Its alive Egor !.....

Ive just added some yeast into one of our Pinot Noir fermenters. The yeast is VR5 from Fermicru. It contains 10 billion active dried yeast cells per gram! Thats a lot. Im adding at a rate of 20g per 100L. The yeast manufacturers make all sorts of claims about the properties of their yeasts. This one proports to 'support structure, body, and aromatic finesse'. Just what I need. In fact I have used it before and found it to be reliable, strong and with good effects on both fruit and colour.

Heres a few photos as I rehydrated the dried yeast over a 30 minute period before adding it to the fermenter.

First add the yeast to some tepid water. Then add the dried yeast. Let it acclimatise for a bit.

Mix it in and add a little sugar in the form of juice for the yeasts to feed on.

The yeast cells begin to be active. The volume in the bucket begins to grow.

All the while adding a little more juice to bring the temperature to within 10C of the juice temperature. Otherwise the yeast might get too much of a shock when added to the juice and begin to die. Lastly tip the bucket into the fermenter and mix well ! The yeasts must go crazy at this point, all that sugar...