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| Little Raisin, Big Muscat |
In 2013 is was day 35 when I posted that "lemon light" was shining through the wine. Just a couple of weeks away...
Monday, October 27, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 23, Oct 27 2014
In 2013 is was day 35 when I posted that "lemon light" was shining through the wine. Just a couple of weeks away...
Sunday, October 26, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 22, Oct 26 2014
0800:
Gratifyingly little sediment since coming off the gross lees on day 15. Still a fine gassing off in the CBs, not enough to see a bubbler move in 10 minutes of staring, but easy to see. Malo? We haven't done any testing for malolactic acid and the wine is pretty low in SO2 and the cellar isn't cold, so it's real possible.
Raisin is still.
Gratifyingly little sediment since coming off the gross lees on day 15. Still a fine gassing off in the CBs, not enough to see a bubbler move in 10 minutes of staring, but easy to see. Malo? We haven't done any testing for malolactic acid and the wine is pretty low in SO2 and the cellar isn't cold, so it's real possible.
Raisin is still.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 19, Oct 23 2014
2200:
Replaced the cb covers with drilled stoppers and airlocks. That addresses my worries about the caps not being quite air tight once CO2 stops, and feeds my paranoia about popping bungs. Golly.
Took the little Raisin off of the gross lees: now have one full gallon of it.
How much CO2 and other gas is still getting blown off? Here's CB Charley on video. (Not a very steady hand.)
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| Mit bung. |
Took the little Raisin off of the gross lees: now have one full gallon of it.
How much CO2 and other gas is still getting blown off? Here's CB Charley on video. (Not a very steady hand.)
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 17, Oct 21 2014
0600:
This pic gives an idea of the color shift as settling happens in the wine, about 36 hours after coming off the gross lees.
Took no measurements this morning but calibrated the pH meter for use when things are a little more settled.
2100:
pH of CB Charley is 3.92. Reading of pressed juice on day 1 was 4.3, but that was also an uncalibrated meter.
This second pic shows how much more settling and color shift there's been in the last 15 hours. Pic was taken with a flash, so the colors aren't the same as in this morning's pic, but you can see that the settling has moved nearly to the bottom of the CB.
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| Color shift . |
Took no measurements this morning but calibrated the pH meter for use when things are a little more settled.
2100:
pH of CB Charley is 3.92. Reading of pressed juice on day 1 was 4.3, but that was also an uncalibrated meter.
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| And in the evening... |
Monday, October 20, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 16, Oct 20 2014
0600:
All 3 CBs sending up bubbles in a very different way then when they came off the lees, many fewer of them and larger and more distinct than the steady stream of fine bubbles before. Not enough to move the airlocks. And the top gallon or so of each CB is starting to clarify - not nearly to the point of seeing through but not so opaque with floating particles as the rest of the wine.
All 3 CBs sending up bubbles in a very different way then when they came off the lees, many fewer of them and larger and more distinct than the steady stream of fine bubbles before. Not enough to move the airlocks. And the top gallon or so of each CB is starting to clarify - not nearly to the point of seeing through but not so opaque with floating particles as the rest of the wine.
Quick Titrette test, looks like under 15 ppm - want to test the pH before making any addition. Quick acid test looked off the chart - let's mark that down to early morning user error and try again later. (Used carboy B for these tests.)
2100:
Peace and love in the cellar. The color change has extended down another four inches in each CB. Shining a light through the backs of the necks makes a beautiful, hypnotic little show of the bubbles. Wish you were here.
2100:
Peace and love in the cellar. The color change has extended down another four inches in each CB. Shining a light through the backs of the necks makes a beautiful, hypnotic little show of the bubbles. Wish you were here.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 15, Oct 19 2014
1100:
Two of the bigboys are bubbling in the 25 to 30 second range. The third seems to be in Bartleby mode.
Gave some thought to how long to leave things on the gross lees: not going to do anything extended. Will rack soon.
1800:
Off the gross lees!
Earlier in the day we decided not to go to Homebrew to pick up Clinitest tablets because, after all, I'm not nuts about color scale tests. When we used to do lots of Accuvin testing it felt good to do, but judging the color shifts is so subjective that it always left me wondering what the right result was and whether I was seeing what I wanted to see. So we didn't go to buy tablets today, but in the early evening I was kicking around the cellar and found a stash I must have bought last year. Used them and my eyes said we're between 0.1% and 0.2%
So, all doubting aside, it still managed to reinforce my desire to rack off the gross lees, and we did.
We went from 5+5+5+1+1 where both of the one gal jugs were very heavy on lees - one of them was about half lees - to 5+5+5+1-liter. Doesn't sound so different than last year, but last year we got the 5+5+5 by topping with a lot of the prior year's wine.
How's it seem? I thought the first CB (now labeled "A") had a bit of bret aroma when I was racking it and I'm still a bot worried about it - this though the lees themselves didn't give off any barnyard smell at all. B&C were fresh and sweet smelling.
All three CBs had about the same quantity of lees - the picture here is of the middle CB, which had the middling amount. The book next to the CB is about an inch thick.
Two of the bigboys are bubbling in the 25 to 30 second range. The third seems to be in Bartleby mode.
Gave some thought to how long to leave things on the gross lees: not going to do anything extended. Will rack soon.
1800:
Off the gross lees!
