How to extend fermentation time

[Paulie vino]

I'm using avante to ferment my 3 lugs of grapes. The starting brix was 23 and the must volume was around 12 gallons give or take some. I planned to add fermaid of at cap formation and 1/3 sugar depletion, adding half of the total required each time, or about 18g spread out over 2 doses.

I crushed the grapes at noon, added enzymes and then pitched yeast at 8pm. By the next day, Sunday, there was a cap around 3pm and brix was down to 22 so I added 9g of fermaid o.

By monday around 5pm the brix was 15, the must temp had increased from mid 70s to mid 80s so fermentation was going well. I decided to add only 3g of fermaid o (instead of 9g) because I wanted to stretch out the fermentation knowing that it was already progressing quickly.

This morning, Tuesday, around 10am the brix was down to 1 and the must temp was still in the mid 80s. So from the time I crushed Saturday around noon to this morning is just short of 3 days of maceration and the must is pretty much done. I will press tomorrow afternoon which will be 4 days of maceration.

If you were trying to get more maceration time without doing extended maceration, would you skip a nutrient addition when using this yeast? There's no chance of hydrogen sulfur so maybe it would be ok? Any thoughts on how to extend the fermentation time? I was hoping to get more body and color, 4 days seems a little short.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Keep the temperatures down to extend maceration.

 

[Raptor99]

Keep the temperatures down to extend maceration.

@Paulie vino And I would add that trying to slow down fermentation by delaying nutrient additions might end up producing H2S, which the yeast will produce when they are stressed.

 

[Paulie vino]

The must temp never got past 87, which is within range as far as I know. I thought about using ice water bottles to cool it down but I wanted the extraction provided by the higher temperature. For the first 2 days it warmed up from 66 to mid 70s then took off and was in the mid 80s through this morning. Ill check the temp again when I get home Tonight. It seems like once it hit the mid 80s the sugar levels dropped fairly quickly. I was hoping for a one or two day window of those temps and then another day or two of fermentation in the 70s to continue the maceration period but it seems like most of the sugar was consumed in that high temperature period.

As for the fermaid additions, Ive run into H2S problems before when using other yeast but when using avante specifically I would like to to hear from those who have used it what their nutrition schedule looks like and how long their fermentations last usually. I think avante may just be a fast fermenter.

I just want to get enough color and body from the skins, I don't care how long the fermentation periods lasts.

 

[winemaker81]

@Ohio Bob and @Raptor99 are spot on.

You have a trade off: higher temperature will mean more activity in the yeast, so you'll have a shorter fermentation cycle. You can't have higher temperature and longer ferment.

One option now is EM. Do a final punch down on the cap, cover the fermenter, and let it set for 5 to 10 days before pressing.

In the future you can use maceration enzymes to improve extraction at a lower temperature.

 

[Paulie vino]

Thanks, I used enzymes so hope they help, as well as optired and powdered tannin. I punched down and put a lid on the top. That should suffice until tomorrow when I press. I would like to try EM but maybe another year, I'm not confident in my skills yet to try that this year.