Mosti Mondiale Rapid Primary Fermentation?

[mark500]

Hi:


I started fermentation on a MM All Juice Masters Granbarolo on Oct 23rd.
Fermenation was rigorous within 24 hours. Temp at 72 degrees. Beginning SG was 1.090.
Oct 24th- raisins added.
Oct- 25th- SG 1.074
Today, SG was 1.036.
The directions say to rack, add oak, remove raisins, and add nutrient when SG gets to 1.040 to 1.050.
I am below that SG after only3 days.
Is it too early to rack to new carboy,remove the raisins, and add oak, and nutrients? The raisins will have only been infor 2 days.

 

[admiral]

I have been letting my wines go to almost 1.000, especially with grape packs. There are several other folks who are also letting pimary go lower than suggested in instructions. I have noted no problem.

 

[Wade E]

I dont like those instructions nor do a lot of other people. I personally always let reds finish in primary with grape skins or raisins in there unless its really sluggish and then Ill yank the skins out after 10 days. I dont like to rack that early as its usually to vigorous and will volcano out of there but dont like to rack to late either as you leave too much viable yeast in there and have trouble finishing dry.

 

[vcasey]

Lots of things will cause the fermentation to speed along, warm location and really happy yeast for example. You can safely proceed to the next step. 1 thing I would like to add is that Mosti wants you to rack their wines while they are at a very active state, so be careful and do not fill up the carboy right away. If you have a 1 gallon jug you may want to put some in there and add it back to the rest once slows down. The addition of the yeast nutrient and oak as well as the nice stirring will really get this baby going and its not uncommon for it to expand out of the carboy. I am sure others will chime in with their experiences.
VC

 

[rhoffart]

I had the same thing happen ... it shot below the 1.040 in just two days ... I think I let it set two extra days.


I was a white all juice with rasins.

 

[rrussell]

I'd let it ferment lower. I followed directions on my Megliole cab by racking after adding the yeast nutrient and with the sg at 1.030 which was lower than they suggested and still had a pretty good volcano going when I finished racking.

 

[mark500]

I racked it at a SG of 1.020. Mild volcano. No big problem. Had to squeeze a little wine out of the carboy with a mesh on top to keep the oak chips in. Glad I used a Better Bucket.

 

[jspang]

This might be a little off the subject but referring to the volcano mentioned above, this has happened to me a couple times. Earlier this summer I purchased a 6 1/2 carboy from George by mistake, he advised me to keep it and use it for degassing. Well I have been using the 6 1/2 for the secondary fermentationto eliminate the volcanos. Is this ok? I do have a gap above the wine probably more than I should but the airlock seems to be active. I then rack back into a 6 gallon later to remove most of the settlings and immediately rack back into the rinsed out 6 1/2 carboy to degass. Seems to work just curious of others thoughts.

 

[admiral]

As long as there is active fermentation taking place (airlock is active), there should be no problem.

 

[Wade E]

Thats fine as long as you have C02 in there protecting your investment.

 

[jspang]

Thanks, just seems easier but I'll watch that, I would hate to mess up a batch!

 

[mark500]

The fermentation stopped at SG.098, so I degassed, added Meta, and racked to a carboy for aging. I stirred it well and did a little vaccuum degassing, but it did not seem to have as much CO2 in it as2 other kits I have made.
I plan to age it in the carboy for several months and monitor SO content.
Will I need to rack again if sediment develops?

 

[Wade E]

Yes, you will probably rack anothr 2 times over the next 6 months.

 

[mark500]

The directions say to add the finers several days before bottling if aging the wine in a carboy.
What about the potassium sorbate? If I age the winein the carboy for several months, when do I add it? The directions don't say what to do with the sorbate if one ages a carboy.


UTPDATE:


I will answer my own question. I called Mosti. The man at Mosti said that if i am aging in the carboy, don't add the sorbate until before bottling. And when added, be sure the sulfite level is 80-100ppm. He said sorbate will stop malolactic fermentation, but suflite will not. He also said that adding ascorbic acid ?2 grams, when aging in a carboy longer than 6 months can be helpful. Comments?