Earlier in the day we decided not to go to Homebrew to pick up Clinitest tablets because, after all, I'm not nuts about color scale tests. When we used to do lots of Accuvin testing it felt good to do, but judging the color shifts is so subjective that it always left me wondering what the right result was and whether I was seeing what I wanted to see. So we didn't go to buy tablets today, but in the early evening I was kicking around the cellar and found a stash I must have bought last year. Used them and my eyes said we're between 0.1% and 0.2%
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| About an inch of gross lees. |
We went from 5+5+5+1+1 where both of the one gal jugs were very heavy on lees - one of them was about half lees - to 5+5+5+1-liter. Doesn't sound so different than last year, but last year we got the 5+5+5 by topping with a lot of the prior year's wine.
How's it seem? I thought the first CB (now labeled "A") had a bit of bret aroma when I was racking it and I'm still a bot worried about it - this though the lees themselves didn't give off any barnyard smell at all. B&C were fresh and sweet smelling.
All three CBs had about the same quantity of lees - the picture here is of the middle CB, which had the middling amount. The book next to the CB is about an inch thick.
Friday, October 17, 2014
2014 Muscat day 13, Oct 17, 2014
Rereading Iverson this morning, while hanging out with the CBs and having my coffee.
Evening. The CB's are popping in the 5 to 8 second range. The gallons in the mind-wandering +1 minute per pop range.
- Zero Brix usually indicates about 2% remaining residual sugar.
- Clinitest .2% or .1% is what he considers dry.
- He changes from airlocks to solid bungs at this point, but also watches for them to pop out, just in case. (I hate that. It's happened to us and was why I first picked bought caps.)
- He comes off the gross lees three to four weeks after dry.
Evening. The CB's are popping in the 5 to 8 second range. The gallons in the mind-wandering +1 minute per pop range.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 11, October 15 2014
0600:
You know that sound that isn't snoring, it's just that single sleeping glottal keh that comes after an breathing out and at the start of breathing in? All of the carboys are doing it, about every three seconds. It's very peaceful. Like being in a nursery at nap time.
Steady flow of very fine CO2. A good deal warmer outside yesterday and last evening than the day before, but the temp of the juice is steady. The usual custard color for this stage.
Something about the carboy caps: they sometimes let the CO2 escape from a less than perfect seating against the neck of the CB. When you see one CB that's not keeping the same time as the others, if you press the cap down, it will join in. OK at this stage, but what about when things go still? I haven't seen any discussion of this. I do think I once saw a reference to someone using some sort of gel inside the cap for a seal (saw that once, and nothing more specific). Switch back to rubber stoppers? Just stop worrying?
1945:
Hike! -0.6 Brix in the first-filled 5 gal CB.
You know that sound that isn't snoring, it's just that single sleeping glottal keh that comes after an breathing out and at the start of breathing in? All of the carboys are doing it, about every three seconds. It's very peaceful. Like being in a nursery at nap time.
Steady flow of very fine CO2. A good deal warmer outside yesterday and last evening than the day before, but the temp of the juice is steady. The usual custard color for this stage.
Something about the carboy caps: they sometimes let the CO2 escape from a less than perfect seating against the neck of the CB. When you see one CB that's not keeping the same time as the others, if you press the cap down, it will join in. OK at this stage, but what about when things go still? I haven't seen any discussion of this. I do think I once saw a reference to someone using some sort of gel inside the cap for a seal (saw that once, and nothing more specific). Switch back to rubber stoppers? Just stop worrying?
1945:
Hike! -0.6 Brix in the first-filled 5 gal CB.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 10, Oct 14 2014
0600:
Still gentle fermentation happening.
I noticed that there's an insane amount of lees in the two 1 gallon jugs - these were filled from the dregs of the primary tank, while all three of the 5 gallon CBs were siphoned off cleanly. I'll be happy if we have three full CBs without topping off with prior years' wine after the first racking. Last year we came off the gross lees on day 15, and we lost about 1.5 liters to the lees in each of the 5 gal CBs. Topping was done with some overflow we had in a growler, but also 2.75 liters of the 2011 Muscat.
I haven't wanted to get 6 gal or 6.5 gal CBs because lifting the 5 gals is enough of a bear, but it would have been nice to have had all the juice go into large containers together. For that matter, maybe we should rehabilitate the 100 liter floating lid steel tank: I don't trust it for long term aging, but it would have been fine for this phase.
Took a quick reading of the Raisin with the long scale hydrometer since it fits right into the jug without spilling - 3 Brix.
Still gentle fermentation happening.
I noticed that there's an insane amount of lees in the two 1 gallon jugs - these were filled from the dregs of the primary tank, while all three of the 5 gallon CBs were siphoned off cleanly. I'll be happy if we have three full CBs without topping off with prior years' wine after the first racking. Last year we came off the gross lees on day 15, and we lost about 1.5 liters to the lees in each of the 5 gal CBs. Topping was done with some overflow we had in a growler, but also 2.75 liters of the 2011 Muscat.
I haven't wanted to get 6 gal or 6.5 gal CBs because lifting the 5 gals is enough of a bear, but it would have been nice to have had all the juice go into large containers together. For that matter, maybe we should rehabilitate the 100 liter floating lid steel tank: I don't trust it for long term aging, but it would have been fine for this phase.
Took a quick reading of the Raisin with the long scale hydrometer since it fits right into the jug without spilling - 3 Brix.
