82-84 degrees during primary fermentation - how big a problem is that?

on a white this is bad.... you got to do white cool 65-68 degrees, if not you will lose al lthe flavor.

On a single batch, you should get it into a tub and get some ice around it and water and try get it cooled down.

People in my wine club turn unsed freezers (chest) plugged into a temperature control switch into a fermentor for whites. I have used old refrigerators, especially old old with lots of room. I can some time get three to four carbuys in them. They don't run often since the mass of the wine hold the temperature for awhile plus I kee[p mine at 68 degrees.

Rule on whites....you got to ferment cool!!!

on the other hand 82-84 would be great for a red wine

I am doing a BrewKing Symphony kit (white). I fermented it at 82 degrees, that was as cool as I could get it. I talked to the expert at BrewKing before making it and he told me that the wine would actually have more flavor and advised me to go ahead at 82 degrees. The wine is not finished yet, but I have to believe the guy at BrewKing is probably right. I would check with the manufacture on each individual kit.

Temperature effects three aspects of your fermentation: Flavor/Aromatic Profile, maceration (in reds) and yeast viability. Vigorous yeast, which are most often supplied in kits, tend to ferment fast and generate a lot of BTU's so trying to control the temperature somewhat is good for many reasons. For whites, cooler temperature will allow the development of esters from the yeast that with enchance the aroma of the wine. It will also prevent off flavors and aromas, by not stressing the yeast and therefore keeping the correct metabolic pathways open. In reds the effect of warming temp[erature with enchance thermal maceration, giving good procurement of grape tannins and neccesary for good round mouthfeel. However, for many yeast temperature above 85 can be lethal especially once alcohol levels begin climbing. So yeast however can trive up to 100F.

The moral of the story is that constant temperature is the best rule of thumb. Yes, whites are best fermented cooler than reds, but the key is keeping the temp within a tight range to promote good fermentations.

This will be an interesting first batch, then. I may have gotten a little carried away with the ice, and the must is now 58 degrees. That means it has had a 24-26 degree variation during its first 72 hours. I'm still keeping it iced a little but hope to bring it to about 65 degrees where I will keep it constant for the rest of the primary fermentation.

What effect does temperature have >Temperature effects three aspects of your fermentation:

I didn't say that. You learn something with each batch - even if you end up dumping it out. I've dumped my share too. :^(

Right. Lose the spigot. That thing is useless anyway. Buy a new primary and a tub big enough to hold it with some ice around it if need be.

Another option is to run the primary in a refrigerator with some temperature control. That works well for small batches if you set it up with an external temp controller. The built in controller in refrigerators runs too cold for winemaking.

Tom S

Doesn't your hydrometer have a built in thermometer and temperature correction table? Many of them do, and that's kind of useful. Mine also has a scale that has Brix, S.G. and potential alcohol side by side. I sometimes refer to it even if I'm not actually measuring a must or wine.

Tom S

Kevin, Stop worrying, this batch is going to be fine too. Temperature does affect the hyrdometer reading, but only a little bit. If it read

1.072 at 86 F it was actually 1.075 at 68 F, the standard temperature most hydrometers are now calibrated at. I can send you an excel file with all of that done for you. It's a pain to figure out for some of us. At 58 you would subtract about 1.5 points, so if it read 1.070 it's actually about 1.0685.

If that was your initial reading it's odd, it seems too low for me. That seems to be only a 10 % alcohol level if all goes well. (That's not bad either, it just seems a little low.)

it's not an uncommon practice to start fermentation at a higher temperature until the yeast gets going and then lower it, somewhat like you did. 58 is not a bad temperature to ferment a white at. I doubt you blew much of the aromatics off. You let it go a little too long if it got to 85, but all is far from lost. (The fermentation creates heat, so once it's fermenting nicely you start to cool so it's does not rise too much.)

If the aroma and taste seem flat see if your wine shop stocks AR 2000 from DSM and add about 1 gram to the 6 gallons, it will improve it immensely. It's only for whites and will fix you right up. It's hard to judge this if you are just starting out but you want to develop those senses anyway, so just make a call on it and remember what it seemed to be like since it will continue to evolve. If in doubt, add the AR 2000.

I am not arguing with any of the advice you have been given, it's a all good. I'm just telling you wine usually turns out fine in spite of what we do to it if the basics are followed. Cool fermenting of whites is never a bad idea as far as I am concerned, just try to make sure you don't get so cool that the fermentation stops. The idea is to ferment a white slowly, and you are doing that from the looks of things.

Joe

I actually fermented a White Zinfandel using a BrewKing kit at a constant 72 degrees and it turned out great. I gave about 15 bottles away and everyone really enjoyed the wine and asked for more..free wine, what should I have expected from them? I can't wait to try the next one at a lower tempeture and see if the wine is improves beyond that of the first batch.

Brandon

Check out the calcs page on my site. Among other things there is a calculation for adjustments to hydrometer readings due to temperature differences. If the difference is under 10 degrees Fahrenheit, then I wouldn't worry, but your temperature differences definately rate checking the proper adjustment.

Marc