The experiences and results of others making this kit have encouraged me to get my kit started. So, I started my kit on Thursday afternoon.
After using 2 liters of boiling water to dissolve the packet of bentonite in the primary fermenter, I added the juice from kit and topped up to 23 liters with bottled spring water that I had chilling overnight in the fridge. The must was too hot at 88° Fahrenheit, after the chilled water addition, so I decided to wait until the following morning to pitch the yeast. Come Friday morning, the temperature of the must was 78°; still too high.
The instructions that came with the kit were specific with regard to the temperature; it must be between 72° and 75° for inoculation purposes. I, therefore, added ice in a baggy to the must to bring the temperature down further and pitched the yeast when the temperature reached 74°.
Maintaining adequate temperatures for making white wines in Miami is challenging when its 95° outside.
The kit came with Lalvin EC-1118. There were two yeast cultures in my wine supplies inventory that I considered using as a substitute for the EC-1118, Lalvin QA23 and Red Star Cotes des Blanc. Although, both of these yeast cultures have similar characteristics, I elected to use the Red Star yeast to bring out more of the aromatics of the Gewürztraminer in the juice mixture.
I replenished the ice bag last night and twice so far today as I write this during the early part of Saturday afternoon. With ice bags in the primary fermenter, the temperature of the must hovers between 74° and 75°. As a precaution, I spray the outside of the baggy with a Kmeta solution before returning it to the primary fermenter to minimize the introduction of outside bacteria that may be picked up from the outlet of my refrigerator's ice maker.
My plan is to continue icing down the must to the extent possible during the remainder of the primary fermentation stage.