# Can you spend too long at primary fermentation ?



## jontallon

I'm starting my third wine kit now. In the first two kits I did, the primary fermentation has been very agressive - the wine has been almost done fermenting before going into the secondary. I have the primary in a relatively warm area of the basement, wrapped in a blanket, so the temp stays at about 72 degrees - so the fermentation goes quickly. The first batch I did was in the primary for 10 days, the second for 8, and the result was the same with both.

I'm just curious - is it really a BAD thing to do too much fermentation in the primary ? Should I be checking the SG daily and moving it to the secondary as soon as it gets to the recommended point for the kit, or is it ok to let it sit 7 to 10 days and then move it, even if the SG has moved closer to the 'finished' SG for the wine...

Hope that makes sense. I'm just wondering if I am being TOO patient with the primary fermentation - if I need to catch it earlier...

Thanks !


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## wyntheef

The basic premise of primary-to secondary is that as the fermentation slows, there is less of a co2 blanket to protect the must from oxidation. The kits I have done use an sg of 1.000 as a target point for transfer.
I think it's important to try and stay in that area, but practically speaking, unless you are able to be checking it every hour, you may find that it could be past the target point somewhat. 
No worries, just do what they tell you and get it moved when sg is at or below 1.000.


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## Tom

It depends on what you mean "long time in primary".
A week or 2 shouldnt hurt. Now if left in primary for months then thats another story. 
I know people that leave it till it goes dry (.990) before racking to secondary.


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## Noontime

The two things you really need to be concerned with have already been mentioned. Moving from primary to secondary container is to get the wine off the gross lees so no off flavors occur (this takes quite some time for the dead yeast cells to actually decay), and get your wine out of the primary which provides a very large surface area to contact air. Depending on how your primary is sealed, you could go a few weeks in there before transfering. Of course different kits have different directions, so you may be told to transfer the gross lees over as well, but my point is there's really nothing to worry about...you have plenty of wiggle room.


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## robie

This is a little late on the response, but...

The first stage of fermentation requires oxygen. The second stage requires that exposure to oxygen be as close to fully eliminated as is possible.

Typically per instructions, when the fermentation is taking place in the primary, it is meant to be exposed to air (for oxygen). At about the time the fermentation is to be moved to secondary, it is time to eliminate exposure to air. 

If you have a fully sealable fermentor, which also can take an air lock, you can do both stages in the same fermentor container. You seal the fermentor and add the air lock when the SG gets to the SG mentioned in the instructions, where the wine would normally be transferred to secondary.

However, what was said above about over access to gross lees and to skins is still an issue, if fully fermented in the primary fermentor. Some wines can stay on the lees and on skins longer than others. Just do your research for the particular wine you are fermenting at the time.


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## Elicia

I started a batch of muscadine wine in a 3 gallon bucket. I covered it with a towel & let it sit for 8 days. There was bubbling, but not as significant as I expected. There was not much juice produced, it is mostly pulp. Could this mean it did not ferment correctly?


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## bchilders

Elicia said:


> I started a batch of muscadine wine in a 3 gallon bucket. I covered it with a towel & let it sit for 8 days. There was bubbling, but not as significant as I expected. There was not much juice produced, it is mostly pulp. Could this mean it did not ferment correctly?



What was the SG when you started and what is it now?


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## Ilwicht

started a batch of chardonnay November 6th not our first but we didn't get it out of the primary on time( was supposed to go to secondary on November 22) and now sitting here with no idea what to do. it has a bunch of fruit fly larva but still smells ok ....should I dump it and try again? or go on with it and just do a taste test to see is it is ok? no bad smells no vinegar etc


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## sour_grapes

I would certainly give it a taste. With visible fruit-fly larvae, I am not too optimistic, however.....


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## Noontime

Ilwicht- It's my understanding that nothing that will make you sick can survive in wine because of the high alcohol and acidity. That being said... fly larvae is by far the worst "infection" I've ever heard of (I'm by no means an expert). I suppose you could treat it like any other spoilage and rack it off and taste, give it a dose of kmeta. I've only dumped one 1 gallon batch due to spoilage, and I'm a big believer in waiting (years sometimes) to see what a wine will become. But even I don't know if I'd ever drink a wine that had fly larvae (just due the "ick" factor)...I think that's good question to ask yourself.


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