Monday, October 13, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 9, October 14
0700:
All is well. The gallon jugs fouled their bubblers again - they are a little overfilled. Cleaned them and found that each had a grapeskin and a pip or two in their necks. The CBs look very good. Still steady CO2 pumping in all. Didn't take careful measurement, but the tape thermometer says 70. Will test Brix this evening.
2000:
Juice +69F, Brix 0.6.
Yeasts don't fail me now!
That would be a theoretical 15.3% alcohol, and the little fellers are still working - much more slowly & quietly and gently, but still working and lifting the bubbler every now and then. They no a dead yet.
One of the gallon bubblers was fouled and I cleaned it. The level of the juice in each has dropped considerably in the neck - I'm assuming that's from gassing out.
The taste? Pretty close to wine and very much less rough than a few days ago - it's going to be pretty acidic but it doesn't have the bite from earlier on in the fermentation. I don't think I'll bother to test for acid until ferment has stilled and the wine starts to clarify - maybe after racking it off the gross lees.
Didn't do any testing in Raisin.
All is well. The gallon jugs fouled their bubblers again - they are a little overfilled. Cleaned them and found that each had a grapeskin and a pip or two in their necks. The CBs look very good. Still steady CO2 pumping in all. Didn't take careful measurement, but the tape thermometer says 70. Will test Brix this evening.
2000:
Juice +69F, Brix 0.6.
Yeasts don't fail me now!
That would be a theoretical 15.3% alcohol, and the little fellers are still working - much more slowly & quietly and gently, but still working and lifting the bubbler every now and then. They no a dead yet.
One of the gallon bubblers was fouled and I cleaned it. The level of the juice in each has dropped considerably in the neck - I'm assuming that's from gassing out.
The taste? Pretty close to wine and very much less rough than a few days ago - it's going to be pretty acidic but it doesn't have the bite from earlier on in the fermentation. I don't think I'll bother to test for acid until ferment has stilled and the wine starts to clarify - maybe after racking it off the gross lees.
Didn't do any testing in Raisin.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 8, Oct 12, 2014
0700:
Brix Muscat 3.15. Brix Raisin 8.
There's not so much fizz that I can't consolidate the Muscat today. I'm pretty sure that I'll wind up 5+5+5+1+1, which is a little bit of a drag - I'd love to have those last two combined. I'll check with Brooklyn Homebrew later today to see if they have anything like a 2 gallon jug.
1800:
Et voila. Condensed the Muscat into 5+5+5+1+1, as expected. Very happy with that - it puts us about a gallon and a half ahead of where we were last year at this point. Plus we have a gallon+ of Raisin, if it's not poison.
There's something very beautiful about the rush of CO2 bubbles up the slope and neck of the carboys at this stage of the wine. Really I can sit there and watch it for a very long time.
2000:
The bubblers on the two 1 gallon jugs were fouled with foam and juice. Cleaned and reset. Everything else is well behaved.
Late this morning I hiked over to Brooklyn Homebrew and picked up some buffer solution to calibrate the pH meter, some drilled #2 stoppers so I can put a bubbler in a 750 ml bottle, an adhesive thermometer because I'd never used one before and wondered whether they are reliable, a grease pencil to see if it would work on carboys, and a "sanitary air filter" which is the gizmo that I blow into on the siphon device I use to rack out of carboys.
Haven't calibrated the meter yet, but a stopper's in the Raisin spillover, the thermometer is reading accurately enough adhered to a CB and makes me want to test it next year on the 100 liter tank for the white wine, the grease pencil works only so so on the carboys (maybe because they aren't quite dry?).
Brix Muscat 3.15. Brix Raisin 8.
There's not so much fizz that I can't consolidate the Muscat today. I'm pretty sure that I'll wind up 5+5+5+1+1, which is a little bit of a drag - I'd love to have those last two combined. I'll check with Brooklyn Homebrew later today to see if they have anything like a 2 gallon jug.
1800:
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| 5+5+5+1+1 condensed Muscat |
There's something very beautiful about the rush of CO2 bubbles up the slope and neck of the carboys at this stage of the wine. Really I can sit there and watch it for a very long time.
2000:
The bubblers on the two 1 gallon jugs were fouled with foam and juice. Cleaned and reset. Everything else is well behaved.
Late this morning I hiked over to Brooklyn Homebrew and picked up some buffer solution to calibrate the pH meter, some drilled #2 stoppers so I can put a bubbler in a 750 ml bottle, an adhesive thermometer because I'd never used one before and wondered whether they are reliable, a grease pencil to see if it would work on carboys, and a "sanitary air filter" which is the gizmo that I blow into on the siphon device I use to rack out of carboys.
Haven't calibrated the meter yet, but a stopper's in the Raisin spillover, the thermometer is reading accurately enough adhered to a CB and makes me want to test it next year on the 100 liter tank for the white wine, the grease pencil works only so so on the carboys (maybe because they aren't quite dry?).
Saturday, October 11, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 7, Oct 11 2014
0600:
Room 69.5F, juice 69.5F, Brix 6.
Fizzing much gentler, the foam is now all white rather than brown. Likely alc content is probably up to 12.3%. Seems likely that I'll go to carboys today/tonight. Decided to not add any ice - the room temp isn't likely to rise today (cooler and rainy out, 56F now) and I don't think the juice will be throwing off much heat. But will check again in a few hours: if the temp has risen will add an ice bat.
