Slow start to fermentation

[sully_home_wines]

Hello all. Glad to be a part of the group. I've been making wine, from kits mostly, for about 10 years but my first time joining a forum. I have a question right off the bat: I started a chardonnay from a kit 3 days ago. Started at SG of 1.080 on Day 1. Day 2 it was 1.090. Day 3 (today) it's 1.110! It's been bubbling since yesterday so I know fermentation has started. Is this normal for the first few days of fermenation? One thing to note, temp fluctuates from 62-74 F throughout the day, which I realize is a bit on the cold side for a white. Could this be a factor? --Thanks, Sully

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT!

I realize this question is aimed more at a rookie than a 10-year veteran, but are you sure that it isn't bubbles on your hydrometer lifting it up? If it is, give your hydrometer a spin and see if that changes anything.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Welcome to WMT! I agree with SG. The musk bubbling is causing the hydrometer to lift up. I thought that at first. I do nothing for the first 6 days.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Welcome to WMT
My first thought was poor mixing. Yeast are good at fermenting sugar, they would reproduce where a high density of sugar spot is and consume it. Mixing procedure you follow? Some meads / country wines have mixing directions for the purpose of mixing oxygen into the must. Yeast need oxygen to reproduce, in the wine club Tom would say mix a white juice to add some air when the gravity has dropped to 1.060 to 1.050 then move to a carboy with airlock
Bubbles is a good explanation if you read above 1.095 on a kit. To test this idea. You could microwave 100 ml for 45 seconds to make CO2 less soluble > mix to remove gas > cool as resting five minutes in a new room temp container > take reading. Option two; collect in a jar and shake the bejeezes out of the wine > burp the jar > shake a second tine > take your reading.
There are temperature effects. In gravity readings. In the microwave procedure I would expect the gravity to read 0.002 to 0.003 low if you read it when warm.

 

[BPL]

IMO, 3 days into a ferment with increasing gravity that much is strange. The manufacturer of the kit is not mentioned. Here are a few possibilities.

> If the kit was one shipped with frozen juice, the increasing gravity is very likely a mixing issue. I have experienced it first hand. I started warming a couple of gallons of water to about 100*F and adding first when using these kits. Even then, I measure gravity multiple times over an hour or so before moving forward.

> I understand this is a white wine, most likely without skins. However, I've seen where adding skins with a different sugar content will shift the starting juice gravity. The same principle happens with acidity.

> Bubbles on the hydrometer tube is a possibility. Even with giving the tube a violent spin, the reading (floating level) can change by the time the spinning stops. This will depend on the yeast activity, and believe it or not, the type of yeast. Three days after pitching at a cool temperature marks about the time of 1/3 sugar depletion and maximum yeast activity. Rice Guy has a good test. I'll have to try that.

> As an FYI, I always ferment white wines on cool side, no higher than 65*F (+/- 1* with temp controller). If using EC1118, the yeast will work quite well with must temperatures in the mid 50*F's.

I hope you find the answers in your situation. Good luck!

Barry

 

[winemaker81]

A 12 degree change in temperature may alter the SG by 1 point, but not the large difference you noted.

I agree it's probably a mixing error. A while back I conducted a study -- about 90% of the time I found a difference in SG between mixing a must in the evening, and after stirring the next morning, just prior to inoculation.

Concentrate is very thick and it needs a lot of effort to fully homogenize it. My answer? When I'm positive that I've stirred enough -- stir again. If you don't have a drill-mounted stirring rod, it's worth the investment.

My fall wines are fermented at cellar temperature, typically between 62 F and 68 F, so a colder ferment is not a problem with commercial yeast strains.

 

[Wineart]

A 12 degree change in temperature may alter the SG by 1 point, but not the large difference you noted.

I agree it's probably a mixing error. A while back I conducted a study -- about 90% of the time I found a difference in SG between mixing a must in the evening, and after stirring the next morning, just prior to inoculation.

Concentrate is very thick and it needs a lot of effort to fully homogenize it. My answer? When I'm positive that I've stirred enough -- stir again. If you don't have a drill-mounted stirring rod, it's worth the investment.

My fall wines are fermented at cellar temperature, typically between 62 F and 68 F, so a colder ferment is not a problem with commercial yeast strains.

 

[Wineart]

And for mixing, if you have a wide container and an electric driven mixer, try mixing on the greatest angle you can achieve, rather than just horizontally. It will help blend the thicker bottom concentrate with the added water.

 

[sully_home_wines]

Welcome to WMT!

I realize this question is aimed more at a rookie than a 10-year veteran, but are you sure that it isn't bubbles on your hydrometer lifting it up? If it is, give your hydrometer a spin and see if that changes anything.

I didn't think about bubbles on the hydrometer. Makes sense. It's champagne yeast afterall. I will try the spin technique. Thanks!

 

[winemaker81]

I didn't think about bubbles on the hydrometer. Makes sense. It's champagne yeast afterall. I will try the spin technique. Thanks!

All yeast produce CO2. "Champagne" yeast is notable as the ABV tolerance is high to help ensure a secondary fermentation in the bottle for Methode Champenoise.

Funny, spinning the hydrometer to dislodge any bubbles is so engraIned in me that I don't even think of it, I just do it.