A problem or no?

[sbhank]

Hello All,

I got a NB trinity red wine kit for Christmas. The directions said that primary fermentation should be at 72F and will be done in about a week. I started fermentation, but only at about 60F. Long story short, fermentation is not yet complete (gravity around 1.05) and I have to go back to school. The way it looks, I will have to leave the must in primary for another 4 weeks. The must is on oak chips and in a plastic bucket. Do you guys think this will cause any problems?

Let me know what I should do!

Thanks

 

[pumpkinman2012]

The biggest issue is if the wine finishes fermenting, it needs to be stabilized with meta (racked and stabilized) or it can start to spoil, while the wine ferments, it produces CO2, this actually forms a vapor barrier on the wine and protects the wine from oxygen, once fermentation is complete you need to stabilize the wine.
Is the SG at 1.050 or 1.005?
When do you leave for school?
Do you have a heat mat, heating pad or brew belt? If you can raise the temp to at least 70° for a few days, it may ferment to a point where you can rack it and stabilize it.

 

[lukebuz]

Just rack it into secondary, and let it finish fermenting under an airlock. Whenever you get back, finish where you left off. It will be done fermenting, lots of yeast will have fallen out, and it will be ready to rack and clear.
Wine is easy-going!

 

[pumpkinman2012]

I wouldn't leave it for 4 weeks without stabilizing it with meta.

 

[bernardsmith]

I wouldn't leave it for 4 weeks without stabilizing it with meta.

Because it is a kit wine? or simply because? I don't make wines from grapes and have never bought a kit but I don't stabilize my fruit wines for many months and have never had any problems... As long as the wine fills the carboy right up into the mouth I cannot see that there will be any problem allowing it to age under bung and airlock... But you seem to be suggesting that there may be an issue.. Certainly , if something does go amiss, and sbhank has not followed directions then the kit manufacturer is under no obligation to refund any money... but it is not self evident - at least to me - what problem there could be in simply aging the wine longer than the manufacturer of the kit suggests...

 

[sbhank]

So I called some interesting audibles tonight. Allow me to begin by saying that this is my first wine kit, and that I expected to make mistakes. I wanted to make a practice batch before working with grapes next fall. That being said, a lot of the mistakes I made tonight are because I am in a rush. I am going back to school tomorrow, and cannot touch the wine for 5 weeks after tonight.

So, per advice on this forum, I transferred my must from my fermenting bucket to my glass Carboy. At the time I transferred, primary fermentation has been going for 9 days (current gravity= 1.045) and is still actively bubbling away.

I began siphoning the wine to transfer it when my siphon broke. I ended up having to use a funnel to pour the wine into the Carboy (I know, oxygenation. Tisk. Tisk.) I'm a little worried that I lost my yeast in the transfer. As I funneled, I used a strainer to catch the oak chips. I'm wondering if a lot of my yeast could have gotten trapped in there, as the oak chips formed a type of net.

Anyway, the mistakes continue. In the break, I lost some wine. I just happened to have some welch's WHITE grape juice laying by (I'm making a red wine) and I decided to use it to top up (just under 1 liter). After all, the color isn't that important to me, and the wine is still in primary, so the sugars should be fermented out. It wasn't until too late that I realized that the juice has potassium metabisulfate as an additive :/ .


So I made some mistakes, but that was the purpose of this batch. Here's my question: After the transfer/funneling/straining of the wine and the addition of grape juice with metabisulfate, do you guys think the wine will continue fermenting? If it doesn't, could I repitch yeast in 5 weeks when I get back from school?


Thanks!

 

[Pataka]

I don't know the measurements of yeast when in solution nor whatever you filtered it with, but I can tell you that (with my beer at least) a beer that is clear enough to read a newspaper through still has enough yeast in solution to carbonate over 3 weeks once bottled. I certainly don't imagine you'll need to add any yeast. As others have said here, wines need stabilisation to STOP the any residual sugars from being fermented, even when crystal clear. So yeast can sneak through a lot.

 

[DoctorCAD]

You should be fine, it takes a really good filter media to filter out yeast. And getting the oak out now is a good thing, it can overpower a wine pretty easily, so no mistake there.

Adding a liter of grape juice (white or red) is good, no mistake there either.

Also, at this stage, oxygen is good for the must, so thats not really a mistake.

When you get back, it should be ready to rack and stabilize.

You did good!

