fermenting n stirring

[tommojj]

hi all you winemakers,im just starting making wine again after 20yr break and cant remember if you have to stir the wine while its fermenting or just leave it alone,please post your comments asap as got 5 gallons elderberry on go at mo,thanx

 

[gonzo46307]

hi all you winemakers,im just starting making wine again after 20yr break and cant remember if you have to stir the wine while its fermenting or just leave it alone,please post your comments asap as got 5 gallons elderberry on go at mo,thanx

I usually stir my fruit wines once or twice a day, for the first few days...my kit wines I leave alone.

Peace,
Bob

 

[St Allie]

Hello and welcome Tommojj,

stir while you still have the fruit in the primary.. once you have strained off the fruit and moved to secondary.. just leave it under airlock.

Allie

 

[Tom]

WELCOME !

Kit wines need no stiring.

 

[surlees]

Welcome!

I recommend stirring while in the primary until the day before racking. This keeps the lees and bottom yeast oxygenated which they need at this stage. After fermentation has slowed and you have transferred to the secondary, you stop stirring in order to keep a layer of CO2 over your wine to avoid it oxidizing.

Fred

 

[Wade E]

Basically any wine with fruit in there need stirring (punching down the cap) or the fruit can be exposed to air too long and go bad. If its just juice then there is no need to do anything but be patient.

 

[tommojj]

thanks for all your posts,next question ......... in my local homebrew shop they dont sell glass demijohns(apparently because there too expensive),but they do keep plastic demijohns,wont that impair the flavour of the wine when secondary fermenting?also can the finished wine be stored in the plastic type demi's,?

 

[Tom]

If they are called Better Bottle go for it!

 

[Wade E]

I dont care for these only because they are weak when you try to move them and I cant degas the wine using my vacuum. Otherwise the Better Bottles are fine. Dont use a water bottle in my opinion, especially for long term storage.