Stirring the must / punching down

[winemaker81]

Trying to cover all the bases. My first batch I just added dry on top of fruit and hoped for the best. Then I read just about EVERY post in this forum and many here swear that a guarantee to fermentation was to make a starter. I didn’t want to take a chance i prepared starter wrong or something. The dry goes on first and then I prepare the starter With the other half. By the time the starter batch goes on, the dry should be beginning to bloom as well.

You can skip the dry. It's far more likely to fail than a starter, as the starter is more ideal conditions for yeast growth. If a starter fails, it probably means the yeast is too old or the water was too hot. I use a digital kitchen thermometer to check temperature.

 

[Cosyden]

How do you make a starter? Is it just yeast in warm water?

 

[winemaker81]

How do you make a starter? Is it just yeast in warm water?

Nope -- you also want nutrient and sugar. Following is a description of what I do, which can be varied to substitute other brands of materials.

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/how-to-make-a-yeast-starter/

 

[Cosyden]

@winemaker81 spot on, ta.

 

[Fox Squirrel Vin]

@winemaker81 spot on, ta.

Bryan, "Ta" is Thank you in Australian.

 

[BigDaveK]

1.004 sounds good. Get drinking. Bottle what you can’t.

my dragons pee started at 1.8 and it’s down to 1.018 in five days.

it’s got lime juice and berries and mango and all kinds of yummy stuff. Left over blueberries and skins come out today.

I'm waffling about stopping it. It has become such an oddity and with good blueberry flavor. Been in the basement all winter, low 60's, and I'm seriously wondering if "low and slow" works like it does for some cuts of meat. With warmer weather all my ferments will be back in the basement.

Dragon pee sounds good! I haven't used lime juice yet. One of my must-use ingredients this year.

 

[BigDaveK]

All my early ferments used dry yeast because that's what the recipes said. Like so many things in life, it works....until it doesn't.

 

[Cosyden]

Bryan, "Ta" is Thank you in Australian.

Or English, take your pick.

 

[winemaker81]

Bryan, "Ta" is Thank you in Australian.

Ta, but I figured it out.

Some years back I had 3 Indian ladies on my work team, and while they all spoke clear English, it was obvious that American slang mystified them. I'd say something, get a "deer in the headlights" look, and think about what I said literally means. I made it my mission to teach them American slang, and after a year all 3 were fluent!

 

[JustJoe]

My basement (in Minnesota) is very cool. around 60F in the summer and 52F in the winter. I use a heat mat that is used for starting seeds and set the fermenter on it and I would think a heated floor would have about the same effect. Ferments quite well even though the mat only gets up to about 80F. The must is usually in the 70 to 75 degree range.