 

[fuelish]

Should be fine....actually, maybe you being away for weeks is a good thing....lots of folks get antsy and start mucking around with their wines/meads way more often than necessary...When it comes to my meads I do as little as possible and only as much as necessary - a hard habit to acquire, since I came from the fast turnaround of a beer brewing background. But....just take it easy and slow...way better than rushing things with this beverage

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Because it is a kit wine? or simply because? I don't make wines from grapes and have never bought a kit but I don't stabilize my fruit wines for many months and have never had any problems... As long as the wine fills the carboy right up into the mouth I cannot see that there will be any problem allowing it to age under bung and airlock... But you seem to be suggesting that there may be an issue.. Certainly , if something does go amiss, and sbhank has not followed directions then the kit manufacturer is under no obligation to refund any money... but it is not self evident - at least to me - what problem there could be in simply aging the wine longer than the manufacturer of the kit suggests...

Bernardsmith, these are all valid points, but my comment

I wouldn't leave it for 4 weeks without stabilizing it with meta

is based upon the fact that if your wine has finished fermenting and no long producing CO2 that protects the wine from oxygen, you stand a far greater chance of spoilage then if you would have stabilized the wine. I understand that you do not stabilize for months and haven't had any issues can be attributed to many things, one of which may be that the wine is still releasing co2.
I've had a wine that I forgot about, I had placed the carboy in my cellar and someone placed a few boxes just close enough that I didn't see it for a month, it was topped up, but unfortunately as soon as I saw the carboy, I noticed the white ring around the neck of the carboy and knew that mycoderma had taken over. This leads to another issue, as a brand new wine maker, the original poster might not know what to look for, but not being there, there isn't a chance to be proactive.
I'm not saying that all wine will spoil within 4 weeks if not stabilized, I'm saying that it can, it has nothing to do with it being a kit, vs fruit wine, vs juice bucket vs fresh grapes, nor is it a matter of a refund or aging it longer than the manufacturer recommends -I highly recommend aging it as long as possible, I'm just trying to give the best advice that I can, and that is I wouldn't leave a wine for 4 weeks without stabilizing it, but since the wine hasn't even finished fermenting it looks like it will be on auto pilot.
Let us know how it works out.

 

[bernardsmith]

I hear you... and I don't make wines from grapes. My wines are honey meads and fruit wines (country wines in the vernacular) but I cannot see how aerobic bacteria can have any impact if a) you keep your wine fully topped up and every time you rack (every 60 -90 days) you rack onto K-meta... There is no need to stabilize wine (to add sorbate with the K-meta) if you follow that practice and if you follow that practice rather than stabilize the wine you also have no concern that MLF may take place spontaneously in the presence of sorbate which can produce off flavors of geranium...

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Why would I be stabilizing with sorbate? Unless I plan on back sweetening, I never see any reason to add sorbate? Bernardsmith, I have respect for your knowledge with fruit wines, but not stabilizing with meta once fermentation is complete is playing Russian roulette.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Why would I be stabilizing with sorbate? Unless I plan on back sweetening, I never see any reason to add sorbate? Bernardsmith, I have respect for your knowledge with fruit wines, but not stabilizing with meta once fermentation is complete is playing Russian roulette.

Maybe you guys are mixing terms. To me, stabilizing is using meta/sorbate. Just using meta is protecting, but not stabilizing.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

DoctorCad,
With all due respect, Sulfites are used to stabilize wine -
One of the foremost resources, Daniel Pambianchi gave a presentation on "Stabilize Wine Like the Pros" at the 2010 Wine Makers Mag convention, he spoke about Microbial Stabilization, one of the stabilizing agents that Mr. Pambianchi spoke about was sulfite. although I wasn't present at the Wine Makers Mag Conference, I found the presentation after a brief search online a yr or so ago. The presentation does list Sorbate for wines with Residual Sugar to inhibit renewed fermentation.
Personally, I do not add sorbate to any wine that isn't back sweetened, I think that a lot of new winemakers that use kits get the wrong impression about always using sorbate in their wine, kit manufacturers include it in every kit that I've ever heard about as a fail safe, the kit manufacturers are trying to make the wine fool proof, unfortunately, this gives a false sense of "add sorbate to everything".

 

[ptRoyal]

I am a relatively new brewer. Less than 2 years. But, I tend to never add sorbates and at times have shied away from extra pot metabisulfate. When I made my apple wine the only thing I added was bentonite to clear it. I could read a newspaper through the carboy and the wine was fantastic. Granted, it was all gone within about 3 months and everyone loved it.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Very cool! I'm not a big fan of adding anything that I don't have to, but stabilizing with meta has proven successful for me, to be honest, I test with the Vinmetrica SC300 and only add what is necessary to the point where friends that have claimed to be allergic to sulfites and could no longer drink commercial wines can enjoy mine without any ill effects.