The curve in this chart isn't exactly right - the time between readings varied between 9 and 13 hours - but you get the idea. Wait wait wait WHOOSH woah woah... The dream remains that one year we'll really suppress the temp of the ferment and turn the whoosh phase into a pleasant glide.
OK, one more time, Brix against the temp of the juice.
Only took a quick look at Raisin - small pebbly white foam. No measurements.
1800:
Room 69, Juice 71, Brix read around 3.5 on the regular hydrometer, so I pulled out the short scale hydrometer and got a reading closer to 5.
Close enough for jazz! I made the decision to move from the tank to carboys, leaving a few liters open at the top of each so things can foam up without fouling the airlocks. Will condense everything when we're closer to zero Brix. We're in three 5 gallon CBs and one 3 gal. When we top up we'll likely be 3x5+1+1. There's a fair amount of mud in the 3 gal, and that's get distributed. In 2013 we moved from the tank to carboys on day 7, too (3x5+1), at just about the same Brix.
I also moved the Raisin from the bucket it was in to a 1 gal and some spillover that I have in a 1 liter now, but might come close to filling a 500 or 375 - and as I do every year I think, Oh, yeah, have to buy some bored stoppers for plain bottles. Everything is pumping away nicely.
Room 69.5F, juice 69.5F, Brix 6.
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| White foam this morning. Not brown. |
Fizzing much gentler, the foam is now all white rather than brown. Likely alc content is probably up to 12.3%. Seems likely that I'll go to carboys today/tonight. Decided to not add any ice - the room temp isn't likely to rise today (cooler and rainy out, 56F now) and I don't think the juice will be throwing off much heat. But will check again in a few hours: if the temp has risen will add an ice bat.
Only took a quick look at Raisin - small pebbly white foam. No measurements.
1800:
Room 69, Juice 71, Brix read around 3.5 on the regular hydrometer, so I pulled out the short scale hydrometer and got a reading closer to 5.
Close enough for jazz! I made the decision to move from the tank to carboys, leaving a few liters open at the top of each so things can foam up without fouling the airlocks. Will condense everything when we're closer to zero Brix. We're in three 5 gallon CBs and one 3 gal. When we top up we'll likely be 3x5+1+1. There's a fair amount of mud in the 3 gal, and that's get distributed. In 2013 we moved from the tank to carboys on day 7, too (3x5+1), at just about the same Brix.
I also moved the Raisin from the bucket it was in to a 1 gal and some spillover that I have in a 1 liter now, but might come close to filling a 500 or 375 - and as I do every year I think, Oh, yeah, have to buy some bored stoppers for plain bottles. Everything is pumping away nicely.
Friday, October 10, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 6, Oct 10 2014
0600:
Room 69F, juice 73F, Brix 10.
Likely alcohol content of juice now 10%.
Still lots of foam and audible fizz under it, still very slimy yeast, but no bubbler action. Down 3 Brix in the last 11.5 hours so it slowed from yesterday's crazy pace. But the juice is still warmer than in any day of 2013.
Swapped the bat and 2 blocks for 4 blocks - the bat wasn't frozen through (neither was the last one I put in last night).
The little Raisin is very fizzy, very dark in color. Will taste it this evening.
And, no, this isn't about the temperature of the juice, but it looks like brother winemaker Pietro was up at Gracie Mansion celebrating Italian Heritage Day with that tall guy who usually comes to our yearly new wine & puttanesca party. Begorah!
Winemaker Magazine's yeast chart tells a slightly better story for us than Lalvin's tear-sheet. Lalvin lists ideal temps. WM states that the yeast's upper temp range is 86F.
1730:
Room 69, juice 72, Brix 7.5.
Bubbler propped up but not pumping, lots of fizz, lots of yeast smell in the air. Lots of foam and yeast is very slimy. Swapped the 3 or 4 packs that were in there for a bat and 3 packs. asted the juice (now at a likely 12.4% alc.), still fresh fruit and sweet, but with a tart/sour thing going on at the sides and back of the tongue.
112 hours into the fermentation. When we cross the line to 5 brix I'll likely go into carboys unless the CO2 production seems very heavy - maybe even if it is. Last year we went to carboys at 4.5 Brix and consolidated / topped those off when we went to 0.9 Brix. Of course, we're hoping that the high Brix / high alcohol this year doesn't cause fermentation to crap out before then.
And what about poor Raisin? Much to my surprise it's at 16 Brix, going at a more leisurely rate than the main Muscat. 72F. Fizzy sounding, not fuzzy looking. Actually looks like it could go into jug without hurting itself.
And then, at 2100, I decided to hydrate 1 gram of Fermaid-K in distilled water and add it to the Raisin. Would be a shame if it pooped out.
Room 69F, juice 73F, Brix 10.
Likely alcohol content of juice now 10%.
Still lots of foam and audible fizz under it, still very slimy yeast, but no bubbler action. Down 3 Brix in the last 11.5 hours so it slowed from yesterday's crazy pace. But the juice is still warmer than in any day of 2013.
Swapped the bat and 2 blocks for 4 blocks - the bat wasn't frozen through (neither was the last one I put in last night).
The little Raisin is very fizzy, very dark in color. Will taste it this evening.
Winemaker Magazine's yeast chart tells a slightly better story for us than Lalvin's tear-sheet. Lalvin lists ideal temps. WM states that the yeast's upper temp range is 86F.
1730:
Room 69, juice 72, Brix 7.5.
