# Fermentation temp



## mcorey (Mar 14, 2014)

I intend to crush and ferment 200 lbs of Argentinian Malbec grapes this spring. The grapes will ferment in a 32 gallon Brute container which will be in my 60 degree basement. 

Should I be adding heat to the area via heat belts or space heaters or will the heat generated from the fermenting grapes be enough?

Thanks in advance!


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## RegionRat (Mar 14, 2014)

mcorey said:


> I intend to crush and ferment 200 lbs of Argentinian Malbec grapes this spring. The grapes will ferment in a 32 gallon Brute container which will be in my 60 degree basement.
> 
> Should I be adding heat to the area via heat belts or space heaters or will the heat generated from the fermenting grapes be enough?
> 
> ...



What type of yeast are you planning on using? Most can do their thing in the 60deg range. It is easy to go to the yeast manufactures web page and read the recommended temp range. The ferment will be slower to cooler it is. In my opinion you get more flavor extraction the slower the ferment. I would say you are going to end up with 10-15 gal of finished wine.

RR


----------



## seth8530 (Mar 14, 2014)

Honestly, with that much grape all in one container, I would be more worried about it getting too hot than I would be about it not being hot enough.


----------



## sdelli (Mar 16, 2014)

mcorey said:


> I intend to crush and ferment 200 lbs of Argentinian Malbec grapes this spring. The grapes will ferment in a 32 gallon Brute container which will be in my 60 degree basement.
> 
> Should I be adding heat to the area via heat belts or space heaters or will the heat generated from the fermenting grapes be enough?
> 
> ...




That should yield you about 20 gallons of must.... Your container will be about 2/3 full which is perfect. I like to get the must temp up to about 65 to 70 before pitching.... 65 is the bottom side though... Try to keep the temp of the area it is fermenting in about the same.... So I guess my answer would be..... Yes. But i find belts are too aggressive. I use them only to warm the must up initially then use space heaters.....


Sam


----------



## mcorey (Mar 16, 2014)

Thank you all for the responses!


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## altavino (Mar 16, 2014)

seth8530 said:


> Honestly, with that much grape all in one container, I would be more worried about it getting too hot than I would be about it not being hot enough.



You don't get into volume / heat problems until you are fermenting at least half a tonne in one container ,, 200lbs is less than a full brute .

200lbs at 60'f ambient is still a bit on the low side , a small portable heater wouldn't be a bad idea .
Put something to act like insulation under the fermenter and wrap the fermenter in a moving blanket

200lbs of grapes will give you about 2 six gallon carboys of finished red wine .


----------



## seth8530 (Mar 16, 2014)

Depends on what you define as a problem.


----------



## JohnT (Mar 17, 2014)

I agree (word for word) with sdelli and altavino! 

Although some heat will be generated, you will not have to ever worry about your 20 gallons of must getting too warm. 

I normally open ferment in 600 liter vats and prefer to bring the must to 75 degrees before I pitch my yeast. I always take temp and sg reading twice daily during fermentation and I have never had a wine temp spike beyond 90 degrees.


----------



## manvsvine (Mar 17, 2014)

Agreed , we use the large brutes with 300 lbs plus in each one .
Getting them too hot is next too impossible unless your ambient temp is 100'f plus , it can actually be difficult to get an 85'f heat spike to get good extraction in them.


----------



## JohnT (Mar 18, 2014)

manvsvine said:


> Agreed , we use the large brutes with 300 lbs plus in each one .
> Getting them too hot is next too impossible unless your ambient temp is 100'f plus , it can actually be difficult to get an 85'f heat spike to get good extraction in them.


 
I almost always can realize a 90 degree spike (I prefer a 90 to 92 degree spike) in most cases. I like to burn off the fruit. 

I do this by adjusting the heat in the winery (lucky enough to have its own heat zone).


----------



## manvsvine (Mar 18, 2014)

I should have said without artificialy heating the winemaking area. you apply enough heat you could boil the must , but I was talking about the natural exothermic heat of the ferment, related to the 200- 400 lb volume.


----------

