Using a heater and how cold is too cold for yeast?

[koomber]

With the recent cold snap we've had up north I've become a little paranoid about the temperature of my poot little yeasticles. I've got a Boots winmaker tray but I'm not sure how to use it

It sounds daft since I'd guess it's just put a DJ on top and turn it on, but I once used it to heat a glass tank that had a sick rat in it (pet rat, not a wild one that got lost ) and it broke the glass. Is this sort of thing likely with a DJ? I'd feel bad knowing that my Beaverdale was moved to the downstairs flat via the floorboards.

Is it possible that a fleecy blanket will be okay instead?

The temp in the room in the morning was 60F (15C)this morning which is pretty chilly, but it's pretty likely that the temps will rise after this cold spell. through the day it's looking like a balmy(!) 66-70F.

Regards,

The Ginger Chemist

[lockwood1956]

You should be fine, the liquid in the DJ will stop any drastic heat rise.

but to be honest if you are indoors you should be fine, Yeasties that are active will do OK at 60F

what is the wine and what is the yeast strain?

regards
bob

[wisp]

If it goes too cold [the central heating has been in overdrive the last few days and we're all still freezing] the yeast will just doze until it warms a little won't it?

[koomber]

You should be fine, the liquid in the DJ will stop any drastic heat rise.

but to be honest if you are indoors you should be fine, Yeasties that are active will do OK at 60F

what is the wine and what is the yeast strain?

regards
bob

The wine is a Beaverdale Cabernet Sauv and the yeast is whatever came with the kit. No too descriptive there sorry.

They do seem to be fermenting away happily though (trying to sneak out through the airlock thanks to me over filling. took some off and put in a wine bottle with a mini-airlock to stop that).

My concern was that by not being at the optimum temperature they might produce flavour differences that could spoil the wine.

[lockwood1956]

The wine is a Beaverdale Cabernet Sauv and the yeast is whatever came with the kit.

it will be just fine

[Cellar_Rat]

If you wanted to warm it up, put a fleece or blanket over it. A digital probe thermometer can be either pushed through the fleece or buried in it to monitor temp. £5 ish from ebay. This will give you piece of mind. Fleece (on top) would help minimize daily temp fluctuation which in small batches can have a real impact.

[benarnold]

I generally don't bother with heaters unless I'm starting a new wine. I pitched a healthy 1/2l starter into my 4l of birch sap a few days ago and absolutely nothing happened. Put it next to a radiator last night, gave it a good stir and this morning there's a flurry of activity.

[P cuthbert]

I generally don't bother with heaters unless I'm starting a new wine. I pitched a healthy 1/2l starter into my 4l of birch sap a few days ago and absolutely nothing happened. Put it next to a radiator last night, gave it a good stir and this morning there's a flurry of activity.

It is quite possible that you did not see any activity because the yeast was busy pretending it was Saturday night and the Kids were away.

The yeast will happily reproduce until they reach a good population before you notice any activity. There are also strains that will show very little activity whilst happily chewing away on the sugars and making the alcohol you desire.

Yes, heat can help to get the process going, but the actual fermentation will produce a noticable amount of heat in itself.