermentation is finished.

Thanks George will do!!