Primary fermentation - Timeline or SG?

[Vivaine]

I have a discrepancy between my recipe’s timeline and my fermentation indicators on my first batch of muscadine wine.

Starting numbers: SG 1.092, Acid 7ppt titrated. According to the instructions primary fermentation should have taken 5 days to drop the SG to 1.030 before first racking. My batch showed very little activity during primary, no foam, no bubbles in the airlock, but I found out that the bucket lid was not tightly fitted (fixed that).

On day 6 the SG had only dropped to 1.080. I removed some of the must and made a yeast starter which is bubbling nicely, then added half of that to the must, which began bubbling a bit slowly (40 sec). I’m going to add the rest of the starter tomorrow and hope that moves things along faster.

My question: Should I rack this off the solids and let the fermentation continue in the secondary, or leave the solids until the SG drops to 1.030? I’ve read that red grape wines should be left on the solids as long as possible for color and flavor, but I’ve also read that leaving the solids in for longer than recommended can cause spoilage and off flavors. In this situation I’m confused.

Help please?

 

[Loner]

Keep that lid loose ... Better yet drape a towel over your fermenter and lay the lid on top of that. Make sure your must is above 70* temp. You need oxygen to your must early in fermentation so give it a good stir each day. The question about when to remove solids could be up to the user. I take mine off @ 1.040 and transfer to glass And airlock @ 1.020.

Different people will leave it in primary longer etc but one thing is constant. You need oxygen and easy access early on. You need to be under airlock when your fermentation slows down. Exactly when you do transfer is your call.

 

[Vivaine]

That may have been the fermentation problem then. I did have an airlock in the lid, and stirred twice a day. I'll loosen the lid again and see if that helps.

Thanks!

 

[Loner]

Good deal .. Mine had a very active starting ferment and then calmed down. I like a slow steady ferment over fast and furious any day. Let your hydrometer tell you it's fermenting. Good luck with your wine.