Regardless of air temperatures falling to 37ºF (3ºC) the must and juice in the qvevri are happily fermenting. My original specific gravity reading on Saturday was 1.110. As of yesterday, the SG was 1.046. Put in terms of potential alcohol, when I started the fermentation there was a 15% alcohol potential. Now that is down to 7%. A little more than half of the sugar has been converted to alcohol despite the air temperature. Since the qvevri is buried under ground, the air temperature does not seem to bother it.
There is more of a cap now then when the ferment first began. However the punch down is quite easy. While in Georgia last fall, Kathy and I punched down the cap in a large 3,000 litre qvevri. It took considerable force to punch down the cap. With my small 23 litre qvevri, punching down is easy.
We seal the lid to the qvevri with a layer of clay. There is an airlock in the lid to allow a build up of gas to escape. Knowing that we could have temperatures below freezing soon, I placed Chacha in the airlock. It is not going to freeze.
Cheers,
Terry
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