Most active fermentation, and it's signficance

[deesloop]

So, I'm still sticking to kit type wine and am working on a Rosé from dried fruit. Smells AWESOME
Its day 4 of primary fermentation and it's still going like crazy. The airlock is gurgling every 10 seconds or so
What's your most active fermentation been, and is there actually any significance in the fermentation activity.
Does it suggest a good wine/bad wine? An alcoholic or non alcoholic wine? Dry/sweet or is it absolutely random?
Compares to the white wine version I did this sounds like rocket fuel, but it may mean nothing at all.

Excuse the random apostrophe
Clearly it is its significance and not it's.
The utter humuliation of it all.

 

[capablanca]

10 seconds is pretty normal, I guess. I once had a melomel fermentation which ended in 4 days . Starting brix was above 22. As far as I know, fast fermentations are good and means that things are going healthy, as long as you can control the temperature (faster means more heat) and lengthy maceration is not required, latter being especially important in red wine making. In red wine, slower fermentations are better imho, so that everything from the grape skins will be extracted to the wine.

 

[deesloop]

Actually I just measured this, and its even more active than I thought with a bubbling every 6 seconds. Its not that warm here in scotland with one of those stick on thermometer strips telling me the buckets at 22° C. Feart that the bucket lids gonna fly off! Houston we have a problem

 

[cmason1957]

You can take that lid off and the airlock with no problems, many, perhaps even most of us, do primary fermentation with either a towel on the top or I just set the lid on top. That oxygen is good at this point in the process. Either way works just fine.

 

[capablanca]

You can take that lid off and the airlock with no problems, many, perhaps even most of us, do primary fermentation with either a towel on the top or I just set the lid on top. That oxygen is good at this point in the process. Either way works just fine.

I agree to that

 

[CoteRotie]

Fermentation speed depends on the temperature, strain of yeast, amount of nutrients and sugar, SO2 level (if any) and probably several other things I'm not thinking of at the moment. It can easily get out of control (not sure about the kits, haven't used them) and cause excess temperatures in the cap or juice which can lead to other problems, like blowing off desirable aromas or stuck fermentation. For whites and rosès I'm of the opinion that a long cool fermentation is best to preserve the fruity characteristics.

 

[Handy Andy]

Fermentation speed depends on the temperature, strain of yeast, amount of nutrients and sugar, SO2 level (if any) and probably several other things I'm not thinking of at the moment. It can easily get out of control (not sure about the kits, haven't used them) and cause excess temperatures in the cap or juice which can lead to other problems, like blowing off desirable aromas or stuck fermentation. For whites and rosès I'm of the opinion that a long cool fermentation is best to preserve the fruity characteristics.

I have both red and white wines fermenting, both started at the same time with the same yeast and nutrients, both started with the same brix level. The red visibly started fermenting the day I applied the yeast and was and is still very vigorous, the white did nothing for the first 2 days and now it is only fermenting(fizzing) very slowly. The barrels are next to each other, at the same temperature. The only difference being the reds started fermenting on the skins, and the whites were pressed before adding the yeast.

I have a mild concern that the reds might be doing a wild ferment from wild yeast, rather than from my bought yeast. Is this possible after adding Potassium metabisulphate 24 hours before adding the bought yeast and nutrients?

Is it normal that whites ferment slower than reds??

Edit slightly puzzled as to why this is happening, do I need to worry add more yeast do nothing, panic or chill out?

 

[CoteRotie]

I have both red and white wines fermenting, both started at the same time with the same yeast and nutrients, both started with the same brix level. The red visibly started fermenting the day I applied the yeast and was and is still very vigorous, the white did nothing for the first 2 days and now it is only fermenting(fizzing) very slowly. The barrels are next to each other, at the same temperature. The only difference being the reds started fermenting on the skins, and the whites were pressed before adding the yeast.

I have a mild concern that the reds might be doing a wild ferment from wild yeast, rather than from my bought yeast. Is this possible after adding Potassium metabisulphate 24 hours before adding the bought yeast and nutrients?

Is it normal that whites ferment slower than reds??

Edit slightly puzzled as to why this is happening, do I need to worry add more yeast do nothing, panic or chill out?

I wouldn't worry about the wild yeast, especially if you added some SO2. It's almost for sure that a commercial strain of Saccharomyces is doing your ferment.

Even though you added nutrients, reds may have other nutrients due to the skins being present, so your yeast may like the environment better. Is it possible you added more SO2 to the white? Did you re-hydrate the yeast the same way for both batches? Unless my fruit has a problem I don't add SO2 at crush or prior to fermentation.

I wouldn't worry about the white going slower, just monitor it to be sure it isn't stuck. A long slow ferment is good in whites to avoid blowing off aromatics and to preserve fresh flavors.

 

[Handy Andy]

I wouldn't worry about the wild yeast, especially if you added some SO2. It's almost for sure that a commercial strain of Saccharomyces is doing your ferment.

Even though you added nutrients, reds may have other nutrients due to the skins being present, so your yeast may like the environment better. Is it possible you added more SO2 to the white? Did you re-hydrate the yeast the same way for both batches? Unless my fruit has a problem I don't add SO2 at crush or prior to fermentation.

I wouldn't worry about the white going slower, just monitor it to be sure it isn't stuck. A long slow ferment is good in whites to avoid blowing off aromatics and to preserve fresh flavors.

Yes I re-hydrated at the same time, using the same water.
It is possible that I added more so2, but I dont think so. We did have a little party after we had finished pressing the white.

Thanks for the reassurance, ref the white

Edit how long is a long slow ferment?

 

[CoteRotie]

Yes I re-hydrated at the same time, using the same water.
It is possible that I added more so2, but I dont think so. We did have a little party after we had finished pressing the white.

Thanks for the reassurance, ref the white

Edit how long is a long slow ferment?

There's no "correct" answer. Some winemakers ferment for as long a 2 months at temperatures as low as 45 F. I think that a couple of weeks is probably a good starting point, but the danger of the long slow ferment is that CO2 production isn't high, and more oxygen can be absorbed at lower temperature so oxidation is a concern. You might want to ferment with an airlock if you're going long.

I fermented a high Brix ice wine for almost a year one time. The high sugar content put huge osmotic pressure on the yeast and fermentation took forever to get to the target sweetness. It did end up with some VA, but not objectionable for the style.

You also have to keep checking for stuck fermentation or off odors.

 

[Vaudun]

I just started my very first batch of wine about two weeks ago.

I'm making a peach wine using Lavlin EC-1118 yeast.

I did my primary fermentation in a 1 gallon carboy, and my airlock was bubbling about once per second by the second day.

It was still bubbling every few seconds yesterday. I racked it into secondary last night, and it's calmed down a lot.