Fermenting Grapes

SSBrew - 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Inner10

Inner10

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2012
Messages
512
Reaction score
46
Location
Ottawa
I realize it's a little late in the season but I called up my local grape wholesaler and they had 1 case of sangiovese grapes left so I ordered it and 3 grenache to be destemmed and crushed.

That night when I opened up my buckets the sangiovese was already foaming up it was fermenting so aggressively. I threw it all in the primary and added sulfites.

This morning it's got a somewhat active fermentation going on...so much so that I don't think adding yeast is a good idea.

Any suggestions?
 
I just did something very similar to you, bought some "late" white grapes and they were already fermenting when I got them - I personally added K-meta and left for a few days, it calmed down, and then kicked off again when I added the rest of the ingredients (including sugar - I am actually making ginger wine).

I pitched some extra yeast just in case, but you know what, that's how wine's been made for millenia, I seriously doubt anything will go wrong, it might even taste better for having naturally fermented. I am not a major expert though, so would be interested in hearing others' input.
 
The fork in the road for me is do I leave it with whatever yeast is working now...or do I pour in a starter of some killer yeast like kv1116.

I already dosed it with kmeta but I don't think it will stop this fermentation as it was pretty active!
 
Well I'm going to dump in some rc212 because that's what I have kicking around and we'll see what happens.

...unless Yooper or another seasoned pro has some insight ;)
 
Hydrate your selected yeast as follows to assure that the yeast multiplies, you'll want to make sure that your yeast population is strong in order to become the dominant yeast:

I hydrate my selected yeast by heating the water up to 110° and adding Go-ferm at the rate of 1.25 grams per gram of yeast, when the temp gets down to 105°, I add the yeast, I normally just sprinkle it on top of the hydration water (with the goferm) and gently mix it in.
Within 10 mins you'll see movement in the cup, the yeast is coming alive, and starting to multiply, I add an equal amount of the room temp must, this is a food for the yeast, it will help it to continue reproducing.

I hope that this helps.
 
pumpkinman2012 said:
Hydrate your selected yeast as follows to assure that the yeast multiplies, you'll want to make sure that your yeast population is strong in order to become the dominant yeast:

I hydrate my selected yeast by heating the water up to 110° and adding Go-ferm at the rate of 1.25 grams per gram of yeast, when the temp gets down to 105°, I add the yeast, I normally just sprinkle it on top of the hydration water (with the goferm) and gently mix it in.
Within 10 mins you'll see movement in the cup, the yeast is coming alive, and starting to multiply, I add an equal amount of the room temp must, this is a food for the yeast, it will help it to continue reproducing.

I hope that this helps.
Click to expand...

Pretty much what I did but I have no idea which culture won as the previous fermentation was so active!

Oh well!
 

Similar threads

R
Newbie Needing Help with First Batch of Red Wine
Replies
4
Views
606
IslandLizard
IslandLizard
C
Beginners garden grape advice
Replies
0
Views
349
coddog
C
Z
Ginger Beer vs. Fermenting Grape Must
Replies
2
Views
315
Z_L
Z
S
Pinot Noir- classic red & rose’
Replies
0
Views
488
Srimmey
S
J
Will wine yeast eventually ferment out all available sugar?
Replies
7
Views
3K
DBhomebrew
DBhomebrew
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top