Bubbler propped up but not pumping, lots of fizz, lots of yeast smell in the air. Lots of foam and yeast is very slimy. Swapped the 3 or 4 packs that were in there for a bat and 3 packs. asted the juice (now at a likely 12.4% alc.), still fresh fruit and sweet, but with a tart/sour thing going on at the sides and back of the tongue.
112 hours into the fermentation. When we cross the line to 5 brix I'll likely go into carboys unless the CO2 production seems very heavy - maybe even if it is. Last year we went to carboys at 4.5 Brix and consolidated / topped those off when we went to 0.9 Brix. Of course, we're hoping that the high Brix / high alcohol this year doesn't cause fermentation to crap out before then.
And what about poor Raisin? Much to my surprise it's at 16 Brix, going at a more leisurely rate than the main Muscat. 72F. Fizzy sounding, not fuzzy looking. Actually looks like it could go into jug without hurting itself.
And then, at 2100, I decided to hydrate 1 gram of Fermaid-K in distilled water and add it to the Raisin. Would be a shame if it pooped out.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 5 October 9, 2014
0530:
Room 70, juice 74.5, Brix 18.5.
Dropped 5 Brix in the last 9 hours. A total of 9.5 Brix since yeasting, 78 hours ago. Roughly 50% of the fermentation so far has taken place in the last 10% of the time.
I guess this qualifies as out of control? Say goodbye, volatile monoterpenes.
Got downstairs and the bubbler was practically tossed from the tank with a steady, heavy chain of big CO2 bubblers plopping up through it.
Closest temp to this I have in the last few years of Muscat making was 74F in day 6 of 2012 when the juice was down to 5 Brix, but the room was also 74 degrees. This is also the highest I've seen the temp of the white juice go above the temp of the room. In 2013 the temp of the juice never exceeded the temp of the room.
Swapped all the packs and bats. Note to self: be prepared to double-up on the bats next year. Vidi below gives you an idea of the fizz happening right now. Turn up the volume. The blue things in the tank are the bat and icepacks.
1830:
Room 69F, juice 75F, Brix 13.
House was in high aroma when I walked in. Going downstairs I worried that I detected a little barnyard on the bouquet - but tasting the juice - dark, fizzy, apple-ish and probably 10% alcohol at this stage - gave me nothing but deliciousness.
Still, what the heck is happening! Heavy foam is back and the yeast is in that super-slimy state, coating everything (including the white jeans I wore - dope).
Replaced as much ice as I could, but the big bat hadn't quite frozen through. I might take the temp again in just a couple of hours, just to see what the short term effect of icing is. If it does push the juice down, we can consider... what, staying home from work for a week next year and swapping massive quantities of icepacks in and out every two hours? Or maybe it's time to seriously consider a cooling coil? (Not likely.) Ah, to envy the big boys.
Anyway, a drop of 5 Brix in 5 hours, followed by a drop of 5.5 in 13 hours. It ain't going to last forever.
2030:
I did check the juice temp - down 3 degrees in the last 2 hours. The icepacks are effective, if only for a short time.
Room 70, juice 74.5, Brix 18.5.
Dropped 5 Brix in the last 9 hours. A total of 9.5 Brix since yeasting, 78 hours ago. Roughly 50% of the fermentation so far has taken place in the last 10% of the time.
I guess this qualifies as out of control? Say goodbye, volatile monoterpenes.
Got downstairs and the bubbler was practically tossed from the tank with a steady, heavy chain of big CO2 bubblers plopping up through it.
Closest temp to this I have in the last few years of Muscat making was 74F in day 6 of 2012 when the juice was down to 5 Brix, but the room was also 74 degrees. This is also the highest I've seen the temp of the white juice go above the temp of the room. In 2013 the temp of the juice never exceeded the temp of the room.
Swapped all the packs and bats. Note to self: be prepared to double-up on the bats next year. Vidi below gives you an idea of the fizz happening right now. Turn up the volume. The blue things in the tank are the bat and icepacks.
1830:
Room 69F, juice 75F, Brix 13.
House was in high aroma when I walked in. Going downstairs I worried that I detected a little barnyard on the bouquet - but tasting the juice - dark, fizzy, apple-ish and probably 10% alcohol at this stage - gave me nothing but deliciousness.
 |
| The foam is back, way back. |
Replaced as much ice as I could, but the big bat hadn't quite frozen through. I might take the temp again in just a couple of hours, just to see what the short term effect of icing is. If it does push the juice down, we can consider... what, staying home from work for a week next year and swapping massive quantities of icepacks in and out every two hours? Or maybe it's time to seriously consider a cooling coil? (Not likely.) Ah, to envy the big boys.
Anyway, a drop of 5 Brix in 5 hours, followed by a drop of 5.5 in 13 hours. It ain't going to last forever.
2030:
I did check the juice temp - down 3 degrees in the last 2 hours. The icepacks are effective, if only for a short time.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 4, Oct 8, 2014
0700:
Room 70F, juice 68F, Brix 26.
Loud fizzing, little or no foam. Not moving the bubbler. Replaced paddle and pack.
Like yesterday the outside temp will be around 70 today, then cooler tomorrow and cooler yet the day after - any little ambient temperature drop we can get will be nice.
57.5 hours since adding the yeast and a total Brix drop of 2 (about 7%). Last year it took 36.5 hours from inoculation to drop 2 Brix - that was from 23 to 21 (9%). The description of the CO2 action in the juice both years at the 2 Brix drop is identical. So this year is a slower start, from a much higher Brix, but when the yeast has eaten an identical amount of sugar the juice / fermentation looks and sounds the same.
