Cap on Plum wine

Williams 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.
F

feffer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2011
Messages
116
Reaction score
1
Location
Martinez
Was worried about the yeast starting, see earlier thread, but after 54 hours, I see that a "cap" has formed. When I stir it, a lot of gas (CO2?) froths to the surface and the room has a very pleasant smell. So I guess the fermentation process has kicked in. Most recipes say that I should stir the must/wine twice a day.

Is that right? Should I be breaking up the cap and stirring it in? It seems to reform almost immediately. Does this stop air from getting to the yeast and harm the process?

I'm aiming for a dry wine, so I really want complete fermentation. Any pointers?

thx,
feffer
 
I started my first plum wine a week ago, and the recipe I followed recommended stirring in the cap once a day. I would guess the "floatables" (remember that your gravity is prob high now, so things that would otherwise not float just might do so now) would surface almost immediately, but it seems like a firm cap would take at least several hours to form. I'm new to wine making, so these are just guesses.
 
feffer said:
Was worried about the yeast starting, see earlier thread, but after 54 hours, I see that a "cap" has formed. When I stir it, a lot of gas (CO2?) froths to the surface and the room has a very pleasant smell. So I guess the fermentation process has kicked in. Most recipes say that I should stir the must/wine twice a day.

Is that right? Should I be breaking up the cap and stirring it in? It seems to reform almost immediately. Does this stop air from getting to the yeast and harm the process?

I'm aiming for a dry wine, so I really want complete fermentation. Any pointers?

thx,
feffer
Click to expand...

Yep, you want to stir to break up the cap a couple of times a day, until the wine gets to about 1.020 or less, and fermentation slows down. That's for a couple of reasons- but mostly to keep the fruit cap wet and not allowing it to dry out. It also degasses out some of the co2, which can stress yeast, as well as provides oxygen to the must.

After about day 5, fermentation will slow and the wine needs to be racked to a carboy and airlocked. But up until then, oxygen is good for it.
 

Similar threads

C
Plum wine recipe and questions.
Replies
1
Views
435
lumpher
lumpher
D
Help with blueberry wine
Replies
5
Views
571
dionkar336
D
U
Costco Wine Kit - instructions unclear
Replies
8
Views
997
SatchIce9
SatchIce9
K
Wine that tastes like clear Rum! (Killer Kilju Recipe)
Replies
0
Views
1K
KiljuBrew
K
J
Will wine yeast eventually ferment out all available sugar?
Replies
7
Views
3K
DBhomebrew
DBhomebrew

Latest posts

Back
Top