# primary fermentation temp



## moose (Dec 30, 2007)

Is 77 degrees on the primary too high? We have the top snapped on, we did not put the airlock in. It is a Barolo. Thanks


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## grapeman (Dec 30, 2007)

That is a bit on the warm side, but not really too high. At that warmer temp, it will ferment faster. If you just snap the lid on, place some type of thin cloth over the hole to keep bugs, dust out and it will be fine for the first few days in the primary.


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## moose (Dec 30, 2007)

Thanks appleman, started out this morning at about 72. Went and picked up the adhesive thermometer this afternoon and has been reading a steady 77. Will keep a close watch.


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## smurfe (Dec 30, 2007)

Is the room temperature 77 or is the temp of the must 77? If there is an active fermentation rolling you will see temps of the wine higher than the ambient temps. That is on the warm side though. My last batch was in a 65 degree room and the temp sticker on the bucket read 74 degrees.


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## moose (Dec 30, 2007)

The temperature of the must is at 77 and the room temp is around 70. That is with the temp sticker on the bucket. This being our first kit, I'm a little nervous about what is going on, want to do it right. The instructions say to keep it between 65-75 degrees.


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## kaluba (Dec 30, 2007)

wrap a wet towel around it in the tub that might work *Edited by: kaluba *


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## grapeman (Dec 30, 2007)

Moose you could move it near a door on the exterior wall or any other place that may be a little cooler. 77 is nothing to worry about. Room temperature of 77 would give a must temp of close to 85 which could be a bit too high, but you are alright.


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## moose (Dec 30, 2007)

It's starting to sound like I may be able to get some sleep tonite instead of staying up to watch the temp of the must. Thanks everyone!


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## Wade E (Dec 30, 2007)

Just dont let it get to much higher.


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## moose (Dec 30, 2007)

I'll try and make sure it doesn't go any higher. I took your suggestion Wade and purchased a couple of those thermometers. Work good and simple to use.


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## Wade E (Dec 30, 2007)

I hated pulling out the thermometer all the time or having to open the primary and especially the carboy to check the temp.


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## moose (Dec 30, 2007)

I haven't opened the primary since it was covered yesterday morning. Is that something a person should do? I was just going to leave it closed until the 5th day or should we be checking the SG more often?


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## myway22 (Dec 30, 2007)

Its not something you have to do, but I'm sure by sometime tomorrow curiousity will get the best of you and you'll take a peak. I find myself taking a look one or twice a day for a quick second.


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## moose (Dec 30, 2007)

You're probably right, maybe after we get home from work tomorrow. I'm hoping the temp will be down by then also.


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## Wade E (Dec 30, 2007)

It wont hurt to get some oxygen in there. If there is any fruit in there then you should be pushing the fruit down twice a day, if not you dont have to do anything but check the SG periodically.


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## moose (Dec 30, 2007)

Sounds good, the must will be checked tomorrow and the SG to see where we stand.


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## moose (Dec 31, 2007)

Got home from work this afternoon. Cleaned the hydrometer and took the cover off our fermenter to check the must. Temp has been holding around 75. When we started this on Saturday morning the SG was 1.076. Having checked it today, the SG is at 1.036. Left the cover loose and covered with a cloth. Looks to be going in the right direction. Tomorrow will be the 3rd day and the instructions say between 5-7 days to reach the right SG.


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## Wade E (Dec 31, 2007)

Dont go by days as that is pretty generic. Follow the directions for SG as that is more specific. The kit manufactures include a time schedule just to let new wine makers have a basic idea of how long or quick these things happen.


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## moose (Dec 31, 2007)

Thanks for the advice Wade. I will start to check it daily then to make sure we don't let it get to low.


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## Wade E (Dec 31, 2007)

You dont have to be exact, just close. Some kit manufacturers have you complete fermentation in primary bucket while others have you rack around 1.020. Each company has different reasons for such. RJ Spagnols has you complete in bucket which allows your wine to degas much better and you rack off the sediment as they use a different fining agent which does not need all the lees to be stirred in as other clearing agents do. Other kit manufacturers have you rack earlier including all the sediment. what this does is give you a better blanket of CO2 to protect your wine from O2 and that their fining agents require the sediment as it needs to attach itself to the sediment(lees) to work properly. Both of these instructions work well. All wines need to be thoroughly degassed at a temp of around 73* as cooler temps will make the wine hold the gas more and not properly degas. If your wine is not properly degassed it will not properly clear up thus leaving a haze.


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## moose (Dec 31, 2007)

The WE kit that we are making calls for us to rack it into a carboy when the SG reaches 1.010 or less. We will rack the wine as close as possible to the 1.010 SG reading then. Also states to leave most of the sediment behind. I'm looking forward to doing that already. We practiced with our auto siphon when we measured out exactly 23 litres.


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## moose (Jan 2, 2008)

It is now day 4 and a half. The temp has been running a steady 73 degrees. Just checked the SG and it is at 1.002. Checked it 3 times. Even though the instructions say 5-7 days to drop below 1.010. So, should we rack this into a carboy now or wait until the 5th day?


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## Wade E (Jan 2, 2008)

Is the SG what you typed pr it actually 1.020. Follow the instructions, if it is at the 1.002 like you typed then rack it now, if it is at 1.020 and the instruction say 1.010 then wait till its there.


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## moose (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the answer Wade, I checked and double checked and it read 1.002. We are sanitizing everything now to rack the must. Do we have to worry about keeping the temperature in a certain range like we did with the primary firmentation?


