Fast fermentation

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Squeeto

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First post.
Thank you WMT for the quick registration.

I have been reading in the forum for much of this morning and I couldn't quite find what I needed. Sorry if this has been asked before.

I have two kits on the go and both fermented far faster than expected. Also according to the instructions went beyond desired specific gravity.

Blackberry (Spagnols recipe)
-11 kg (24 lbs) blackberries
-1.5 liters merlot concentrate
-2.8 kg (6.6 lbs) sugar
-17.5 liters water
-enzyme, tannin, meta, yeast
-23 deg C
-day 1 - s.g. = 1.08

-day 6 should be 1.02 - rack and move to 18 deg C

-now day 3 1/2 - s.g. = .998

______________


Onyx V Australian Shiraz - 6 week - 23 liters juice
-one package bentonite, 2 liters water, one yeast
-23 deg C
-day 1 - s.g. = 1.07

-day 5-11 should be 1.020 to 1.000,
rack and continue fermenting 8 to 10 days for .998 - .990

-now day 3 1/2 - s.g. = .990


Rack and cool them both?
Are they too far below required sg to wait until the weekend?
There still seems to be some activity.

Thank you
 
Sounds as if you had it in a warm place, warm temps. will accelerate the fermentation process. If activity is still observed then let it do it's thing and don't put a time line on it. The info on the instructions (on time) are general guide lines and not a line in the sand. As long as the air lock is in place your wine is protected by the SO2 cap. Waiting until the weekend will work just fine.
 
Welcome aboard. For the life of me I do not know why this post was moderated. Even a Moderators post was moderated and I had to approve. Anyway, glad your here and I will keep an eye out oif anymore posts are moderated for some reason.
 
Welcome, a fast fermentation or slow fermentation really isnt a problem at all unless you start to smell sulphur very strongly. The # of days given is just to give a new wine maker an idea of how long it will usually take to ferment but always follow what your hydrometer tells you instead.
 
So:
check for sulphur smell
bung it
let it finish
my s.g.s are lower than recipe but acceptable


The temperature was set as per instructions at 23 deg C.
That is warm, about 73 deg F.

Thanks all.
 
The sulphur smell is very rare and most fermentations will create a little bit so if you do smell just a little its norn]=maly OK but if that smell knocks you on your a$$ then we would have to take precautions.
 
I just realized that I have another issue.
Since the blackberry wine already below 1.000, I skipped the step where the sg reaches 1.020. At that time, I was supposed to strain/squeeze the berries back into the fermenter and let it continue until 1.000.

What do I do with the berries now? The activity has died since this morning.
 
this has probably been asked before wade but what is the deal with the sulphur
what is going wrong if this happens?
 
Sqyueeto, just gently squeeze out the fruit to extarct all the juice left in there an wine and then rack to glass if you havent yet and get an airlock on there. if its done fermenting then add sulfite and sorbate to protect your wine from 02.

Nubz, that sulphur smell would be an H2S problem caused by yeast either straining from too hot or too cold(usually hot) or from lack of nutrients and if not caught early enough it will ruin your wine. if caught in time there are a few ways to get rid of it like by sulfiting and splash racking your wine very vigorously a few times. After that there is stirring your wine with a copper pipe many times and then if that doesnt work there is the last resort that I dont recommend unless your desperate as the stuff is a poison at a certain level and that level isnt that much, which is called copper sulfate.
 
One of my posts got moderated (eradicated).
But I see that you answered it anyway Wade.
Just wanted to post my thanks again.
 
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