Stalled fermentation

[oyendrila gupta]

Hey everyone, need your help.

I am a newbie and this is my first batch of white wine. I live in India and the temperature here is quite high, currently 35-38°C.

I happened to measure the initial SG on day 1 and it read 1.090. There was bubbling on the first day. I decided to add a little bit of water to the must on the second day (bad idea) just to increase the yield. Second day onwards, there were no bubble action whatsoever. Today's day 4 and I just took a hydrometer reading and it reads 0.945 which I am assuming means the wine is done?

From the smell and taste of it, it doesn't seem to be done at all. Still smells yeasty. Should I pitch more sugar? I am really confused at this point. Please help!

 

[lumpher]

Hello and welcome. Let it go for a while. What probably happened is after you added the water, it did not mix in properly, and that messed up your reading. I'd gently swirl up the must, wait another day or 2, and take another reading.

 

[Johnny2]

That temperature is way higher than what most wine yeasts prefer. It adds stress to yeast and can cause off flavors. I would not brew a wine with that high temp with any of the usual wine yeasts. Are you sure you have 35 inside? No air conditioning? Do you ever get reasonable temps?