Whats going on at the top of my wine ?

[NYJimbo]

I just started a 1 gallon carboy of apple/grape wine.

64oz Welch's grape "chillers" juice from bottle
64oz Motts Apple juice from bottle (about 48oz actually)
14 oz "Brownulated" domino brown sugar
Added 1/2.tsp pectic enzyme, 1.tsp yeast nutrient, ½.tsp yeast energizer, , ½.tsb Malic Acid. Blended all very well.
Premier Cuvee (1tsp) started in warm water w/sugar until showing activity)
Mixed nicely.
OG - 1.090
Temps - 75-78
Put on airlock......

12 hours later I see a "bloop" every 3 seconds on the airlock ( ) but I noticed at the top there is about an inch and a half of a lighter color than the rest of the bottle. If I move it around it is a "layer" that moves with the fluid. Its not a foam or lots of bubbles or tiny bits of stuff, its almost as though it was a layer of lighter colored fluid.

I am not concerned if this is bad, what I am wondering is should this be mixed up ever 12/24 hours or left like this ? Is this layer going to work its way DOWN into the rest of the must or will it fade out over time ?

I swirled it around and it mixed right in with the rest of the must and a few hours later I see the airlock going better than before and the top now has nice clean bubbles coming up but not the foamy thick stuff from before.

So I guess my question is if this was NOT mixed in would it be better or worse ? Would that layer create some kind of stress on the yeast in that area or does it not matter ? I know some people have issues with stressed yeast so I was wondering if this layer has something to do with the way it ferments, that is stirring it is better or worse ?

See attached photo to see what I mean. Thanks.

 

[stpug]

No definitive answers here, but speculation and observations. It could be a separation of liquids based on densities if the mixing wasn't really thorough. It could be yeast/water/sugar mixture that you added afterwards and it just gravitated to the top.

Typically dry wine yeast is sprinkled on top of your must and allowed to remain there for some time (24 hours) before being mixed it - if at all. Rehydration might also be fine in sterile water at about 10x the weight of the yeast, however "proofing" the yeast like you might do for bread yeast is generally regarded as not necessary (or even good).

Regardless of all of this, I think you'll be fine and I wouldn't be concerned with that layer since it swirled in nicely. Stratification of sugar densities and lead to problems down the line but if it all mixed up well then no worries.

 

[NYJimbo]

Thanks for the response. I wasn't sure what that layer was because I did mix the hell out of it for about an hour prior to adding the yeast. The photo from my first post shows foam at the top and the layer of light fluid, but after mixing them the foam is gone and now the whole thing is even colored. Even now about 24 hours later it remains mixed well. There are TRILLIONS of tiny bubbles racing to the top from all over and it smells great. Kinda yeasty, fruity, but nice, not sulphur. So far so good. If this works I am going to start another on right away because it is fermenting so nicely.

Here is a before swirling the must photo and one 12 hours later with the whole thing bubbling like mad but no foam. Airlock going "bloop" every second.

 

[stpug]

It looks good to me - I'd drink it!