My first batch of wine made from juice had an OG of 1.084 and after one week was down to 1.021. After two weeks, it fermented dry. This recent batch, also made from fruit juice, has been in primary two weeks and the airlock is still bubbling some - a series of 3 quick bubbles every minute or so. Should I take a gravity sample today to see where it is or just wait 'till the airlock becomes dormant? I know from beer that airlocks don't always equate to fermentation and the only way to really tell is a hydrometer. That being said, my first batch was dry in 2 weeks, so I wasn't sure about this one. This batch's OG was 1.082.
How long 'till it ferments dry?
- Thread starter eadavis80
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Your hydrometer is your friend.
Well this is surprising, disappointing and odd - gravity sample 2 weeks after I made it is only down to 1.060. There are a couple things I can think of: 1) it just needs a lot more time for some reason 2) it needs to be warmer (not much I can do - it's in the upstairs of my home with a wool blanket wrapped around it, so mid/upper 60's is about as high as I can get it for now 3) the juice I used had unfermentable sugars in it? No preservatives were listed, so I doubt the juice itself is the culprit. Any thoughts? I did add 1 pound of corn sugar that I boiled in water and cooled and added that to the juice so maybe that's the only thing that fermented? It's a 1-gallon batch of wine.
I've noticed that different juices (or other sweetened liquids) ferment differently - for instance, I've now got small sample batches of cherry juice and apricot juice, both sweetened. The apricot juice took off first in making bubbles, but a day later the cherry has overtaken in terms of bubbles in the airlock. Were all of yours made with the same juice, at same gravity?
1 bottle of Kroger brand cranberry peach juice cocktail and another bottle of Kroger brand white grape peach. I guess I'll let them sit 2 more weeks and see if the gravity drops at all. If not, I guess I bought the wrong juice. But - again - I evaluated the ingredients and did not see anything that would inhibit fermentation. Another odd thing is that the gravity sample was more like a spritzer - it had carbonation qualities to it.
So today I took a reading - 4 days after it read 1.060 (OG was 1.082) and it has dropped to 1.050. I can't figure this out - it took 2 weeks to go from OG to 1.060 and then in 4 days it dropped another 10 points? It was still very hazy and "carbonated" which totally baffles me.
It is odd, that's for sure. I generally go from 1.090-1.100 to under 1.000 in 5-7 days with all of my wines.
There could be reasons like stressed yeast, preservatives in an ingredient, lack of oxygen, too-cool of a temperature, etc.
Yeah, I don't know - any of those are possible. Does wine normally have a krausen on top while it's fermenting like beer does? I see some bubbles coming to the surface, but they are low in number. I guess I'll just take another hydrometer reading by putting the sanitized hydrometer in the gallon jug and get a reading. I don't want to use another 7 oz. for a gravity reading when it's only a 1-gallon batch.
No, generally you get no krausen but instead some c02 bubbles rising, so the wine may seem even "carbonated". Are you stirring/degassing several times the first few days of fermentation? That is a huge help.
Well, I made it back on St. Patty's Day, so no - I didn't stir or de-gas in the first few days. I've heard the term de-gas, but don't really know what that is or how to do it. Would gently rocking the gallon jug be a good or bad thing to do at this stage?
What's the SG now? If it's above 1.030 or so, don't gently rock it- give it a good stir with a sanitized spoon or dowel, and consider using yeast nutrients.
On Sunday it was only 1.050. I gave it a healthy swirl yesterday. I have several thin lines of bubbles coming to the surface. The surface of the carboy is about 1/2 covered with bubbles. It's fermenting - I guess just very, very slowly. I've read other posts that said this yeast strain - Cote de Blancs - can be a slow fermenter. If I added nutrients, should I just drop it in, or boil it in a tiny bit of water, cool and add?
Cote de blancs has never been slow for me, but I usually do primary in a bucket with a towel over it and stir at least once or twice a day, and it's ready to go to the carboy with an airlock (under 1.010 or so) by about day 5-7 for everything I make (sometimes sooner).
You don't want to add the nutrients directly, as the c02 in there will react with those nucleation points (the powder) and volcano out of the container quite vigorously. If you don't believe me, please try it. And take photos!
So, pull out a sample of the wine, mix the nutrients into it, and add the whole sample back to the vessel. Trust me. I'm not normally all that trustworthy, I'll admit, but this time- trust me.
