Hi there,

I'm attempting to make my first batch of wine, and I think that I may have a
problem. I'm making a Shiraz, and the wine was kept in the basement where I
think that it may have been too cold. The wine has been in the primary
fermentor for 5 days and the temperature was around 65, or possibly even a
little lower. I remeasured the SG of the wine and it seems very close to
what it was when I started (started at 1.072 and now around 1.064). But the
wine looks like it's bubbling, similar to a carbonated cola. How much of a
change should I see in the SG before I transfer to the carboy? From most
things I've read it seems that the wine should be kept between 70-75, so
would the colder temperature have stopped the fermentation or is that
bubbling that it's doing now correct? I've now moved my wine to warmer
location and am wondering if I should add more yeast, or just let it be?

Thanks,
Jason

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 17:48:28 -0500, "J F" >
wrote:

>Hi there,
>
>I'm attempting to make my first batch of wine, and I think that I may have a
>problem. I'm making a Shiraz, and the wine was kept in the basement where I
>think that it may have been too cold. The wine has been in the primary
>fermentor for 5 days and the temperature was around 65, or possibly even a
>little lower. I remeasured the SG of the wine and it seems very close to
>what it was when I started (started at 1.072 and now around 1.064). But the
>wine looks like it's bubbling, similar to a carbonated cola. How much of a
>change should I see in the SG before I transfer to the carboy? From most
>things I've read it seems that the wine should be kept between 70-75, so
>would the colder temperature have stopped the fermentation or is that
>bubbling that it's doing now correct? I've now moved my wine to warmer
>location and am wondering if I should add more yeast, or just let it be?
>
>Thanks,
>Jason
Hi Jason. I just started making wine last fall and have completed 4
kits, so I am no expert. A temperature of 65 seems a bit on the cold
side. The fact that the wine is fizzing indicates that fermentation is
still happening, albeit slowly. Moving the primary to a warmer
location should get things going, as I have been doing just fine in my
70 degree kitchen. I wouldn't add any more yeast yet, but I'll defer
to the experts if they think differently.

Rob

It likely got off to a slow start because of the low temperature. If
it is bubbling now, you can wait a few more days before transfer to a
carboy. You won't hurt anything by going to a carboy too soon, in fact
some of my kit wines have become much more active when transferred to
the carboy. What you don't want is to transfer it to a carboy and also
warm it fast, or you may end up either blowing the air lock off, or
having the wine foam over and through the air lock (keep a sulphite
solution in the air lock, which won't hurt the wine, rather than
chloriclean).

If you have bubbling now, you don't need to add yeast. If you are
going to keep it in the primary for a bit longer, you could try to
warm the room up.

For white wines, a slow fermentation is supposed to result in better
flavour, but not necessarily in reds.

You've done the correct thing in moving it to a warmer place, and if it
continues to bubble along, I wouldn't add more yeast. Usually, I wait until
the SG get close to 1.0 or below before I transfer to the carboy. I have
transferred to a secondary earlier if I felt the fermentation was going
very, very slowly, and I was worried about too much oxygen contact/or
contamination- it is hard to describe --comes from doing a number of
batches. Others with more experience may have some other suggestions.
Darlene

"J F" > wrote in message
. ..
> Hi there,
>
> I'm attempting to make my first batch of wine, and I think that I may have
a
> problem. I'm making a Shiraz, and the wine was kept in the basement where
I
> think that it may have been too cold. The wine has been in the primary
> fermentor for 5 days and the temperature was around 65, or possibly even a
> little lower. I remeasured the SG of the wine and it seems very close to
> what it was when I started (started at 1.072 and now around 1.064). But
the
> wine looks like it's bubbling, similar to a carbonated cola. How much of a
> change should I see in the SG before I transfer to the carboy? From most
> things I've read it seems that the wine should be kept between 70-75, so
> would the colder temperature have stopped the fermentation or is that
> bubbling that it's doing now correct? I've now moved my wine to warmer
> location and am wondering if I should add more yeast, or just let it be?
>
> Thanks,
> Jason
>
>
>