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atticus · 06-06-2009, 07:29 AM

Hi,

I am an absolute newcomer to Wine-making. I am from India and own some Cashew nut trees. I have started experimenting with making Wine from Cashew Apple Juice.

I am facing a peculiar problem. I checked the Sp. gr. of the juice and added sugar till correct sp. gr. was achieved ( I was aiming for a 10-12% alcohol content). The fermentation started and stopped after15 days. Now, a preliminary alcohol test reveals only 5% alcohol and quite a sweet taste. So, obviously there is still quite a lot of unfermented sugar present. Yeast quantities were correct.

Why must this have happened? Is any other factor required other than sugar and yeast? Can I now restart fermentation somehow and try to salvage this batch?

Thanks and regards,

Atticus

smurfe · 06-06-2009, 01:18 PM

Yeast quantity and yeast quality are two different things. Age and storage conditions can play effect. Fermentation temps can induce factors as well. If you had actual fermentation for 15 days and only a 5% increase in alcohol content with no other info available would have me to think a fermentation in the temperature range below the recommended levels. Or a huge miscalculation of the SG. How did you determine there was fermentation for 15 days? Airlock bubbling?

Could you post some more details such as yeast strain used, SG, Fermentation temperature and any other info such as the recipe that will give us a bit of information we can help you figure out the problem.

Oh yes, I forgot to add. Welcome to the forums. We love poss like this.

Wade E · 06-06-2009, 02:11 PM

We need more info, what yeast did you use , did you take a starting gravity and what was it. What temp was the must during fermentation. What is the gravity now. What are the ingredients you used.

koda_ky · 06-06-2009, 06:14 PM

I had a batch of strawberry do that and when I transfered it again it started back up. I don't know if that will work in your case but it is worth a try. Wade and the other guys can probably get to the root of the problem with enough info.
Good luck

atticus · 06-10-2009, 10:12 AM

Given below is the information with me -

1. Yeast strain used - quantity, quality, batch date etc.

The Yeast was spared for experimental purpose by a multinational / multiproduct organization which is well known in the field Wine making - Technology & Equipment. The brand name of Yeast was not disclosed, but the Strain is same as the organization recommends to the European commercial Grape Winemakers.
The quantity of Yeast used was 1gm per 3.5 Ltrs, as recommended by the supplier.

2. Original SG (without sugar addition)

The Original SG (without sugar addition) was 1.032

3. SG after sugar addition (prior to start of fermentation)

Sugar was added by arithmetical calculation to achieve final alcohol content of 13%, but the SG after sugar addition was not measured and recorded (I think I screwed up here)

4. Fermentation (airlock bubbling) period in days

30 days.

5. SG when bubbling is completely stopped

S.G. = 1.030

6. Date of racking (in terms of days from start of fermentation)

39 days

7. Fermentation temperature

Ambient day time temperature between 28 to 36 Deg.C

8. Short note on methodology

The cashew apples were hand pressed to get the juice (No pulp was allowed to be squeezed out)
No stabilizers were used.
All the contact surfaces were boiling water 'sterilized'.

As can be seen from the SG, there is quite a lot of unfermented sugar still in the product. What is the best way to determine alcohol content in the Wine? I added some nutrients and yeast suggested by the Yeast-supplier in order to try to restart the fermentation but it didn't work.

Regards,

Atticus

**Luc** · 06-10-2009, 06:12 PM

You can get all needed info from using the following method:

1) Take a sample of the must like 250ml or two cups or whatever
2) take an SG reading at this moment.
3) boil the sample until half of the volume has evaporated
4) Now add plain water until the exact original volume has been
reached again (250 ml or 2 cups or whatever, but exact the same)
5) Let cool down and take another SG reading

The SG reading in point 5 will give you the residual sugar (as all alcohol has evaporated)

6) Fill both starting SG from point 2 and ending SG from point 5
in fermcalc at the alcohol tab (boiling off method).
This will give you actual alcohol content !!!!

Now from the residual sugar and the actual alcohol content you can derive the starting SG.

If you would be using the metric system calculations would be easier

Please use the metric system

Now if you know the acidity also you would know everything there is to know about the original must.......

Luc

atticus · 06-17-2009, 10:20 AM

Thanks, Luc. A lot of what you advised went over the top of my head at first, but I'll study it carefully and give it a shot. Thanks again.

atticus · 10-05-2009, 09:55 AM

Dear all,

It appears that the initial readings for alcohol were all wrong (the lab I was using for the tests was screwing up). The actual alcohol in the finished product is 10.1, which is quite acceptable. There is a bit of a sweet taste to it which cant be helped as I had added extra sugar at the start.

The Ph of the wine is 4.6. I read that a white wine typically has a Ph of @ 3.1 to 3.4. So I added the required quantity of Citric acid and bottled some 5 pint bottles.

The bottle I tasted within a couple of days was really great...the increased acidity was giving a fresh mouth feel and the sweet after-taste was being reduced.

It is now 20 days since I bottled (after acid addition) and the taste is not the same. Is the acid being consumed? If yes, is there any way (or any other acid I can add) that I can ensure that the wine will maintain its parameters till 6 months - 1 year after bottling? I have a good 60 liters of wine, so I want to be sure it wont spoil (or drastically change in taste) after bottling.

Awaiting your inputs. Thanks guys.

Rohit

atticus · 10-06-2009, 07:59 AM

Dear all,

It appears that the initial readings for alcohol were all wrong (the lab I was using for the tests was screwing up). The actual alcohol in the finished product is 10.1, which is quite acceptable. There is a bit of a sweet taste to it which cant be helped as I had added extra sugar at the start.

The Ph of the wine is 4.6. I read that a white wine typically has a Ph of @ 3.1 to 3.4. So I added the required quantity of Citric acid and bottled some 5 pint bottles.

The bottle I tasted within a couple of days was really great...the increased acidity was giving a fresh mouth feel and the sweet after-taste was being reduced.

It is now 20 days since I bottled (after acid addition) and the taste is not the same. Is the acid being consumed? If yes, is there any way (or any other acid I can add) that I can ensure that the wine will maintain its parameters till 6 months - 1 year after bottling? I have a good 60 liters of wine, so I want to be sure it wont spoil (or drastically change in taste) after bottling.

Awaiting your inputs. Thanks guys.

Rohit

arcticsid · 10-06-2009, 09:03 AM

I recently asked about using nuts in winemaking. Luc refered me to the following thread:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblog10.asp

Scroll down a bit and look for the notes for July 14th. Jack talks a little bit about why some nuts don't work well in winemaking.

Not trying to confuse you anymore, but you may want to read this.

Happy Winemaking,

Troy

Also, we have another member in India who was having trouble getting winemaking supplies and chemicals. After a little research I was able to find a couple supply "houses" in Australia that ship to India. If you were to Google "wine making supplies Australia", or "homebrew supplies Australia" I am sure you can find a reliable source for equipment and supplies.