I have about a 6 gallon batch of blueberry wine that will not start. I followed a recipe from winemakermag.com 461 making blueberry wine tips from the pros. the only changes I made were 1.) I only waited 24 hours after adding the 6 crushed up campden tablets to the must before adding the yeast, yeast nutrient, peptic enzymes, tannin, grape concentrate, and acid blend. and 2.) I added 1 liter of the grape conentrate, the recipe calls for 2-3 cups I added about 4 cups as I did not have any use for 1 cup of leftover grape concentrate. My potential starting alcolhol was 15%. After 24 hours stirring 2 times a day, my potential was still 15%, no bubbles in the air lock and no bubbles in the must even after stirring, so I added another packet of redstar co de blanc yeast, more nutrient and stirred very well, used a different steralized lid for the bucket and a different air lock. Another 24 hours went by still no bubbles in the air lock, no bubbles in the must and still 15%, so I added some yeast energizer. Another 24 hours passed and still no signs of fermentation, I was worried the fruit would spoil as I just had a batch of strawberry wine get a sulfer smell from sitting to long, luckily enough it went away by the time the fermentation was done, anyway I racked the must into another steralized bucket straining out the fruit flesh and skins, waited an hour and no sign of fermentation so I placed the bucket in the bath tub full of pretty warm water and added a 3d packet of rehydrated yeast, and more yeast nutrient, let the bucket sit in the warm water all night, and now another 24 hours has went by and still no fermentation. The bucket has been upstairs in my house where it has been mostly 70-74 sometimes at night it gets down to about 66 lately with the nice cool nights but still it should have started by now I would have thought. Where did I go wrong?? Does anyone have any idea on what else I can try??? I read a recipe for skeeter pee using yeast from a previous batch of wine, I saved the thick yeasty stuff from the bottom of the bucket from the strawberry wine I made last, I have 2 quart jars from the 2 times I have racked the wine so far, the jars are in the refrigerator, I thought about trying that to see if I can get this to start, otherwise I may as well use this for ice cream topping or go out and get a gallon or two of everclear to mix in and call it done. Any advice would be much appreciated!! Thank you!
Blueberry Wine Will NOT Start!!
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ok good choice. I was asking about it because I used isopropyl alcohol once, and although it works great if it has evaporate from all equipment fully, i never rinsed my diluted water and alcohol mixture from my carboy, my must experienced stuck fermentation.... and I'm sure that is what caused it
You used freshly crushed blueberries for the must?
Yes I used fresh blueberries for the must, I started out mashing them with a potato masher but ended up running the rest of the berries through a food processor it seemed to work better. This am when I got up after not touching the bucket at all for 24 hours, it had begun to slowly ferment, I gave it a good stir and added 5 tsp of yeast nutrient, hopefully it will take off now, I have no clue what the hey I messed up to cause it not to ferment, I thought that maybe it was from the must being to thick with the blueberries.
No need to add more yeast! There is plenty in there just waiting to start. Cotes de blank likes a lower starting sg. If you have a potential of %15 then if it goes dry it will be at 16%. That yeast only goes to about 14%. Remember to add 1% to your estamated abv if you want the wine to go dry.
This is what I would do. Add warm water to get the sg down to 1.090. Take the cover off. Stirr well. Leave the cover off! Cover with a towel. Set the bucket in the shower stall after taking a hot shower. That nice small stall holds the heat and will help start the yeast.
If you want a higher abv wine or residual suger left, you can add more suger after it has started to ferment. I wait untill it is mostly done.
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This is what I would do. Add warm water to get the sg down to 1.090. Take the cover off. Stirr well. Leave the cover off! Cover with a towel. Set the bucket in the shower stall after taking a hot shower. That nice small stall holds the heat and will help start the yeast.
If you want a higher abv wine or residual suger left, you can add more suger after it has started to ferment. I wait untill it is mostly done.
