Anyone know what i got going on here? (pic)

[New_Guy_Brad]

Small back story (ill post my recipe below) my mango wine got stuck and after a week was only down to 1.072 S.G and stayed there for 3 days. So i added 2.5 tsp more super ferment and pitched 1118 yeast. Well the next day there seemed to be foam across the top, i thought awesome it worked great but when i went to stir it i realized it was like a solid wafer type thing over the entire top and it kinds chunked up into what you see in the pic below when i was stirring.

So what is the thing across the top?
Should i remove the chunks?


Ok my recipe

4 gal
368oz Arizona tea's Mucho Mango all natural beverage. (no preservatives no sorbate no nothing in it)
yeast- K1-1116
Super ferment- 3.25 tsp
Acid blend- 3 tsp
pectic enzyme- 2.25 tsp
k-meta 1/4 tap
Sugar- 16 cups
Starting S.G 1.100

(feel free to comment on my recipe as well i had a thread asking for advice that i bumped a few times with no responses at all so this was the best i could guess being new to wine making)

 

[seth8530]

I would guess the foam is just fruit matter and other yeasty bi products. I would just stir it back on in if I was you.

 

[New_Guy_Brad]

I would guess the foam is just fruit matter and other yeasty bi products. I would just stir it back on in if I was you.

I used only juice nothing really fruit matter, and it wont stir in its quite solid like, i would say like a weak sponge.

 

[captainl]

hmmm. It could be yeast. I've seen beer yeast kind of looking like that. But its hard to tell by the picture. You could have gotten a bug when it stuck. Spongelike doesn't sound promising. Is it foaming, fizzing, or bubbling? Whats the current SG. Is it going down.

 

[New_Guy_Brad]

hmmm. It could be yeast. I've seen beer yeast kind of looking like that. But its hard to tell by the picture. You could have gotten a bug when it stuck. Spongelike doesn't sound promising. Is it foaming, fizzing, or bubbling? Whats the current SG. Is it going down.

Its only been one day since i pitched the new yeast and it looks like the S.G is down .003 from yesterday. It is slow fermenting i can tell.

Before i pitched the yeast it was clear nothing on the top. The entirity of the floating stuff was found the day after i pitched the yeast. Could it be the second yeast i pitched just ballooned up and is floating doing nothing?

Should the floating material be removed?

 

[Arne]

My best guess is if it is fermenting, just leave it. Stir it at least once a day, make sure the temp. stays up and keep an eye on it. My other guess is the floating stuff is part of the lees from when it started fermenting. You got it going again, and trapped co2 made them float. Just guessin, and good luck with it. Arne.

 

[JohnT]

I am pretty sure that this is just simple fruit protein froth. It will neither help or harm your wine. Once the gas escapes from the froth, the protein will settle to the bottom and you can remove when racking.

 

[New_Guy_Brad]

Looking at it today the ferment is very very slow...

I hydrated the EC-1118 in 108deg water as the package told me to (104-109) But reading online people seem to suggest the package is wrong and 108 would have instantly killed the yeast. Should i try pitching another yeast again?

 

[tonyandkory]

Ok take a look at the pic I posted.... its a sponge brain...
does yours look anything like this?
if it does I would say done worry about it... just rack from underneath when the time comes .... this wine turned out pretty well even though it was one of my first.

I was told when it happened that it;s most likely yeast colonizing protein strands from the juice, making a kinda yeast city lol.

I think mine was so pronounced because it was in a 1 gallon carboy during ferment.

 

[New_Guy_Brad]

Somewhat like that but mine is only about a half in think (before i broke it up) I just tested the S.G and its at 1.062 today so its still slooooooowly fermenting but with it being this slow is there even enough co2 being produced to create a co2 barrier on top? At this rate its going to take 3 more weeks to ferment dry. Should i rack it to a carboy?

 

[tonyandkory]

you went down .010 in one day . I would think you are probably fine..... if your concerned you could always snap the lid on it would hold down more of that co2

 

[hobbyiswine]

Looks like a stopper managed to squeeze its way in

 

[tonyandkory]

Looks like a stopper managed to squeeze its way in

DOH! lol ya I pushed it right in to it trying to get my air lock on ( one of my first batches )
decided to just wait until I was ready to rack to fish it out.

 

[New_Guy_Brad]

Well checked the wine again today and not looking good.
6 days ago S.G- 1.062
Today S.G- 1.058

So heres my plan and if its wrong please feel free to correct me.

1. Rack into new primary holding hose near top to splash it to get some o2 into it.
2. Add some more super ferment.
3. Pitch another yeast. (opinions on pitching 1116vs1118?)
4. Any other suggestions here? i'm at a loss kinda.

 

[Putterrr]

What is your fermentation temperature. A cooler temp will give you a slower ferment. It should be in the low 70's from my experience

 

[tonyandkory]

You are still fermenting. I would do as Putter says and just make sure the temp is up. If you have the same gravity reading 3 days in a row then Pitch 1118 but you shouldn't need to otherwise.
you could try stirring it a few times a day to re suspend nutrients and yeasties.

 

[gordini]

If I was making traditional cider, I would be rapt with this result. It looks similar to a keeved cider. If it is, it would have stripped out some nutrients when it has bound up the pectins. I'd rack out from under and re innoculate and add more nutrients. Getting a starter going first would be a good move also.

 

[New_Guy_Brad]

Temp~75
fermenting at less then 0.001 per day, at that rate it would take me nearly 3 months just to ferment dry...
gordini ya i think that's what i'm going to do thanks.

As for a starter should i just hydrate yeast in a sugar solution for a while then pitch it or?

 

[gordini]

Begin by hydrating your yeast as per instructions, then add some sugar solution; not too much, just to get the yeast hungry, then add some wine over the period of a few days and get it working until about half the volume of the starter is wine which is fermenting. For your sized ferment, I would think 1 litre of fermenting starter would work. DOn't forget additional nutrient.

 

[New_Guy_Brad]

Just an update for what its worth.

I racked my skeeter pee (rhubarb slurry) into a carboy today and decided to simply rack the mango right into the skeeter pee slurry since it has some nice yeast already going. Well early signs (2 hours later) seems to be fermenting well.

Just out of curiosity any ill effects of using a slurry on wines i start other than a slight flavor? Seems to me this is more efficient and works better than pitching a new yeast on new batches.