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Questions on plan for first batch

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wildoates said:
YOU HAVE A BASEMENT???? IN SACRAMENTO???

You lucky dog. :)

Everyone else used up the good advice, that's all I have, envy. Heh heh heh
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I might be taking some liberties when I call it a basement. It's more like a dirt crawlspace with a 12 x 8 area dug out to 6' deep. But it has some stairs leading down (sort of) and it keeps a nice consistently cool temp in the winter.
 
Medsen Fey said:
You might want to let it warm up a few degrees (to around room temp) as that may help it finish out. At this stage of fermentation, if won't harm it.
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I'll try that. It's been pretty cool in Sacramento this year (80's and 90's), so It should still stay in the low 70's if I bring it up into the house.
 
Well, it got pretty hot here in Sacramento this week, so I left it in the basement. Its going slow, but still progressing.

08/25 SG: 1.022 Temp: 68 pH: 3.4 Airlock: 15

ABV should be at 11.8%. pH came up a bit to 3.4 with the potassium bicarbonate addition. I'm guessing its still got another week left.

I tasted it and the presence of alcohol is now noticeable. Its a bit harsh and sharp at first, but finished flat. I had planned on put it on oak in the secondary. Hopefully that will add a bit more character to it.
 
Well, it took about 6 weeks to finish, but it seems to finally be there.

09/10 SG: 1.005 Temp: 68 pH: 3.6

I checked it again today an no change. The initial taste is very acid, but a bit more mild on the mid palate. Then it finishes flat. Overall, it's very disjointed and a bit hot.

Going to add bentonite (10 grams) and in two days cold crash for 5 days. The bentonite is re-hydrating now. It'll go in tomorrow.

I plan to rack it onto 2 ounces of oak after the cold crash. Probably French & American (75%/25%) medium plus toast.
 
I added 10g bentonite then crashed it in the fridge for 10 days about two weeks ago. I came out very clear with a very compact lees. It already tastes pretty good, just a little hot (should be around 14% ABV). I put it on 1 ounce of French Oak (med toast) about two weeks ago.
 
Just bottled this today... a few months off my original goal of start to finish in 3 months. Ended up taking 15 months :)

It ended up finishing at 14.0% ABV and 1.5% residual sugar. A little too sweet in my opinion, but not bad. Its also still a bit too hot. The nose is just now starting to come back.
 
Got my score cards back. A 43 and 46. The tasting notes picked up the same problem I noted - its pretty hot/harsh. I think the slow fermentation and temp are the culprit. I also took the yeast to their ABV limit. That probably didn't help. I wonder if this will eventually age out. On the plus side, the tasters noted that the restrained use of oak was nice.

I'd like the thank everyone for the advice they provided in this threads and other threads. Its been a great educational tool.
 
Marshmallow Blue said:
I thought a slower and lower fermentation temp was supposed to reduce the hot/ harshness?
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If done correctly, yes. In my case, the conditions it was fermenting in should have lead to a faster fermentation. I believe the yeast were unhappy for some unknown reason. In other words, they were stressed. With the starting gravity, pitch rate and nutrients I used, I would have predicted it to be a 7 - 10 day vigorous ferment.

Also, my temps weren't that low really. I was in the high 60's low 70's. That's right on the line of "to warm" for 71B.

Every once in awhile I get a batch like that. You seem to do everything "correct", but for some unknown reason, things don't go as planned.
 
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