# Cooling wine to add yeast



## aljohnson85 (Nov 3, 2012)

Last night we made our first batch of wine - an Apple Riesling from a kit. When we were adding the large pack of fruit juices it said to add warm water with it. So the water was a little warmer when it came time to add the yeast (about 90 degrees). I DID NOT add the yeast at this time since the temperature needed to be about 70-75 degrees. 
I left it sitting over night to cool and this morning it was the correct temp and I added the yeast. 
So here's my concern: Is there a time limit on how long it can sit before you add the yeast? The directions said not to stir the yeast in, to just sprinkle on top. A lot of the fruit pack had settled to the bottom already. Is there anything wrong in doing this?


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## Impiryo (Nov 3, 2012)

You're fine. Anything but a kit, you would have probably k-meta'd first, them let sit for a day or two before fermentation, so your start is pretty typical (just not necessary for sterile kits). As for the sprinkling vs mixing yeast - I don't think it makes much of a difference. It's probably to ensure they have oxygen right when they rehydrate. They'll sink down quickly, and from my experimentation, sprinkling vs mixing really makes no perceivable difference. 

The biggest thing - you don't want yeast spending significant amounts of time in liquid that is too hot. Probably a wise call to have waited till the next day. You should be golden.


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## Runningwolf (Nov 3, 2012)

A lot of people will kmeta a day before adding yeast but I do not believe in it personally. If you make a good yeast starter it will become the dominate yeast and take over any wild yeast. Again, folks do it either way.

Next time you make a yeast starter like you did, add wine to it every 15 minutes cooling it down about 10* each time. This will feed the yeast, giving you a stronger starter. Once your temp is within 10* of the must you can add it in.


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## Tom_S (Nov 3, 2012)

Overnight shouldn't be a problem. Obviously you wouldn't want the juice to sit for a week because it would spoil, but 6 or 8 hours probably wouldn't hurt anything. It takes a while for room temperature juice to ferment enough alcohol to preserve it anyway, so a few extra hours isn't going to hurt anything.

The only exception I've seen is with watermelon juice, which spoils VERY quickly, and is the main reason it's so hard to make.


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## derunner (Nov 4, 2012)

aljohnson85 said:


> Last night we made our first batch of wine - an Apple Riesling from a kit. When we were adding the large pack of fruit juices it said to add warm water with it. So the water was a little warmer when it came time to add the yeast (about 90 degrees). I DID NOT add the yeast at this time since the temperature needed to be about 70-75 degrees.
> I left it sitting over night to cool and this morning it was the correct temp and I added the yeast.
> So here's my concern: Is there a time limit on how long it can sit before you add the yeast? The directions said not to stir the yeast in, to just sprinkle on top. A lot of the fruit pack had settled to the bottom already. Is there anything wrong in doing this?



I just mixed up a kit tonight with similar instructions. Heated 2 qt to mix in bentonite, then added juice from kit. Rinsed bag wih 1 gal warm water. then added about anoher gallon of slightly warm water and came up to 76 degrees after mixing thourghly. I went ahead and pitched.

I'm surprised you could get to 90F for the whole kit with adding warm water and mixing well. You may not need to use quie so warm of water next time when adding water. After adding the bag of juice, i like to mix well and take a temperature to see how warm to make the added water for rinsin and and reaching 6gal.


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## aljohnson85 (Nov 6, 2012)

Thanks everyone! This was my first time using this wine forum and I appreciate all the feedback!


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## DoctorCAD (Nov 7, 2012)

The instructions on a some packs of yeast say to re-hydrate at 90 - 105 degrees, so it wouldn't have hurt the yeast at all.


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## robie (Nov 7, 2012)

DoctorCAD said:


> The instructions on a some packs of yeast say to re-hydrate at 90 - 105 degrees, so it wouldn't have hurt the yeast at all.




True, they would just have taken off like gang-busters at that nice temperature. Now that the yeast is pitched, since this is an aromatic Riesling, let the temperature fall to the range as specified in the instructions, then ferment from there. During fermentation, the temperature is going to rise on its own, then fall back again when fermentation slows.

Enjoy!


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