2022 Chardonnay: day 3

 05:30

• Brix 22 (hydrometer)
• Juice temp 74 F; room temp 73.5 F; outdoor temp 59 F and clear

Big, lazy shag, 5:30 AM

Big, lazy, shaggy foam.  We've dropped just a smidge over 10% of the sugar in the juice over the +35 hours since we added the yeast (43 hours since we started sorting and everything else).  Yes, we have a spreadsheet going and will be able to compare things to prior fermentations.

13:30

Mayhem!  Thought I'd come home to work from there this afternoon, opened the cellar door and was nearly blown backwards by the smell.  It's official - we don't have to worry that the fermentation will be week because we did not add any yeast food.  

Bubbler was blown out and yeast scum had flowed down all four sides of the tank.  Cleaned it up as best I could, put the lid and bubbler back with less water in the trap (so it would burp less violently), but it was burping every couple of seconds and nearly throwing itself out.  So for the next hour or two I'm letting the ferm go without the bubbler: no worries about oxygen while the juice is throwing off so much CO2.

15:20

Bubbler back in.  12 burps every 10 seconds.  That's a lot of gas. Can feel the heat through the poly.

18:30

• Brix 18
• Juice temp 78 F; room temp 73 F; outdoor temp 71 F & cloudy

Pretty awesome.  steady bubbler popping but no overflow.  Given how active everything was I'm relieved we're still as high as 18 brix.  Hot as the juice is, we're still a long way off from it's max survivable temp of 86 F.  

13:30 megaspew

... under the hood