The problem: nobody's watching the tank all the time
Small wineries don't always have a full-time winemaker on staff. Quality control falls on whoever is on shift, and that person doesn't always know exactly what to measure or when to worry. A tank can go from fine to a serious problem within hours, and if nobody's watching at that moment, the signal gets missed.
What to measure and how often
- Density (Brix): at least once a day during alcoholic fermentation, with a hydrometer. It's the only real way to know whether fermentation is progressing or has stalled.
- Temperature: at least twice a day, morning and afternoon. A spike outside the range can happen within a few hours and ruin the batch.
- Total acidity: at the start, to decide on corrections, and again after malolactic fermentation if the wine goes through it.
- Free SO2: always before bottling — it's the last barrier against oxidation and contamination.
The 4 warning signs you can't ignore
When a tank enters risk territory, there are concrete signals worth knowing by heart:
- Temperature shock: temperature reaches a level that risks a stuck fermentation from yeast death.
- Early nitrogen deficiency: in the first third of fermentation, the kinetics slow down drastically — a sign of missing assimilable nitrogen (YAN).
- Acid or toxic shock: sugar consumption freezes completely — something went wrong with pH or molecular SO2.
- Oxidation risk during aging: molecular SO2 drops to a critical level during barrel or tank aging.
Why a paper checklist isn't always enough
The problem isn't the list — it's that the history gets lost between shifts, and nobody mentally repeats why a measurement matters. A warning sign can end up written on a paper that nobody looks at again until the next day.
The goal isn't memorizing numbers, it's recognizing patterns: someone who's already seen these 4 alerts before they show up on a real tank recognizes them much faster when it counts.
How LagarLab trains this
The simulator triggers these same 4 alerts automatically when a tank's parameters enter risk territory — not as generic text, but with the actual values of that fermentation (exact temperature, pH, molecular SO2, nitrogen). Practicing this before real harvest is how someone recognizes the signal the first time they see it on a real tank, not the second.
Want your whole team to practice these alerts before the next harvest?
One payment covers the whole winery team — no per-seat billing.
Enter the laboratoryFrequently asked questions
How often should you measure density during fermentation?
At least once a day — it's the only real way to know whether fermentation is progressing or has stalled.
When should you check free SO2?
Always before bottling — it's the last barrier against oxidation and contamination.
What happens if a small winery has no full-time winemaker?
Quality control falls on whoever is on shift — that's why a clear checklist helps, and ideally a system that flags automatically when something falls out of range.
Does the LagarLab simulator flag these same warnings?
Yes. It automatically triggers 4 real alerts (temperature shock, nitrogen deficiency, acid shock, and oxidation risk) when a tank's parameters enter risk territory.