Swapped the ice pack in Raisin, no measurements. Foam and fizz.
1830:
Walked into the house and was totally assaulted with the smell of sticky juice fermenting. Woah! turned on the exhaust fan in the cellar that we installed in our first winemaking year with Bernardo - 2006.
Room 71F, Juice 72F, Brix 23.5.
Heavy fizz! Scary temp! swapped the bat for another, and the ice pack for 2. The warmest I measured the juice last year was 71F. In 2012, though, it was between 72 and 74 for three days running. Of course, last year was much better wine than 2012.
Swapped the ice pack in Raisin a few hours later.
Room 70F, juice 68F, Brix 26.
Loud fizzing, little or no foam. Not moving the bubbler. Replaced paddle and pack.
Like yesterday the outside temp will be around 70 today, then cooler tomorrow and cooler yet the day after - any little ambient temperature drop we can get will be nice.
57.5 hours since adding the yeast and a total Brix drop of 2 (about 7%). Last year it took 36.5 hours from inoculation to drop 2 Brix - that was from 23 to 21 (9%). The description of the CO2 action in the juice both years at the 2 Brix drop is identical. So this year is a slower start, from a much higher Brix, but when the yeast has eaten an identical amount of sugar the juice / fermentation looks and sounds the same.
Swapped the ice pack in Raisin, no measurements. Foam and fizz.
1830:
Walked into the house and was totally assaulted with the smell of sticky juice fermenting. Woah! turned on the exhaust fan in the cellar that we installed in our first winemaking year with Bernardo - 2006.
Room 71F, Juice 72F, Brix 23.5.
Heavy fizz! Scary temp! swapped the bat for another, and the ice pack for 2. The warmest I measured the juice last year was 71F. In 2012, though, it was between 72 and 74 for three days running. Of course, last year was much better wine than 2012.
Swapped the ice pack in Raisin a few hours later.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
2014 Muscat, day 3, Oct 7 2014
0600:
Room 69F, juice 65F, Brix 27.5.
Raisin 64F.
+32 hours since adding yeast, slightest budge in sugar. I underestimated the CO2 production and stuck my face in the tank to smell the must and quickly got the classic gasp and tingles. Replaced the ice paddle.
Raisin at 64F, no other measurements taken. More yeast froth than last evening but still nowhere near the main juice. Replaced the ice pack.
Potential alcohol: just checked the reference books. Setting aside a bazillion other factors, 0.56 is the multiplier to determine potential alcohol from the starting Brix level. Potential 15.68%, which seems so insane as to make me hope we don't reach our potential.
Oh, and here's something interesting to worry about: ICV-D47, the yeast we're using, has an "average alcohol tolerance up to 14%". Mommy! Might we end up with something high alcohol, high acid, and off dry?
Alison Crowe says:
2100:
Room 70F, juice 68F, Brix 26.5.
The heavy foam has broken up into something more like curds and there is very active carbonation rising up through the juice. Temp is at the top of D47's happy range, so I replaced the ice paddle & added an ice pack. (Room and juice temps this evening are where they were in the morning of day 3 last year.)
Raisin is turning from foam to curd, too, but is much less active. I changed the ice pack.
Room 69F, juice 65F, Brix 27.5.
Raisin 64F.
+32 hours since adding yeast, slightest budge in sugar. I underestimated the CO2 production and stuck my face in the tank to smell the must and quickly got the classic gasp and tingles. Replaced the ice paddle.
Raisin at 64F, no other measurements taken. More yeast froth than last evening but still nowhere near the main juice. Replaced the ice pack.
Potential alcohol: just checked the reference books. Setting aside a bazillion other factors, 0.56 is the multiplier to determine potential alcohol from the starting Brix level. Potential 15.68%, which seems so insane as to make me hope we don't reach our potential.
Oh, and here's something interesting to worry about: ICV-D47, the yeast we're using, has an "average alcohol tolerance up to 14%". Mommy! Might we end up with something high alcohol, high acid, and off dry?
Alison Crowe says:
Estimating potential alcohol is tough, even for veteran winemakers. Things like yeast strain, fermentation temperature and dried up grapes can make it hard to first get an accurate initial Brix reading and to subsequently translate an initial Brix reading into final alcohol. Though in a lab we may say that for every degree Brix you'll get X amount of ethanol, in reality it's never that simple. You can certainly help yourself, though, by only using your hydrometer to help you calculate potential alcohol at the beginning of the fermentation, where it will most accurately reflect what you'll be getting from the sugar in your juice or must.
2100:
Room 70F, juice 68F, Brix 26.5.
The heavy foam has broken up into something more like curds and there is very active carbonation rising up through the juice. Temp is at the top of D47's happy range, so I replaced the ice paddle & added an ice pack. (Room and juice temps this evening are where they were in the morning of day 3 last year.)
Raisin is turning from foam to curd, too, but is much less active. I changed the ice pack.
Monday, October 6, 2014
2014 Muscat, Day 2, Oct 6 2014
0800:
Cellar is 68 F and the juice 63 F - hasn’t yet warmed to the room’s temp, but up 5 degrees in the last 10 hours. Last year, the morning after yeast the room was the 70F and the wine 68F - all in all a cooler start this year, maybe all do to it being so much cooler on crush day this year.