Cote de blancs has never been slow for me, but I usually do primary in a bucket with a towel over it and stir at least once or twice a day, and it's ready to go to the carboy with an airlock (under 1.010 or so) by about day 5-7 for everything I make (sometimes sooner).
You don't want to add the nutrients directly, as the c02 in there will react with those nucleation points (the powder) and volcano out of the container quite vigorously. If you don't believe me, please try it. And take photos!
So, pull out a sample of the wine, mix the nutrients into it, and add the whole sample back to the vessel. Trust me. I'm not normally all that trustworthy, I'll admit, but this time- trust me.
Interesting - just got done with a chat with NB and discussed the problem with them and they said I could just add it dry right to the carboy. I'll do it your way, that way I can take a reading of the sample too and see if it has dropped since 1.050 on Sunday.
You CAN add it right to the carboy- but picture coke and mentos. Adding dry powder means adding thousands of nucleation points for the c02, and it WILL erupt. Volcano is not too strong a word.
Oh, c'mon- you know that this now means you have to try it! For science. For posterity. For amusement (ours, not yours
).It foamed up so quickly it immediately shot right out of the hydrometer vial! You were dead on with that. The good news is that the reading I took prior to the yeast nutrient addition was down to 1.042, so it is lowering. We'll see where it's at this weekend after the nutrient addition and another sloshing of the jug.
This white wine still shows active fermentation. The airlock continues to move (about 1-2 minute) and there are still bubbles coming to the surface. I made this wine on St. Patty's Day. It shows no signs of clearing up any time soon. The glass jug is super hazy still. Is this just a matter of a wine taking a long ass time to ferment? It's about 67 degrees - that's about as warm as I can get it. I've given the jug a few good shakes and added 1 tsp of yeast nutrient. It's a 1-gallon batch with an OG of 1.082.
ThatVideoKid
Well-Known Member
I have heard that cranberry can be a slow ferment, natural preservatives
No. Yeast reproduce just fine.
I think the sluggish ferment is the lack of oxygen and degassing from the beginning.
Once it gets to 1.010 or lower, it can be airlocked but until then it needs stirring/degassing.
You're stirring twice a day, with no airlock on it (just a napkin with a rubber band or something)?
I have an airlock on it. Is that my problem? I had an airlock on my other wine which got dry within 2 weeks. I will shake more often - had been doing it about every 2-3 days. Should I use a sanitized foam stopper instead of the airlock?
The airlock is ok, but it should be removed of course when you stir it.
When I give it a good swirl with the airlock on, a bunch of wine-smelling fizz comes out through the airlock, but at least it's contained somewhat. If I give it a good swirl without the airlock on, I think the wine would spew everywhere and I'd lose a fair amount of volume. Probably a dumb question, but what's the advantage to having the airlock off during the swirling process?
Air exchange. You want the c02 out, and oxygen in. c02 is poisonous to yeast and stresses them, and oxygen helps in the early stages of the yeast's life cycle. I suspect this is why your fermentations are sluggish, while mine go from 1.100 to dry in 5-7 days.
I followed the same procedure for another wine and it was down to 1.024 in one week and dry in 2. While not as fast as yours, admittedly, I am starting to think that maybe the ingredients I used somehow inhibited fermentation. Who knows? In any event, I'll take off the airlock next time I give it a swirl. At this point, I'm just hoping it's dry by Cinco de Mayo...
Would yeast ENERGIZER speed up this fermentation? There are still steady streams of bubbles coming from the bottom of the carboy, so it's still fermenting. I am just hoping to help out the yeast. I've shaken the carboy quite a bit, it's in as warm a location as I can get it and I've added yeast nutrient.
ThatVideoKid
Well-Known Member
As long as it's still slowly chugging along, I wouldn't worry about it. Wine isn't a race. You said it was around 1.010 not that long ago, right? It shouldn't be too long, and when you get down that low I don't like to add anything as oxidation starts to become a concern. It'll get dry, have faith
ThatVideoKid
Well-Known Member
Oh I misread and it was 1.031 not long ago. I've found some ferments to just be slower than others but it will finish. If you have an electric blanket you could try getting it warmer
The wife won't let me have an electric blanket on 24/7, but what I can do (not sure why I didn't think of this earlier) is put my fermenter in a tub of water and and use my aquarium heater to bump it up to the mid 70's - maybe that'll get it going...
ThatVideoKid
Well-Known Member
Oh ya that'll do it.
