early fermentation???

[rkfelpel]

i have just recently picked up my chilean grape juice. i noticed that it has started to ferment without me doing anything to it so far. the grape juice is pre acid adjusted and pre ph balanced but not innoculated with yeast, just the natural yeast from the grapes?
What should i do?
is there anyrhing i can do?
can i add the potaium metasulfite and kill the natural yeast and then start with the yeast i bought to fermenet it with?

 

[Skyhawk]

Juice buckets are often pre-inoculated with some yeast, especially those juices that are balanced. Then they keep them cool to prevent fermentation in transit and storage. You may want to ask your supplier (however in my experience half of them don't know themselves!). Most of the juice that isn't labeled as "sterile" that I've bought has been inoculated already.

Then again, it could be raw wild juice. If it's fermenting well and giving no off odors, I'd leave it alone. If it's fermenting slowly or just getting started, I'd add a killer strain of yeast such as EC-1118 to play it safe.

If its fermenting nicely, stopping it without resorting to extreme measures that might damage your future wine will be difficult.

 

[Chateau Joe]

If it's fermenting slowly or just getting started, I'd add a killer strain of yeast such as EC-1118 to play it safe.
.

That is what I have done in the past with 100% success.

 

[rkfelpel]

it ia actually going pretty fast i was wondering if skyhawk is correct and the supplier does not actually know what is in the bucket.

Since it is going pretty good do i still a killer strain of yeast?
Or
Take a hydrometer reading in a day or two and see if when the fermenting stops or slows down if it reads below 1.000 spefic gravity and start the procees from there or add more yeast to get the specfic gravity to that level

 

[Wade E]

I had the samething with my last batch of LodiGold Chenin Blanc. I bought it very late in the season and they had had it in their fridge room which was about 428 and the ting was actually fermenting in there very slowly and had made it down to 1.042 when I got it home and realized this. they said ther was no way that it would ferment in there but I knew it was possible as my friend had bought 1 a few weks prior to mine and told me his was fermented a little also. They were like 1/2 price.

 

[Skyhawk]

Since it is going pretty good do i still a killer strain of yeast?

If a vigorous fermentation is already happening and everything smells "normal", I wouldn't worry about adding more yeast. Even EC-1118 may have difficulty killing off the existing yeast at this point if most of the oxygen has already been used up. Just be on the lookout for H2S smells or the fermentation suddenly going off. Obviously one should be on the lookout for these even when using a known, cultured yeast.

 

[rkfelpel]

i just took a specfic gravity readingit was 1.050 at or around 60 degrees the air lock is still bubbling away and smells good.

my concern is it is going to stop fermenting and will all the sugar still be in the juice and not converted to alcohol.

what would you guys recommend?

putting a half packet of yeast just in case?

Moving it to a location that is closer to 70 degrees and not add the yeast and just see where the specfic gravity reading is when the air lock stops bubbling ?

or something that is a little of both?

 

[Luc]

As far as my knowledge goes you might run into a problem if you add a package of yeast, just like that.

Yeast builds up an alcohol tolerance all the way during fermentation.
Dry yeast does not have that toleration.
So when you add a package off dry yeast it might just do nothing.

I would make a yeast starter of a liter or so. Let that ferment for a day and that way you are sure you are adding a healthy yeast colony with an alcohol tolerancy.

Luc

 

[rkfelpel]

well friends it has been 19 days and my sg reading is 1.000 or a little less at 62 -64 degrees or so. the fermentation process has slowed down tremendously but the air lock is still bubbling about one every 10 to 20 seconds. i have done nothing to it since i last posted just kept an eye on it. my question now is do i wait until the sg reading is about .990 before i rack off the lees and clear or since things have slowed down a bit just wait for the airlock to just stop bubbling at all before going to the next step. besides does it sound like everything is going all right so far?

thanks
Rich

patience is a virtue but that is one virtue i dont have. (yet hopefully)

 

[rkfelpel]

i was wondering if any one can tell me if this is normal but since last i wrote i have cleared the wine and added french oak chips in a sock (not a real sock, i forget the proper name for it) so after one week of this i tasted the wine for the amount of oak flavor in it and it still tasted sweet but otherwise really good. does the sweetness go away after bottling or does this mean that not all the sugar was turned until alcohol(the last sg reading was just below 1.000)?

Thanks
Rich

 

[Luc]

At 1000 the wine is not still completely dry.

Water has a gravity of 1000, alcohol much lower.
So a wine which is a mixture of mainly water and alcohol should have a SG lower as 1000. If it still is at 1000 there are some solids still dissolved in the wine, and those are sugar.
So that is why the wine still tastes a bit sweet.

A week is to short to notice the oak, give it some more time.

Luc

 

[rkfelpel]

thank you luc for responding
i took a sg reading on 7/14/09 and it read 1.000 or just right below it. what do you recommed be my next step? will the wine eventually dry itself outin the bottle?