36 hours into the ferment, it dawned on me just how cold the garage was this year, much more so than previous years. Plus, I couldn't find the blasted electric blanket cord (I had the blanket but no way to well, plug it in), meaning the blanket nicely draped over the three fermenters, but I was still lacking a heat source.

 

Solution? A trusty space heater, situated about ten feet back from the fermenters (to maximize spread of air), at first turned up to 75F, and then down to 70F when ferment had finally kicked into high gear.

 

 

 

And boy did it work! The yeast starter was just waiting for the right temperature and within 12 hours seemed to have made up 36 hours of delay. A good, four-inch cap was already developed in each of the fermenters, and a very strong, but healthy odor of "grapey CO2" was evident. Unlike previous vintings, something tells me the blend this year is like nothing before. The ferment is so healthy and rampant already, the juice so well extracted in the must and the color so developed, this could be a very exciting year for home winemaking!

 

Tomorrow, I'll take some gravity readings to gauge progress and report the numbers here.

 

Best regards,

David Anderson