The Sound of Fermentation

Wine Lab 2
Originally uploaded by iowine

Brad Post:

As I walk into my back porch, a 3-season porch, I am greeted to the sound of 17 gallons of La Crosse (white, hybrid grape) fermenting like mad! I know this because on the top of my primary fermenter (a closed container) is an air locked filled with a sulfur-citric solution that keeps critters out and air from entering the vessel.

The exiting carbon dioxide gas burping from the air lock has a nice rhythm that goes: burp, burp, burp....bubble, burp, bubble. The sound
of fermentation is a comforting sound to me because in its own way it is saying everything is going fine. Then there is the smell, some would say fragrance, of fermentation. I know many a winemaker widow (the wives of friends who make wine) who complain about the nasty stench of fermentation. To which I shake my head in complete lack of understanding.

The scent of fermentation, like the sound, tells me everything is going well. And similar to the smell of bread dough rising on the counter, the smell of fermenting wine is similar. Comforting. Soon, when all the sugar is consumed by my yeast friends, the scents and sounds of fermentation will be no more.

And this winter as I visit my wines, patiently waiting for the heavier particles to fall to the bottom so I can rack and transfer the wine to a new container to wait some more, I'll think back to these short few weeks and reflect.

I love the smell/sound of fermentation in the morning! :)
~Brad