Keeping an Eye on Fermentation

Both the peach wine and Sauvignon Blanc are in primary fermenters with an airlock. It’s interesting to note that I’m drawn to observe the bubbling in the airlock. One might think that is a boring activity, however, I find it fascinating to stare at bubbles being released. The Sauvignon Blanc was the first to begin bubbling. On Tuesday morning there was a bubble every four seconds. By Tuesday evening the bubbles were every two seconds. For the past three days the fermentation bin has been happily bubbling every one to two seconds. The peach wine was a different story though. It took longer to begin bubbling and by Tuesday evening it was bubbling once every four seconds. By Wednesday it bubbled about every three and a half seconds. By Thursday it was back to every four seconds and by Friday morning every five or more seconds. It seemed to me that the peach wine was fermenting a bit sluggishly.

On Friday we decided to test the specific gravity of the peach wine and add some Superferment to the fermenting mixture. The beginning peach specific gravity measured 1.084. Today it measured 1.030. That meant that the wine was at about 7.1 percent alcohol. It still has a way to go so we added the Superferment at the rate of 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. By afternoon the rate of the airlock bubbling was once every three to four seconds. There is a bit more fermentation going on now than earlier this morning.

On Sunday we’ll read the specific gravity again. I’m hoping that both wines will be around 1.000 or lower. If so we’ll rack into carboys.

A year ago we had the Muscat and Petite Syrah, both made from juice sourced from Lodi, fermenting. Both those wines fermented at a quicker rate. The temperature in the house was warmer a year ago than it is now. Another noticeable difference is that a year ago there was more of a fermenting wine aroma in the house. It is hardly noticeable this year with the peach and Sauvignon Blanc wines. When fermenting, keep an eye on things and record data. It is interesting to compare years.

Cheers,
Terry