stopping fermentation

85 to 90 degrees will not kill yeast. I have conducted fermentation at temperatures up to and over 100 degrees. I will not say it made the best wine but that was before A/C and it was the best I could do at the time.

Ray

I do not believe that this method will work as intended. I have had ferments run into and above that temperature (F) and continue strongly.

Cheers, Ken Taborek

" I will not say it made the best wine but that was before A/C and it was the best I could do at the time. "

Boy, and I thought I was old.

Perhaps Donny is referring to 85 to 90 degrees C. That would be equivalent to 185 to 194 F. These temperatures will indeed kill yeast but they may have an adverse effect on wine quality. Lum Del Mar, California, USA

I have been reading about and old method of sterilizing that seems to be being revisited. The wine is heated to 54 C +/-0.2 C and bottled, cased and stored with no pre cooling. The temperature is very low but the long lag time in cooling is used for sterilization. It's in Bird's book- Winery Technology. His feeling is that the temperature control must be tight and that it's useful for generic wines in that it can have a premature aging effect on the wine, possibly making it drinkable sooner. He is a chemist and master of wine so it's not exactly a 'left field' theory.

Joe

Joe

Yep, I could tell you stories about how introduction of AC changed our ability to ferment here in the US south and how it even changed our fishing laws! ;o)

Ray

You'd get a pretty big headspace with that method as the wine cools down. I'd be worried about oxidation.

Pp

He mentioned that, I assume they overfill when hot. I was think of heating water up to 54 C and bottling it to see what it does. It might aslo create a bit of suction when the liquid shrinks. It's and easy thing to try, I'll post results. I know water and wine are going to behave differently, but it's a starting point.

Joe

Chill the wine, and add sulfur. Thats how we do it at the winery. Add a heap of sulfur and chill to below zero, and filter if at all possible. Of course be careful if adding sulfur to reds, as it can bleach colour.

Good point PP. The time between heating and bottling seems enug to oxidize significantly at these temperatures.. seems better to play safe and to do all the heating and transfer under a positive flow argon cap.

Gene

Clare - Clarify what you mean by "sulfur". How much is a heap? Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA