Too hot primary ferment

[winemaker81]

Ok, I hate to be a pain but can you explain why for me? My partner thinks
“I think it’s good to put the wine in a clean and calm environment sooner rather than later. And separated from the chunks and sediment”

One of the things about winemaking that is often difficult to understand is that totally different methods all work fine. "When to first rack?" is the poster child for this oddity.

Some folks rack whites and fruits around 1.050, to preserve volatile aromas. Others rack around 1.020 or 1.010, or let the wine ferment to dryness. All racking points are fine.

How long has the wine been at 1.040? Your first post was Thursday and the wine was at 1.060 then. If it's been a 1.040 for a day or so, there's probably nothing wrong.

Your partner wants to rack now? His wine, his choice. I'd do as he asks. It's not going to hurt anything, and the act of racking may spur activity in the wine. Note that you may have a lot of activity post-racking, so don't fill the carboy too much, yet. I wrote a few posts regarding what I do -- look at the section titled Racking on my Whitepapers page. Each post is a 5 or 10 minute read.

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/whitepapers/

Note -- I don't do advertising, collection person information, or run a forum (other than being a moderator here).

 

[ChuckD]

what Brian said. One thing to consider when racking is what is in that sediment.

Fine lees consist of dead yeast cells. They won’t hurt anything and can stay in the carboy as long as it’s kept topped up.

Gross lees (yeast cells and fruit solids) are more prone to spoilage if left in an environment with oxygen. As long as your wine is still producing CO2 they can be left in the carboy. Wine is usually moved off of gross lees shortly before or after fermentation is complete.

 

[Lauraliejean]

One of the things about winemaking that is often difficult to understand is that totally different methods all work fine. "When to first rack?" is the poster child for this oddity.

Some folks rack whites and fruits around 1.050, to preserve volatile aromas. Others rack around 1.020 or 1.010, or let the wine ferment to dryness. All racking points are fine.

How long has the wine been at 1.040? Your first post was Thursday and the wine was at 1.060 then. If it's been a 1.040 for a day or so, there's probably nothing wrong.

Your partner wants to rack now? His wine, his choice. I'd do as he asks. It's not going to hurt anything, and the act of racking may spur activity in the wine. Note that you may have a lot of activity post-racking, so don't fill the carboy too much, yet. I wrote a few posts regarding what I do -- look at the section titled Racking on my Whitepapers page. Each post is a 5 or 10 minute read.

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/whitepapers/

Note -- I don't do advertising, collection person information, or run a forum (other than being a moderator here).

Thanks Chuck, you guys are so generous with your help!

 

[Lauraliejean]

One of the things about winemaking that is often difficult to understand is that totally different methods all work fine. "When to first rack?" is the poster child for this oddity.

Some folks rack whites and fruits around 1.050, to preserve volatile aromas. Others rack around 1.020 or 1.010, or let the wine ferment to dryness. All racking points are fine.

How long has the wine been at 1.040? Your first post was Thursday and the wine was at 1.060 then. If it's been a 1.040 for a day or so, there's probably nothing wrong.

Your partner wants to rack now? His wine, his choice. I'd do as he asks. It's not going to hurt anything, and the act of racking may spur activity in the wine. Note that you may have a lot of activity post-racking, so don't fill the carboy too much, yet. I wrote a few posts regarding what I do -- look at the section titled Racking on my Whitepapers page. Each post is a 5 or 10 minute read.

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/whitepapers/

Note -- I don't do advertising, collection person information, or run a forum (other than being a moderator here).

Than you so much!!!

 

[Lauraliejean]

Than you so much!!!

I meant thank

 

[Lauraliejean]

Thanks Chuck, you guys are so generous with your help!

As I said we’ve just been doing this mostly the same way for 20 years working off a printed out recipe from our local wine shop. Your info was super useful.

 

[winemaker81]

As I said we’ve just been doing this mostly the same way for 20 years working off a printed out recipe from our local wine shop. Your info was super useful.

There's always something more to learn.

It's been noted in other places that this forum is very beginner and newcomer friendly.

Note -- you can edit posts for a period of time, so if something didn't translate between the brain and the fingers, it can be fixed. Also, if you have a duplicate post you can msg me or any of the mods and request the post be deleted.

 

[ChuckD]

we’ve just been doing this mostly the same way for 20 years working off a printed out recipe

Stick around for a bit. While a 1,2,3 recipe can work, I quickly learned that winemaking is a both a science and an art. There are several basic steps and you can introduce variables at any of them… resulting in a totally different wine.

 

[wineview]

Speaking of different wine. After looking at my notes, I noticed I usually fermented my reds on the cool side 70-72F. The batch I have going now I fermented at 82F. Just snapped the lid on the fermenter which is under an airlock and will probably leave it on the skins for a couple of weeks or so. The temperature is 82F. Should I leave it there or drop it for this next phase.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Speaking of different wine. After looking at my notes, I noticed I usually fermented my reds on the cool side 70-72F. The batch I have going now I fermented at 82F. Just snapped the lid on the fermenter which is under an airlock and will probably leave it on the skins for a couple of weeks or so. The temperature is 82F. Should I leave it there or drop it for this next phase.

I would drop down the temperature, the yeast has done it’s job.

 

[wineview]

Down to what? SG is 1.012 from 1.090.what about tannin and color extraction. Aren’t warm temperatures better for that.

 

[mainshipfred]

Increase the need, no. The need is there regardless of what has gone on before. One of the things Kmeta does is scavenge oxygen, so it’s really beneficial when racking, since the wine is unavoidably being oxygenated.

I don't mean to hijack Lauraliejean's post but I've often wondered if vacuum racking did introduce O2. I can see it with pumping or siphoning but with a vacuum you are removing the O2 that is in the receiving vessel. Thoughts!?

 

[Lauraliejean]

Stick around for a bit. While a 1,2,3 recipe can work, I quickly learned that winemaking is a both a science and an art. There are several basic steps and you can introduce variables at any of them… resulting in a totally different wine.

Thanks Chuck!

 

[Lauraliejean]

One of the things about winemaking that is often difficult to understand is that totally different methods all work fine. "When to first rack?" is the poster child for this oddity.

Some folks rack whites and fruits around 1.050, to preserve volatile aromas. Others rack around 1.020 or 1.010, or let the wine ferment to dryness. All racking points are fine.

How long has the wine been at 1.040? Your first post was Thursday and the wine was at 1.060 then. If it's been a 1.040 for a day or so, there's probably nothing wrong.

Your partner wants to rack now? His wine, his choice. I'd do as he asks. It's not going to hurt anything, and the act of racking may spur activity in the wine. Note that you may have a lot of activity post-racking, so don't fill the carboy too much, yet. I wrote a few posts regarding what I do -- look at the section titled Racking on my Whitepapers page. Each post is a 5 or 10 minute read.

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/whitepapers/

Note -- I don't do advertising, collection person information, or run a forum (other than being a moderator here).

Great advice thank you. Wine is racked