Cellar Craft Winery Series Super Tuscan SG

[WAG]

I started this on Sept 24. SG was 1.093, temp 77. 6 days! later SG is .997! Instructions say it should take about 20 days. I did it in 6? I squeezed grape pack and stirred yesterday. Should I wait a few days to let it settle down some before I rack to carboy? And then do I go ahead and degas now? Thanks.

 

[SouthernChemist]

Nothing too out of the ordinary. Keep in mind that the instructions are pretty relative as it's dependent on your specific conditions. With lower temperatures, it would have taken longer for sure. If you're already below 1.00, you can proceed to the next step. 0.997 is probably not as low as it's going to go, so you can let it finish up the fermentation in a carboy (I assume you're still in the primary fermenter).

I know some people prefer to do the entire fermentation in the primary with the grape skins, too. You can just secure the cover on the bucket once the foaming and gas evolution has quieted down.

 

[TonyP]

I started a Super Tuscan in August. Day 1, 1.092. Day 7, 1.000. Day 19, .993. There is no downside to either waiting a while, letting the yeast continue to work or racking it now and having fermentation finish in the carboy. Either way, though, I'd wait for your wine to stop fermenting before degassing, something closer to .990.

By the way, are you certain your reading is correct?

Tony P.

 

[WAG]

Thanks folks. Yes, reading was taken twice to make sure reading was correct. It will go into carboy today.

 

[rjb222]

I started this on Sept 24. SG was 1.093, temp 77. 6 days! later SG is .997! Instructions say it should take about 20 days. I did it in 6? I squeezed grape pack and stirred yesterday. Should I wait a few days to let it settle down some before I rack to carboy? And then do I go ahead and degas now? Thanks.

I would leave this and punch the bag every day until at least day 10. There is a chemical process that takes place with the wet skins that breaks down the proteins. This is necessary to get your wine to clear properly. I was having this same problem a couple years ago I went to RJS as I could not filter one of these kits and the filters would plug up and the wine was clear looking. this is what I was told to do.

 

[robie]

If the SG is that low, it is not producing very much CO2 anymore, so it needs to be in a carboy under an air lock. So if it is still in the fermentation bucket, rack it to the carboy per instructions. Leave it in the carboy for at least 7 days, then continue with stabilization, racking,, and clearing in the order given by the instructions.

 

[WAG]

Racking!! SG now .992. Smelling good. I just love the smell of fermentation in the evening. Lol

 

[rjb222]

Sorry Dan but with the winery series it is not what needs to be done. If you do move this wine then put the skins into the fermenter and allow the process to complete as the wine will not have the right body and be harder to clear without the skins doing what they are supposed to.besides you have not had a SG that is the same three days in a row so your CO2 is still coming off and will protect your wine.

 

[Bartman]

I agree that there should be no rush to get a wine with grape skins out of the primary bucket. Even with a fast ferment, there is a lot of CO2 coming off it for 10-14 days, so any O2 exposure will be very limited to at least day 10. I would not be comfortable going past day 12 if it fermented to 1.000 by day 6, but to day 10, definitely. Got to get all those wonderful tannins and other goodies out of those grape skins! Also, if you have a kit with oak dust in the primary, they need a little time too.

 

[robie]

I haven't made a winery series in years, now I remember they want you to do the complete fermentation in the fermentation bucket.

There would not have been a problem leaving the wine in the fermentor bucket a little longer with the lid snapped and an air lock installed.

Here's what I would do... next time (just my opinion), taking into consideration this is a kit with a grape pack and not whole, crushed grapes.

The challenge here is to maximize skin exposure. To do this, the fermentation will need to progress slower. On one hand you want the temperature to get high so there will be better extraction of the goodies from the grape pack, but on the other hand, the higher the temperature, the faster the fermentation process will go.

When the SG is below 1.000, opening the bucket up everyday for over a week to stir would not be a good idea, even though some CO2 is still being blown off. However, leaving it closed for a week or more presents another problem, the grape pack will more than likely float, and letting it float for that long could result in mold or possibly the skins starting to rot.

For a kit, I think I would opt for the longer fermentation, made possible by keeping the temperature lower.

In order to maximize skin exposure, I would set the fermenter bucket in a tub of water, kept cool by periodically recycling the water. This will help keep the temperature inside the bucket down to below about 82F. I would place a towel over the opening and not install the lid until the SG gets below about 1.020. This will allow the fermentation to take a little longer with more days to stir, thus leaving the skins on longer without the danger of mold or rot.

I have found that I can put a heavy, sanitized glass in the mesh bag with the grape skins. This will not prevent the bag from floating but it will help it stay submerged a little longer. To keep the bag submerged, I keep the long stirring spoon pushed against the mesh bag and the lid holding the spoon in place.

There is also the thought that if the temperature goes higher, the extraction will go faster, so the fermentation will not need to last as long to get the same results. I am a believer that in most cases, slower is better.

I am interested in how others would handle this situation, where maximum grape pack exposure is necessary, but the wine tends to ferment out much sooner than the instructions assume.

 

[rjb222]

I made around 200 of these kits this year so far. My Brew room is kept a constant temperature of 23C. about 75F. I punch these kits down daily right through the ferment. Every once and a while the bag will sink toward the end of the 10 day cycle if it does this I will leave the ferment alone until day 14 I will then gently squeeze the bag out I do not try to get every thing out as I have been told that this will cause hazing issues and plug filters. Do not forget I work under a time line not at home so these are important issues for me due to cost and time spent producing the wine for my customers. I then clear the wine and degas in the primary put the lid back on and in about 1/2 hour rack to a carboy leaving behind the thickest junk IE oak chips and bentonite behind.Again there are laws I have to follow so I do not top up as it is against the law to do that unless the customer does it. I do not top up with water which would be legal but I have found though practice it just dilutes the wine so if the customer wants they bring in wine and top up at this time. I then allow the wine to rest for couple weeks and rack away from the drop out in the carboy. I then wait a couple more weeks and filter and book the bottling appointment.I do not recommend a winery series kit to a customer that has not fermented enough not to worry if there is not a reason to. Reading the hydrometer three days in a row on the las three days ending on clearing day is when to do that. My reasons are the customer takes the risk of infecting their expensive wine kit each time the hydrometer is used so I have found unless there is a problem or checking for ferment completion at the end of the time line leave the hydrometer in the tube it comes in during ferment. Take a hydrometer reading at the start and three days in a row starting at day 11. This is how I handle the winery series kits I sell.