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## Wade E (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, especially now as if it got to cold it would stop fermenting early and you will have a stuck fermentation. In other words, it would finish sweet and you dont want that with a red wine. That really should have been racked the other day but it will be fine. You should keep the temps up until it has been stabilized with the sorbate and the sulfite and has been degassed and then cleared nicely. At that point you can rack off lees and store at cooler temps or bottle.


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## moose (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Wade, The temp is 72 right now and we have it wrapped in a jacket. Do you think we can put the belt on if it starts to cool? Does it need to stay dark, or will daylight affect it? And does it need to stay warm the entire 10 days until the next step? Thanks again.


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## Wade E (Jan 2, 2008)

It should stay warm until ready to bulk age and daylight is no good, keep it wrapped as that will help it stay warm and you can add the brew belt if it starts to cool down.


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## moose (Jan 2, 2008)

I took some pictures to post but can't get them to upload. I'll try tomorrow after work. We will keep it warm and wrapped up. It is bubbling about every 5 seconds right now.Thanks for the help this evening, Gene and Marcia


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## Wade E (Jan 2, 2008)

The pics must be smaller than 150 kb's total and can not have any commas, apostrophes, or hyphens or anything of the sort. Just name them simply wine 1, wine 2. Its also hrd to post many pics at one time. You may have to shrink the size of the photos with a picture resizer. Here is a link to help.
Upload Picture Instructions


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## myway22 (Jan 3, 2008)

Everyone seems to be on the same page when it comes to not following the number of days, but the SG readings. Also, everyone has stated that most of the time you could go a few extra days on certain steps and it would be okay. I have three batches going, all in different stages right now, and with all three, it seems that the SG readings are days *ahead* of schedule. Everything appears to be fine with the progress and the temps, but is this okay that the SG is dropping ahead of what the kit suggests?


Example: Day 11 on a MM Pinot Grigio Kit the SG is already at 0.995.


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## Wade E (Jan 3, 2008)

That is fine.


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## moose (Jan 6, 2008)

Here we are at day 4 1/2 in the secondary fermentation. Decided to check the SG to see where it was in relation to the 10 days the instruction has written in it. We got a SG reading of .992 already. Instructions say don't check it for 10 days. We triple checked the reading and came up with the same each time. Will check it tomorrow to see if it still at the same SG. Doesn't this seem quick? Been keeping the carboy a consistent 70* to 72*. By the way, the instructions say to have a SG of .996 or less after 10 days.


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## Wade E (Jan 6, 2008)

Some fermentations are faster then others and this is why we stress to go by SG rather than # of days as that can vary too much.


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## moose (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks again Wade. You and everyone else have been invaluable to us Newbie wine making people. We will check it tomorrow and if it remains the same, we will be moving on to the next step.


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## Joanie (Jan 6, 2008)

I don't know what it is about winemakers but they just love to share their knowledge! It's great!


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## myway22 (Jan 6, 2008)

Wade, that was actually the question I meant to ask on the previous page. If the SG is days ahead of where it should be, do you proceed to the next step, or give it the extra days?


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## Wade E (Jan 6, 2008)

The only time that it really matters is getting it from primary bucket to carboy as you want some fermentation gases to protect the wine in the carboy. after that time is on your side. But if you have a stable SG in the range that it should be then you may proceed to the next step. Just make sure its stable by checking the SG a few days in a row.


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## moose (Jan 7, 2008)

We just finished mixing, adding the packets,mixing and topping off with a Merlot. Then we looked at the carboy and there seems to be 2 inches of sediment on the bottom. Is this a problem? Thanks.


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## hannabarn (Jan 7, 2008)

That 2 inches is probably about 3/8 of an inch magnified by the curvature of the carboy


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## moose (Jan 7, 2008)

So that is OK then? And now for the next 14 days should we still keep it around 70 degrees and dark? Thanks for your quick answer, we were panicking and I think you are right about the magnification.


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## grapeman (Jan 7, 2008)

You will also find that the lees compact in the next week or so. Usually when you rack there isn't a ton of crud. Keep the temp about the same and dark is always good.


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## moose (Jan 7, 2008)

Thank you so much. I don't know what we would do without this forum. We probably would have thrown the whole thing out and started over a few times already. Another thing we are worried about is that when we degassed the wine we did not get a lot of big bubbles. We used the stirrer on the drill and mixed for longer then they said, to make sure we had it mixed well.


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## Wade E (Jan 7, 2008)

Big bubbles is not gas, th smaller bubble are gas. Before you bottle, degas again to make sure.


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## moose (Jan 7, 2008)

This is heading into the 14 day stretch. Hopefully this has been resized properly. It sure smells good. If the picture shows up ok, you can see the sediment in the bottom of the carboy.


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## Wade E (Jan 7, 2008)

Nice job, before racking, tilt the carboy with a wedge so most of the lees will be on 1 side. Do this a day ahead of time so you can put the racking cane in the other end and get more wine out with less lees.


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## moose (Jan 8, 2008)

Thanks for the tip, on the way home from work we were talking about buying another carboy to rack into and then bulk age it in the basement for a few months or so.


Gene &amp; Marcia


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## Wade E (Jan 8, 2008)

Good idea to bulk age with a red as you really cant see that or if it is still dropping a small amount of sediment.


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## moose (Jan 8, 2008)

Sounds like we may be placing an order for some more accessories for our new hobby. It seems like everyone at work is expecting a bottle of wine already. 


Gene &amp; Marcia


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## grapeman (Jan 8, 2008)

moose said:


> It seems like everyone at work is expecting a bottle of wine already.
> 
> 
> Gene &amp; Marcia




Only expecting one? You might catch up in a few months with demand and be able to age a couple!


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