Hi Everyone... I ran into a "situation" today and was wondering if
anyone knows enough about yeast to know if I have a problem.

I have six gallons of Chardonnay fermenting in a 13.5 gallon barrel
(currently at 17 Brix). I have another 11 gallons in the cold garage
waiting until the barrel reaches Brix 10, then I'll rack to a carboy
and then place the other 11 gallons in the barrel and start
fermenting on that.

Okay... My "situation." I walked in the garage today to find the 11
gallons bubbling away! It wasn't bubbling last night, but I did see a
little foam around the meniscus of the six gallon carboy, which made
me concerned. I didn't see rising bubbles like I do today. The
weather warmed a bit today. There was no discernable lees at the
bottom of the glass carboys, so I'm hoping I caught this fast!

I immediately racked the wine in the barrel to another carboy, then
racked the two other early-fermenting carboys into the barrel. I
purposely left about 1/2 gallon of wine/lees on the bottom of the
barrel. I thought that would make a nice yeast starter ready to go.
Regardless of this, I created a yeast starter with enough yeast for
the 11 gallons and pitched it in the barrel.

My concern is, which yeast will take? Obviously I have wild yeast
that's become active. I'm hoping my yeast will take over and dominate
the wild yeast. Everything is fermenting nicely, I just don't know
which yeast is doing what in the barrel! :-(

Should I be concerned? Is there anything else I should do? I'm using
CY3079 yeast.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

-Paul

On Oct 26, 8:32*pm, "rec.crafts.winemaking"
> wrote:
> Hi Everyone... I ran into a "situation" today and was wondering if
> anyone knows enough about yeast to know if I have a problem.
>
> I have six gallons of Chardonnay fermenting in a 13.5 gallon barrel
> (currently at 17 Brix). *I have another 11 gallons in the cold garage
> waiting until the barrel reaches Brix 10, then I'll rack to a carboy
> and then *place the other 11 gallons in the barrel and start
> fermenting on that.
>
> Okay... My "situation." *I walked in the garage today to find the 11
> gallons bubbling away! *It wasn't bubbling last night, but I did see a
> little foam around the meniscus of the six gallon carboy, which made
> me concerned. *I didn't see rising bubbles like I do today. *The
> weather warmed a bit today. *There was no discernable lees at the
> bottom of the glass carboys, so I'm hoping I caught this fast!
>
> I immediately racked the wine in the barrel to another carboy, then
> racked the two other early-fermenting carboys into the barrel. *I
> purposely left about 1/2 gallon of wine/lees on the bottom of the
> barrel. *I thought that would make a nice yeast starter ready to go.
> Regardless of this, I created a yeast starter with enough yeast for
> the 11 gallons and pitched it in the barrel.
>
> My concern is, which yeast will take? *Obviously I have wild yeast
> that's become active. *I'm hoping my yeast will take over and dominate
> the wild yeast. *Everything is fermenting nicely, I just don't know
> which yeast is doing what in the barrel! :-(
>
> Should I be concerned? *Is there anything else I should do? *I'm using
> CY3079 yeast.
>
> Any help or advice would be appreciated.
>
> -Paul

Sorry for the double post. I posted this, like, two days ago and it
never shower, so I reposted it. Now they both show.

Geeeesh! :-/

-Paul

Paul -
Your chosen yeast may well out-compete the wild yeasts. Adding some
pot. meta. would likely help tip the odds further in that direction,
as it will tend to discourage wild yeasts more than commercial wine
yeasts. Other than using exteme measures to kill all the existing
yeast and start over from scratch, I'm not sure there is much else you
can do. Cold alone really doesn't work to prevent fermentation for
very long. But the wine is likely to be fine.

Doug

Hi All,
"Doug" > wrote in message
...
> Paul -
> Your chosen yeast may well out-compete the wild yeasts. Adding some
> pot. meta. would likely help tip the odds further in that direction,
> as it will tend to discourage wild yeasts more than commercial wine
> yeasts. Other than using exteme measures to kill all the existing
> yeast and start over from scratch, I'm not sure there is much else you
> can do. Cold alone really doesn't work to prevent fermentation for
> very long. But the wine is likely to be fine.
>
> Doug

I have had a wild yeast which has out performed the wine yeast, am sorry
now that I did not save it, young and foolish at the time.

Richard M. Watkin.

On Nov 1, 10:50*am, "R M Watkin" > wrote:
>
> I have had a wild yeast which has out performed the wine yeast, *am sorry
> now that I did not save it, young and foolish at the time.
>

Richard,
Just curious, how were you able to tell that the wild yeast had
outperformed the wine yeast? what signs were there?
And another question - how could you have saved the yeast for future
use?
Thanks,
Raanan

Hi Raanan,
> wrote in message
...
On Nov 1, 10:50 am, "R M Watkin" > wrote:
>
> I have had a wild yeast which has out performed the wine yeast, am sorry
> now that I did not save it, young and foolish at the time.
>

Richard,
Just curious, how were you able to tell that the wild yeast had
outperformed the wine yeast? what signs were there?
And another question - how could you have saved the yeast for future
use?
Thanks,
Raanan

First of all it was far more tollerent, and the wine ended up far than
stronger than it should have been. To save the yeast you can collect the
lees of your wine, which contains active yeast. Find a smallish bottle [ I
use a pint milk bottle ] fit an air lock and put the lees in to the bottle
and add sugar, and keep fementing untill required., or add it to your next
brew. I believe it will keep in the fridge for a limited time , but have not
tried it. If you think about it bewers do not buy new yeast for every brew.
hope this helps you.

Richard M. Watkin.