WineXpert To Stir Kit Wine in Primary or Not?

[Geronimo]

If you get a vigorous fermentation, stirring is not necessary at all. If you don't, you should try to figure out what you did wrong (or didn't do) and fix it. The top 3 most important things for brewing anything are

1. Sanitation
2. Temp control
3. Happy, healthy yeast

Sticking a spoon in the fermenter sounds like a potential infection waiting to happen.

 

[lambert_the_old]

Yes Geronimo youre quite right the fermentation was very vigourous it has now settled down, and starting to turn and reddy orangish brown so I think its going to clear. I am amazed if this kit is still good but I guess we'll see, it sure smells good. I think if I did anything wrong I may not have stirred hard enough in primary but I"m always very diligent on cleanliness. The temperature has stayed at 70 exactly all the way through I use a heat gun on it. The yeast was in a sealed pack so who knows. It smells a lot better than the palm tree wine I had in Costa Rica.

 

[lambert_the_old]

Well the wine finished working in secondary still smells great and is now settling down. I think what I did wrong was get stuff off the bottom of the primary. It now has a great blush colour and is really clearing at the top. Thanks for the help. I think I'll be getting back into this. Is there a way not to use sulfites I'm asthmatic so I dont drink wine because of that. My wife is the lucky one I know this should be someplace else but have no clue how to put it there.

 

[Rocky]

If you get a vigorous fermentation, stirring is not necessary at all. If you don't, you should try to figure out what you did wrong (or didn't do) and fix it. The top 3 most important things for brewing anything are

1. Sanitation
2. Temp control
3. Happy, healthy yeast

Sticking a spoon in the fermenter sounds like a potential infection waiting to happen.

Geronimo, I am not disagreeing with you that sanitation is very important in wine making. I just have to laugh when I think of the way we used to make wine at home many years ago. It is a wonder that the wine turned out as well as it did.

We would buy 75 to 100 lugs a year and in our old garage the family would strip the grapes from the bunches into the crusher or into tubs and then into the crusher. If a bunch fell on the floor we would just pick it up and keep going. The "working barrels" used to sit in the garage all year long and when we needed to use them in the Fall, we just burned a sulfur stick in them hosed them out with hot water. Same with the fermenting barrels. The crusher was just washed with hot water. When we stirred the grapes or pushed down the cap, we used an old 2 x 4 and other than hitting it with hot water, never cared for it in any other way.

K-meta was unknown to us early on. Just hot water and sulfur sticks and the smell was awful. Somehow the wine turned out to be really good. Amazing.

 

[Geronimo]

Somehow the wine turned out to be really good. Amazing.

If you go back further in time, they didn't know that yeast existed. Wild yeasts did the job and did it well. Over time, they collected in the winery and the wines turned out consistently. It wasn't until pollution and the human population reached a certain point that sanitation became so profoundly important. Try a wild fermentation now and you'll likely just get spoilage... it's a sign of the times.

 

[Rocky]

We never used packaged yeast. It ws always the wild yeast that was on the grapes upon which we relied. I don't think I used packaged yeast until the 1990's or perhaps later. One thing about the "old way" was that wine varied greatly from one year to the next and we always attributed that to the grapes. There were, in fact, many other factors involved.

 

[lambert_the_old]

Lived in Costa Rica for four years and never thought of using mango's that fell all over my yard as wine. Kicking myself in pants now. Yes if it wasnt for all additives we wouldnt have much so true Rocky

 

[jdeere5220]

The WE kits say to pitch the yeast & leave in primary until SG remains same for three days.

That is NOT what the W.E. instructions say. They say to rack from primary to carboy when SG is at or below 1.010, and to leave in carboy until SG remains unchanged for three days. I always leave an extra few days myself, but just to clear that up.

Of course those who want to pick may point out, correctly, that this is all the "primary fermentation" phase. But the instructions clearly state to rack from the bucket to a carboy at or below 1.010.

 

[jdeere5220]

Well the wine finished working in secondary still smells great and is now settling down. I think what I did wrong was get stuff off the bottom of the primary.

I don't think you did anything wrong at all. There is nothing wrong with sucking a bit of the sediment along when you rack from primary to carboy. It will all settle out. Just take your time and give it plenty of time to clear before you bottle. The only thing you can do wrong at this point is bottle too fast and get sediment in your bottles which will definitely give you a bitter taste a year from now.

 

[bstnh1]

I've done kits both ways - stirring daily during primary and not stirring during primary. I've never noticed any difference in the rate of fermentation, the time it takes to finish fermenting or any difference in the final product. When I start, I mix it well with a Mix-Stir in the drill adding a good dose of oxygen for the yeast to get going. If I add oak chips, I usually give it a stir or two the first couple of days to make sure the oak gets mixed in and doesn't just sit on top. I keep the temperature 75 - 77 during both primary and secondary.