Wines that ferment at higher temperatures
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Pinot noir is often fermented cool to try to capture those subtle aromatics similar to those in a white aromatic white .
More of an old world style .
Others ferment Pinot with a heat spike to really pull the essence out of the thin grape skins
This applies to Sangiovese too.
But it's most common for reds to be fermented warmer . When in doubt it's the default practice
More of an old world style .
Others ferment Pinot with a heat spike to really pull the essence out of the thin grape skins
This applies to Sangiovese too.
But it's most common for reds to be fermented warmer . When in doubt it's the default practice
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corinth
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wines that ferment at highr temperatures
I apologize but I have read a bit about " heat spikes?" Before I go drive myself crazy and look up stuff on this site and others, could you help by giving me a quick (?) rundown on how this works. I know several of you have mentioned this.
thanks
Corinth
I apologize but I have read a bit about " heat spikes?" Before I go drive myself crazy and look up stuff on this site and others, could you help by giving me a quick (?) rundown on how this works. I know several of you have mentioned this.
thanks
Corinth
The heat spike is timed so it coincides with the peak of fermentation .
Fermentations are exothermic so produce some heat on their own .
They produce the most heat when the yeast is most active .
To get it to spike up around 85-90 and get the timing right my practice (it Verys a little) what I do is apply the extra heat ( you can use a brew belt , coils , plates or improvise) when I add the first nutrient addition ( just after lag) and leave it on past the second nutrient addition at 1/3 of the way into ferment and turn off the extra heat just before the 50 percent dry mark or when it hits 86-90 'f
Then apply no extra heat , just let ambient and the musts own exothermic heat take it through until dry.
I use a probe thermometer stuck into the top of the cap to check the temperature before every punch down to monitor progress and ensure I don't go to much over 90 .
Fermentations are exothermic so produce some heat on their own .
They produce the most heat when the yeast is most active .
To get it to spike up around 85-90 and get the timing right my practice (it Verys a little) what I do is apply the extra heat ( you can use a brew belt , coils , plates or improvise) when I add the first nutrient addition ( just after lag) and leave it on past the second nutrient addition at 1/3 of the way into ferment and turn off the extra heat just before the 50 percent dry mark or when it hits 86-90 'f
Then apply no extra heat , just let ambient and the musts own exothermic heat take it through until dry.
I use a probe thermometer stuck into the top of the cap to check the temperature before every punch down to monitor progress and ensure I don't go to much over 90 .
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Here is a graph that is much like the ones that I make up for each of my vintages. If you look at the purple line, you can see an example of the "Spike". Fermentation is much like a bell curve where you almost always have a "top of the curve" where fermentation is at it's max. Just like manvsvine said, heat is produced during fermentation. The higher the rate of fermentation, the more heat is produced.
