It is easy to make a yeast starter and I want to make the starter as soon as possible. The reason for this is that in this part of Greece where it is still quite warm when the wine grapes are ready for processing, the wild yeasts that are naturally on the grape skins can get a head start and begin their own fermentation. I do not use sulfites in the must to kill the wild yeasts, so I want my wine yeasts to be ready for inoculation as soon as I have finished the initial tests and corrections that I do on the must.
Packets of Wine Yeasts
Once I have collected about four to five quarts of grape juice from the pressing, I place the juice in a stainless steel pot and bring it to a boil. Once the juice cools to body temperature or below I inoculate it with a 5 gram (0.176 oz) packet of wine yeast such as Premier Cuvee or Montrachet. In about 6 to 12 hours, the pot of inoculated grape juice will be foaming with the activity of the yeasts and it will be ready to use to inoculate the rest of the must. This quantity of yeast starter is enough to inoculate one to five primary fermenters filled with 50 liters (13+ gallons) of must dividing it proportionately. back
This is very interesting. I wonder if the commercial yeast varieties are selected to be most active at particular temperatures. Would you use different varieties if, for example, you were working in a temperature controlled cellar, as opposed to a shed subject to ambient conditions? In cheese making, one of ways of ensuring that the added bacteria overwhelm the naturally-occurring ones and the desired fermentation occurs is to heat the milk to a temperature optimal for the culture or cultures being used, and less optimal for most of the naturally-occurring bacteria.
This is very interesting. I wonder if the commercial yeast varieties are selected to be most active at particular temperatures. Would you use different varieties if, for example, you were working in a temperature controlled cellar, as opposed to a shed subject to ambient conditions? In cheese making, one of ways of ensuring that the added bacteria overwhelm the naturally-occurring ones and the desired fermentation occurs is to heat the milk to a temperature optimal for the culture or cultures being used, and less optimal for most of the naturally-occurring bacteria.
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