Yeast is starting to colonize in masses on the surface, but no fizzing or visual action yet. Won’t bother with any other readings until things are further along (except maybe acid tonight - just like last year I am nervous about having made an adjustment). If we track to 2013's curve, there might be enough temp rise late today to start cooling the must, and tomorrow night there will be "foam as thick as a shag carpet".
A little more about yesterday.
Just as in 2013, the destemmer was jammed when we first tried to use it. Removed the cover from the fan belt and chain assembly and was again able to free the works by rocking and then rotating the pulley by hand. This evening I’ll disassemble it again and lubricate things with mineral oil.
1830:
Room 68.5 F, must 65 F, SO2 ~15ppm, acid tartaric somewhere between .625 and .800.
Only 2F rise in temp the last 10 hours, but I went ahead and added an ice paddle given how active the yeast seemed to be - fully covering the surface, the starting of hiss but not nearly enough CO2 to pop the bubbler. (I also bought another paddle today - we lost 2 of them to an ice cooler bio-hazard of par-boiled pasta from the June puttanesca party that I found in the cellar in August.) D47 yeast is happiest 59F to 68F. Go down, Moses.
The juice is still completely cloudy, so titrette and acid readings aren't so clear. SO2 looked to be a good deal lower than I was shooting for (though a good deal higher than the plain juice, and given how quickly the fermentation is starting, it's all good in my view). Acid is harder to read than the SO2 and I really can't say whether I had a full color change at 2.5 ml HCl or 2.8 or somewhere inbetween. My aim was to get us to .65 and not above .75. Will test a few times as fermentation progresses. I've also just read that the titration color change happens when the sample hits 8.2 pH - so in theory I could check for the levels with our pH meter instead of visually. Oy.
I took no readings from Muscat 2, our raisin stomp. Maybe I should add a little cooling to it, though.
I've added Mihai & colleen's pics from yesterday to a slideshow in the right hand margin.
Cellar is 68 F and the juice 63 F - hasn’t yet warmed to the room’s temp, but up 5 degrees in the last 10 hours. Last year, the morning after yeast the room was the 70F and the wine 68F - all in all a cooler start this year, maybe all do to it being so much cooler on crush day this year.
Yeast is starting to colonize in masses on the surface, but no fizzing or visual action yet. Won’t bother with any other readings until things are further along (except maybe acid tonight - just like last year I am nervous about having made an adjustment). If we track to 2013's curve, there might be enough temp rise late today to start cooling the must, and tomorrow night there will be "foam as thick as a shag carpet".
A little more about yesterday.
Just as in 2013, the destemmer was jammed when we first tried to use it. Removed the cover from the fan belt and chain assembly and was again able to free the works by rocking and then rotating the pulley by hand. This evening I’ll disassemble it again and lubricate things with mineral oil.
1830:
Room 68.5 F, must 65 F, SO2 ~15ppm, acid tartaric somewhere between .625 and .800.
 |
| Yeast action, in main Muscat, about 24 hours in. |
The juice is still completely cloudy, so titrette and acid readings aren't so clear. SO2 looked to be a good deal lower than I was shooting for (though a good deal higher than the plain juice, and given how quickly the fermentation is starting, it's all good in my view). Acid is harder to read than the SO2 and I really can't say whether I had a full color change at 2.5 ml HCl or 2.8 or somewhere inbetween. My aim was to get us to .65 and not above .75. Will test a few times as fermentation progresses. I've also just read that the titration color change happens when the sample hits 8.2 pH - so in theory I could check for the levels with our pH meter instead of visually. Oy.
 |
| Raisin-stomp is not so far along. |
I've added Mihai & colleen's pics from yesterday to a slideshow in the right hand margin.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
2014 Muscat, Day 1, Oct 5 2014
0700
Temp outside is 47 F, chilliest morning of the young autumn so far and the first time we've had cool weather on winemaking day in a years.
It's also the latest date we've started Muscat: 2009 9/26, 2010 9/25/, 2011 9/24, 2012 9/29, 2013 9/22). Last year was the earliest, which maybe makes this year feel all the later.
19:30
Brix +28, juice temp 58.5F, acid 4.5 tartaric, pH 4.3.
Wow! What a day. Mihai & Colleen got here first, then Jon, then Helen & Mike, then it's a jumble - Peter, James, Doyle, Michael & Kelly & Nate, Mike & Pam & Carmello, Judy & Danny & Lief... Lots of other folks stopping.
We set up two sorting tables - one in the yard and one on the sidewalk, and we used one of our 50 gallons fermenting drums to hold the sorted grapes until we were ready to press. Tony Pagano told us yesterday that the grapes were at 28 Brix and I was doubtful, but it was exactly what I was seeing on the refractometer while we worked. At some point Mihai and I decided not to press while the sorting was going on because we would have to use the wash-up hose for the bladder - turned out to be a mistake in that it stretched the work out for a couple of hours longer than if we pressed (as we usually do) while sorting.
I think we have the process of using the bladder press down now. Next year we might elevate it a bit to make the gauge more accessible, we'll know what combination of hoses to have ready, and we'll get a Y splitter so we can press and still have a hose for washing.
Our yield was about 66 liters of juice - more than the last two years but less than 2012 and 11. Given the condition of the grapes I don't know whether the new press helped get us a better yield, but it's nicer to use - easier for everyone to get a hand in.
