WineXpert fermenting Pinot Gris

[rrussell]

Started my Pinot Gris today. The directions look to be the same for it as they are for red wine. says to ferment at a temperature between 65 and 75. I thought it had to ferment at cooler temps. Any suggestions out there? Thanks.

 

[grapeman]

A good share of kits use the same directions for both reds and whites. They suggest you ferment in the optimal zone for the yeasts so there is less chance of anything going wron. Just hang to the lower end of the range once you see fermentation begin. Check the must temperature, not the room temperature. Good luck with it and have fun. The end product should be very good.

 

[smurfe]

Appleman is right, try to stick to the lower temps but not too low. If the temps are too low the yeast go dormant. If too high they burn up pretty fast and can leave off flavors. Don't stress it. It is pretty easy and if it is a bit warm, it normally turns out just fine. I had two batches of reds going when Hurricane Katrina and Ritahit me. I was without power for a total of around three weeks between both storms. It got well over 90 in my house. Both wines turned out fabulous.

 

[Wade E]

Manufacturers want their kits guaranteed to ferment to dry every time so thats what they instruct you to do even though the yeast manufacturer says that yeast is good to 45* If it fermented at that temp though it would take a lot longer and W.E could not call it a 4 week kit or whatever size kit this is.

 

[rrussell]

Thanks for the imput I will try to keep it toward the 65 degree range once it starts fermenting.

 

[rrussell]

one more question if I could. Mosti kits have you stir your wine every day during the first part of primary fermentation. Does anyone do this with Wine expert kits or other kits?

 

[PeterZ]

I'm pretty lax about that. I'll pop the top every couple of days to stir, but I don't think I have ever stirred a Mosti kit every day. Never had a problem. Edited by: PeterZ

 

[Wade E]

I am with peter on this though if you do snap the lid on it is a good idea to open and get some 02 in there every day.

 

[rrussell]

Just stirred it and it is perking along pretty good. I will give it some air every day since I like to peek anyway. Thanks for the info.

 

[rrussell]

pinot gris has been fermenting for 4 days and still looks more like apple cider than wine. Is that normal for this time? Juice was not clear when I started. Thanks, Ron

 

[Wade E]

Yea, thats normal, it really takes until its clearing before a white wine loks like a whit wine.

 

[rrussell]

Thanks Wade for answering all these questions. this is my first white wine and everything is new for me.

 

[Wade E]

Look at my Peach ice wine in the post(Peach Ice Wine) and youll see that it probably looks the same.
Edited by: wade

 

[rrussell]

I've had this in the final clearing stage for one month. It has a little sediment in the bottom but looks nice and clear. My thought is to rack it off this sediment this weekend, let it set for a week, then rack into primary and add K-meta and bottle. Does this sound ok or do you think I am racking too much in a short period of time? Thanks for any imput. Ron.

 

[PeterZ]

Sounds good to me, Ron.