White wine primary fermentation in glass carboy or bucket?

[Benjie]

I have seen different recommendations for primary fermenters for white wine. Should the primary fermentation be done in a glass carboy, or can it be done in a bucket? Why would it be different than red wines?

 

[salcoco]

the biggest thing with white wines is aromatic at least for me. because the opening is smaller on a carboy I chose to ferment in a carboy. I fashion a bung out of a paper towel to let the CO2 vent . also cold fermentation is recommended so I put the carboy in a water batch exchanging frozen watar bottles as necessary to keep the temp down

 

[winemaker81]

I agree with @salcoco regarding the aromatics.

The big difference between whites & reds is skin contact. Reds are fermented at higher temperatures to extract more from the skin & pulp, which can blow off the aromatics. A slower ferment of white juice should preserve the aromatics.

Yeast use O2 during fermentation to reproduce, so fermentation in an open container is generally used. Getting the fermentation off to a roaring start gives the yeast the opportunity to crowd out competition from wild yeast and bacteria. This is a trade-off, getting a good fermentation going vs preserving aromatics.

Fermenting in a carboy will slow down the reproduction, and fermenting at a colder temperature slows down fermentation. I've fermented whites in my cellar during the winter at 58 F, where the normal week-long fermentation may take over 3 weeks.

I have a bucket of Chenin Blanc on order. I'm going to split the difference, e.g., ferment in a bucket but put the bucket in a larger container w/water to reduce the fermentation temperature.

 

[Benjie]

I purchased a merlot and chardonnay kit from Williams Brewery. They have to be refrigerated, and yield 5 gallons. At the 5 gallon mark the sg was 1.10 and 1.11. Definitely a lot of sugar. The chardonnay I put in a 6 gallon glass carboy with stopper, and the merlot I put in a plastic bucket. I did not put the carboy in a cold water bath, so I'll have to try that next time.

 

[balatonwine]

Why would it be different than red wines?

Many reasons, but mostly because of no skin contact, which extract not just color but things like tannins which help preserve the wine, whites are more susceptible to things like oxidation and microorganism.

There are of course different methods of white wine making. From "Amber" wine (treating the white grapes like reds and fermenting on the skin with lots of air contact), to putting the white grape juice immediately under airlock after crush and press. In all cases, the white wine should be stirred vigorously, getting all the lees into suspension, 2 or three times a day to mix in some O2 for the yeast and release gases that may be in the wine (such as H2S).

So, for example, if you wanted to do a partial oxidative ferment of your whites, you might do so in a bucket or carboy, but normally would still limit the amount of air to prevent oxidation via a small opening (and a bucket is plastic, and plastic actually passes some oxygen as well though its material which needs to be considered).

Normally, with a white wine, if doing a partial oxidative ferment, I would recommend putting the wine under airlock after about 2/3 of the sugar is gone. To preserve aromas and prevent oxidation.

Side note: This year I harvested my Pinot Gris on Sept 10th, and racked on Oct 10th when it completed fermentation. Took 4 weeks. Under airlock since crush and press. In Speidel HDPE tanks. Quality and aromas good.

Hope this helps.

 

[Benjie]

Thanks for all the great info. So if I understand correctly, given two wine kits,(red and white) with no skins in the red kit, I would ferment the red in a bucket to allow more oxygen and faster fermentation, and the white in a glass carboy to reduce oxygen and slow down fermentation. And I should also put the carboy in cool water to slow it down as well.

 

[balatonwine]

Thanks for all the great info. So if I understand correctly, given two wine kits,(red and white) with no skins in the red kit, I would ferment the red in a bucket to allow more oxygen and faster fermentation, and the white in a glass carboy to reduce oxygen and slow down fermentation. And I should also put the carboy in cool water to slow it down as well.

As a very basic scenario, yes.