At 7:30 or so we tested the juice. Brix was where we now expected it to be, whopping high. Acid was correspondingly whopping low - .45 tartaric, and we decided to raise it just as we did last year, to a target .65. Using the rule of 1 g/l to raise it 1% we uses 2 g/l for 66 liters - 122 g. That seemed like a heck of a lot, but I went with it.
Also tested for free S02, which was nowhere in sight, and using the rule of .53ml per liter to impart 30 ppm, we added 35ml for the 66 liters.
Then we hydrated the D47 and pitched it in.
During the course of the day Doyle and Peter asked and prodded about doing something with all of the raisened and bruised fruit. At first I thought we might ferment them on their skins, but then we changed gears, ran them through the destemmer, pressed them, and put the juice (there's only 5 liters of it) into their own container to ferment. We added appropriate amounts meta, tartaric, and yeast using the same rules as the main wine, though I did not take separate measurements.
Temp outside is 47 F, chilliest morning of the young autumn so far and the first time we've had cool weather on winemaking day in a years.
It's also the latest date we've started Muscat: 2009 9/26, 2010 9/25/, 2011 9/24, 2012 9/29, 2013 9/22). Last year was the earliest, which maybe makes this year feel all the later.
19:30
Brix +28, juice temp 58.5F, acid 4.5 tartaric, pH 4.3.
Wow! What a day. Mihai & Colleen got here first, then Jon, then Helen & Mike, then it's a jumble - Peter, James, Doyle, Michael & Kelly & Nate, Mike & Pam & Carmello, Judy & Danny & Lief... Lots of other folks stopping.
We set up two sorting tables - one in the yard and one on the sidewalk, and we used one of our 50 gallons fermenting drums to hold the sorted grapes until we were ready to press. Tony Pagano told us yesterday that the grapes were at 28 Brix and I was doubtful, but it was exactly what I was seeing on the refractometer while we worked. At some point Mihai and I decided not to press while the sorting was going on because we would have to use the wash-up hose for the bladder - turned out to be a mistake in that it stretched the work out for a couple of hours longer than if we pressed (as we usually do) while sorting.
 |
| One of Mihai's pics of the sidewalk sorting table - Peter, Jon & Lori. |
I think we have the process of using the bladder press down now. Next year we might elevate it a bit to make the gauge more accessible, we'll know what combination of hoses to have ready, and we'll get a Y splitter so we can press and still have a hose for washing.
Our yield was about 66 liters of juice - more than the last two years but less than 2012 and 11. Given the condition of the grapes I don't know whether the new press helped get us a better yield, but it's nicer to use - easier for everyone to get a hand in.
At 7:30 or so we tested the juice. Brix was where we now expected it to be, whopping high. Acid was correspondingly whopping low - .45 tartaric, and we decided to raise it just as we did last year, to a target .65. Using the rule of 1 g/l to raise it 1% we uses 2 g/l for 66 liters - 122 g. That seemed like a heck of a lot, but I went with it.
Also tested for free S02, which was nowhere in sight, and using the rule of .53ml per liter to impart 30 ppm, we added 35ml for the 66 liters.
Then we hydrated the D47 and pitched it in.
During the course of the day Doyle and Peter asked and prodded about doing something with all of the raisened and bruised fruit. At first I thought we might ferment them on their skins, but then we changed gears, ran them through the destemmer, pressed them, and put the juice (there's only 5 liters of it) into their own container to ferment. We added appropriate amounts meta, tartaric, and yeast using the same rules as the main wine, though I did not take separate measurements.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
2014 Muscat, day zero
At about 3 Mike, Peter and I headed over to terminal market for 500# of Muscat Alexandria. First stop was Lapide, where there were lots and lots of bees on the grapes, which I guess is a nice sign sugar-wise, but maybe they were there because the grapes were so beat up looking - rougher than any of us recall from past years. Maybe the downside of buying so late? We dithered, shuffled, chatted with the head man about Malvasia, took a walk...
... and looked in at Pagano. What we saw wasn't all that much more enticing, but was enhanced by the senior Tony Pagano (92 years old) regaling us with stories. We bit. 12 cases, 504# of Muscat, which we brought back to the house and got under a tarp. (The day started with heavy rains but they were over by now.) Mihai and Colleen were waiting for us when we pulled up and Lori came out, too - very quick work.
Mike took off, the rest of us went out back so Mihai could check out the new press - we made him chief engineer for tomorrow. Poked and prodded, decided to see how the hosing attached, filled the bladder and drained it and started putting together a plan of how things might work tomorrow.
We've already decided to put the destemmed grapes into a holding tank before the press, so things might flow as easily as possible and also so we might do a little hand crushing before pressing - we'll see.
Haven't tested the sugar level of the grapes yet - the boss at Lapide said 26 brix. We'll see in the morning. Sleep well, garapies!
 |
| 504 pounds of Muscat Alexandria about to be wrapped. |
Mike took off, the rest of us went out back so Mihai could check out the new press - we made him chief engineer for tomorrow. Poked and prodded, decided to see how the hosing attached, filled the bladder and drained it and started putting together a plan of how things might work tomorrow.
We've already decided to put the destemmed grapes into a holding tank before the press, so things might flow as easily as possible and also so we might do a little hand crushing before pressing - we'll see.
Haven't tested the sugar level of the grapes yet - the boss at Lapide said 26 brix. We'll see in the morning. Sleep well, garapies!
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