2012 Reds, Day 3 (Oct 22)

600:  We marked the must levels in the fermenters last night so we'd be able to get a quick fix on when they start forming a cap.  And the slight rise has begun - about an inch of difference.  Vive la différence.  Opening the lid of the Merlot there's an immediate hello in your nose.  Not yet from the Cab. Franc, but there's also a heck of a lot less of it.

Room 66 F, Merlot 66.5 F, Cab Franc 69 F (wins the race to get above ambient temp).
We'll punch down a little later this morning and take Brix readings, too.  And I've updated the measurements spreadsheet and will keep it going through the primary ferm.

Lori punching down the Merlot at about 7 AM.

700: We punched.  The Merlot is still only budging a few inches, but you can see in the photo that the fermentation is very active.  The Cab F punches clear to the bottom (but, again, there's a lot less of it.)

20:30: Holy corona!  Giant divergence between the two reds.  Room 67 F...

• Merlot 69 F, still about 25 Brix.
• Cab Franc 73 F, 12 Brix!

The Cab F has lost nearly half it's sugar 54 hours after pitching the yeast, meaning it's already time to add the next round of nutrients. Damned fast, and still at very low temps (though heat could be dissipating because there's relatively little must in a big vessel - lots more surface space to volume than the Merlot?).  I'll reach out to the partners and get their nod.

Meanwhile, the Merlot, while clearly bubba-dub-bubbling away seems to have lost very, very little sugar.

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Merlot in hydrometer tube

Color sidebar:
I'm hoping someone snapped pics of the hydrometer tube on Saturday when we did the initial Brix measurements of the two wines.  The Cab F was yellowish, while the Merlot was lemonade pink.  The Merlot started coloring very quickly in the fermenter.  I didn't get very good shots this evening, but as you might be able to see below, it's damned purple already.  And, meanwhile, the Cab F is darker than pink lemonade, but not anyone's notion of deep.

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22:00: Pitched 12 grams of Fermaid-K hydrated in distilled water into the Cabernet Frank.  Salute!