secondary fermentation

[finnymonster]

Ok so i have some watermelon wine in the primary and the fermentation has stopped all together. My question is if the alcohol is not where i would like it, is it possible to add more yeast in the secondary?

 

[porterpounder]

If it hasn't finished out, i.e. the gravity is higher than you would like or it's too sweet then maybe another yeast strain with higher alcohol tolerance in the primary will be helpful. If it finished out and you just feel like you want more of a kick than you can add sugar to the primary to boost the alcohol content. I wouldn't transfer to secondary until the primary fermentation is complete.

 

[finnymonster]

I added sugar to try to get the yeast active again, but it didn't work. My main objective is to add more alcohol to the wine. The original potential alcohol was 11% and when I checked it again before adding sugar it was just under 5%. Should I use more yeast to kick start it again before adding to the secondary?

 

[porterpounder]

You want to look at the other column on the hydrometer. Not sure what the conversion is on the potential alochol scale as opposed to specific gravity. The yeast may also be nutrient starved. If you didn't use yeast nutrient and or energizer the yeast may not have enough nutrients and poop out early. If you did not then drop in some energizer, warm it up a bit if it's below 64-66 degrees F and give it a swirl to see if it gets going. You can also give it a taste to see if it's too sweet. If all that doesn't work then toss in some champagne yeast. If any of that doesn't work then fortify with a bit of your favorite spirit and party on as is!