Wine finishing temp....

[Prozac]

I'm doing my first 5gallon Beaverdale wine kit.
It's fermented in the unheated garage with a fish tank heater keeping it warm.
I've siphoned it off the sediment and cleaned the fermenter.
I added the stabilizer while it was in the temporary FV and gave it a good stir.
I am now siphoning it back into the original FV.

My question is, does it still need the fish tank heater, or is it ok to be cold from now on.?
I'd have thought the heater was there to keep the yeast happy, but the yeast hould be finished by now and cold should be ok.

[Horden Hillbilly]

It should not require the fish tank heater to keep it warm now the fermentation is over. However, if your wine storage temp is too cold, your airlock bubblers will start working in "reverse". This has the slight risk of drawing some airborne "nasties" into your wine. When my wines are at this stage, I normally put a pinch of campden powder in the airlocks to be on the safe side.

[Laripu]

If it's very cold, the liquid in the airlock might freeze. If the yeast is slightly active, this may result in presure buildup. The bung might then pop out or in a very unlikley circumstance, a glass fermenter might crack.

The chances of any of the above are minimal. Does it get below freezing in your garage?

[Prozac]

I've left the heater in ..... I've had a bucket of sterilizing fluid freeze in the garage so if we get a cold snap......