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Blueberries have a natural sorbate in them that can inhibit yeast. One thing we dont know from your description is if the yeast is alive and well. You can make a starter with 2 cups warm water and some sugar, once the yeast are bubbling away happily you know they are alive and well, add 1 cup of your must, let the yeast get used to that and when its bubbling away happy add another cup, once that is bubbling away happily then stir it into your must. You keep freaking out doing silly things that dont make any difference
but if you make a starter and you can show its alive and feed it a little must and then if it doesnt work then there is a possible problem with your must. Also stop adding more nutrient. Tell us what the gravity is not the potential. Good luck. WVMJ
but if you make a starter and you can show its alive and feed it a little must and then if it doesnt work then there is a possible problem with your must. Also stop adding more nutrient. Tell us what the gravity is not the potential. Good luck. WVMJ
buzzerj
Well-Known Member
How much acid blend did you add and what is the pH of the must? You undoubtedly have an environment that the yeast do not want to start in. Usually that is due to a too acidic environment. You might want to test the PH level, if your pH is under 3.5 the yeast will not perform well, if it's under 2.5 your fermentation will stop. In such cases add calcium carbonate (not sodium carbonate)1/2 teaspoon at a time with stirring to raise the pH to at least 3.8. Test the pH until you get above 3.8. Don't add any acid blend until fermentation is completely finished and then only add acid to taste. Make it easy for your yeast to ferment the must and you'll have good fermentations.
I am not sure what the ph is, i used a test strip but the chart that comes with the strips goes from 4.6 up to 6. I didnt realize the acid blend goes in later, i have not used.it before.and was following a recipe i found. I have more berries coming this week i plan to get a second batch going, the first batch.finally started fermenting friday, i added the first yeast last sunday. This next batch i will use a different yeast and make a starter batch first and add some must to be sure it will work. Ive learned a lot from this batch and the last batch of strawberry. Previously i just made rhubarb and strawberry rhubarb wine never added anything but yeast sugar and water, then last fall i.made a couple batches of hard cider that.turned out good using yeast nutrient this spring/summer thought id try some different wines and both gave me some trouble but i think both batches will turn out good and ive learned a lot its been fun thank you for all of the help and advice!
That is good to know about blueberries, I am excited to see how this first batch turns out, the color is pretty cool, and so far it tastes really good. I have more berries coming this week so I plan to get another batch going this weekend. Thanks for all the advice, after this first batch it should be easier!!
You should not use a food processor to mash your berries ,it will bust the seeds and that will make bitter wine ,potato masher was good.It takes 3 gallons of berries to make 6 gallon of wine.Mash the berries,add one can of grape consentrate for each gallon of wine ,add some water to this and one pack of yeast and ferment this for 5 days,then strain and squeeze out the juice.desolve two and one half pounds of sugar per gallon.put in jug and let set 1 year and it will turn out excellent.Do not add any other ingredients in it.I will let you taste mine
Well I have a second batch of blueberry wine started, it was working 6 hours after adding yeast this time. This time i strained out all the skins and fruit before adding the yeast, started the yeast with some of the must before adding it directly to the whole batch and used a different yeast, lavolin 1116. So far its doing great and my first batch is still slowly fermenting though its about finished.
gratus fermentatio
Well-Known Member
Cote des Blanc is sneaky yeast. It'll often go for the whole ferment with little indication that it's doing anything.
"Côte des Blancs : Formerly known as Epernay 2, this is another slow fermenting, very low foaming and low flocculating yeast tolerant of low temperatures. It tends to bring out floral and fruity qualities in wines and can be useful in both grape--especially fruity German style whites-- and non-grape wines--such as peach or raspberry--where a bouquet is especially desired. This yeast will not push alcohol production over 13% in a cool fermentation but has a range of 12-14%."
Regards, GF.
"Côte des Blancs : Formerly known as Epernay 2, this is another slow fermenting, very low foaming and low flocculating yeast tolerant of low temperatures. It tends to bring out floral and fruity qualities in wines and can be useful in both grape--especially fruity German style whites-- and non-grape wines--such as peach or raspberry--where a bouquet is especially desired. This yeast will not push alcohol production over 13% in a cool fermentation but has a range of 12-14%."
Regards, GF.
PatrickSweetman
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Using a food processor will bust the PITH, leading to bitterness. Somebody in the past has misheard this to "bust the pips" and so to busting the seeds but this is plain wrong. It is the pith that must not be broken. Blueberries are not like citrus fruit, with lots of pith, so the food processor should be just fine. A cold press fruit squeezer, if you could get one (they are expensive) would be much better.
ShellinTX
Member
I realize this thread is old, but it saved me this week as I could not get my blueberries to begin fermentation. I used the suggestion of starting another packet of yeast and adding a cup of blueberry must. I added a second cup when the first begin to bubble. I also did a water bath in our utility sink to raise the temperature of the brew to 70s. It had gotten a little cool in the house. When those two things did not completely work, I added a pint of muscadine grape concentrate that I had bottled for juice. Within three hours, the brew was bubbling. This morning, we woke up to a 5 gallon plastic tub that had blown its lid because of fermentation. Thanks for all of the suggestions! We are now bubbling happily.
