Other Master Vintner - Shiraz Kit

[RocketBee]

Pitched the yeast, stirring daily as per instructions and checking the S.G. and temp roughly every 12 hours. Here are charts showing the specific gravity and wine temperature (time scale is in hours). I'm very new at this, just wondering what your thoughts are regarding the charts. To my untrained eye, the S.G. over time looks pretty good/normal. I'm a little worried about the fluctuating temp. It is within the prescribed range according to the instructions (65-75 degrees F), but is the fluctuation something about which I should be concerned? Used the yeast provided (Lalvin EC-1118). Love to hear what the experts think. Many thanks in advance.

 

[Johnd]

All looks perfectly normal. You should expect to see temps rise at the height of fermentation activity. When fermenting red wine from grapes, we sometimes try to get temps into the mid and upper 80's for a period of time to aid with extraction. When doing kits, my ambient room temps were mid 70's, and temps would normally climb pretty close to 80 at the most active periods, with no ill effects at all.

It's good that you have taken the time to measure and record your numbers during AF, helps get a mental picture of the process and pinpoint any anomalies in the process. Stay the course, you're looking just fine!

 

[RocketBee]

@Johnd thanks very much!

 

[dmguptill]

I have done this kit a couple times. It's one of the better Winemaker Reserve kits from MV. Especially if you give it a year to age.

 

[RocketBee]

@dmguptill did you bulk-age? How long did you wait to bottle? It's been eight weeks since I started this kit. I didn't follow the directions completely, but pretty close. I pulled a small sample yesterday and it tasted pretty good. So I just went ahead and bottled the wine.

 

[dmguptill]

I have done it multiple ways. But unless you are tweaking it in any way (more oak, tannin, etc.) bottling it after 8 weeks is just fine. These days I tend to add extra oak to almost every kit, so they are naturally in the carboy longer while the oak infuses.

First time I did this Shiraz kit I bulk aged about 2 months (with no other modifications or add-ins) just to give the CO2 time to dissipate. Turned out, there was still a good amount of CO2 when I bottled, so every time I opened a bottle of this stuff it was fizzy. It actually lasted a while because I was never excited to drink it. The stuff that lasted a year turned out very well, after letting it sit in a glass for a while to degas.

 

[RocketBee]

Thanks for the reply. Good information. The instructions say to "stir the juice thoroughly every day," I roiled my juice hard twice per day during active fermentation. I did it with my reversible drill and an attachment I bought from the local store. Once the initial bubbling dissipated a bit, I created a good vortex going up the sides of the fermenter and then immediately reversed the other direction. Then reversed again and again, back and forth until no more gas. Not sure that is the best way to do it, but when I bottled two days ago I didn't notice any fizziness.