Did I Mess up?

[Schatzie]

hello from Cold Denver Co!!!
Very new to this.....made a fruit concentrate wine out of cranberry prom grate raspberry 100 % juice followed everything sanitizing etc ...Ok, its been 15 days, bubblier has gone down to two or three times every 30 sec or so. Sanitized everything to check hydrometer alcohol content ...It didn't float at all!!! Oopps..what did I do wrong? wine tastes ok a little bit like soda though not much ..... PLEASE HELP

 

[Julie]

Welcome to winemakingtalk. What was your hydrometer reading before you started? Sounds like it is done fermenting and maybe it just doesn't have a lot of alcohol to it

 

[dralarms]

Nope, sounds like you've hit 1.000 or lower and it "taste like soda" because it's still full of co2. You need to take your starting sg reading off the hydro, and subtract your ending sg, to determine actual alcohol content. At this point in time it's time to decide if back sweetening of not. If you are you need to add 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate for every gallon and 1 campden tablet for every gallon (crushed) then you can let it degassed on its own or you can degassed it yourself.

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT!

Your description of the hydrometer reading was not clear to me. Take a look at this video to learn how to read them, and report back your specific gravity (SG) reading:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty7PAJaBsts"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty7PAJaBsts[/ame]

 

[dralarms]

Welcome to WMT!

Your description of the hydrometer reading was not clear to me. Take a look at this video to learn how to read them, and report back your specific gravity (SG) reading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty7PAJaBsts

Dang, where was that when I needed to explain it to my brother?

 

[Schatzie]

I started with 15 % before yeast It does have alcohol because I tasted it !!! I have the potassium and was told to use the biofine clear..I'm not exactly sure how to use these product's Your suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you for your time ...Schatzie

 

[sour_grapes]

We need to know what your SG reading is now before we can advise you on anything.

Also, you say you "have potassium." There are two different substances used, potassium sorbate, and potassium metabisulfite, which have different applications. Which are you referring to?

 

[Schatzie]

Thank you Paul..I have the potassium sorbate and Biofine clear. I also used the turbo yeast express in my fermentation . I just tried the hydrometer again, Its doesn't float. I filled up the plastic container the hydrometer came in and swirled in around and it sunk to the bottom and wont float at all. Is it broken or am I just doing it wrong? I watched all the videos>. It tasted like alcohol ,then again could it be, wishful tasting? Thanks, Schatzie

 

[dralarms]

As Paul said, we need starting sg. The tube it came in is NOT a test tube. You need something deeper to test in. And I've made a lot but never had the hydro sink to the bottom.

 

[Schatzie]

That's exactly what my problem was!! TY SIR!! my alcohol is a 5....so I added a little more water and sugar. It foamed and reattached bubblier and gonna wait another week.Thank you again for all your wisdom much appreciated...Schatzie

 

[wpt-me]

Most of the juices that I have tried of that type were in the 1.50 s.g. range from the
juice containers to start.

Bill

 

[wineforfun]

That's exactly what my problem was!! TY SIR!! my alcohol is a 5....so I added a little more water and sugar. It foamed and reattached bubblier and gonna wait another week.Thank you again for all your wisdom much appreciated...Schatzie

This makes no sense, what does "my alcohol is a 5" mean?

Lets start from the beginning, what recipe or guide did you use? Type it in here.

Take a pic of your hydrometer so we can see a. what type of "test tube" you are using and b. what exactly your hydrometer reading is.

If in fact it is done fermenting, all adding sugar and water did was to a. dilute the flavor of your wine and b. backsweeten it before adding sorbate and clearing it properly.

 

[Floandgary]

Thank you Paul..I have the potassium sorbate and Biofine clear. I also used the turbo yeast express in my fermentation .

Sounds like you're trying to blitz through and have something in the bottle by next week!! Gotta take one step at a time. You'll learn a lot more that way. Hydrometer not floating at all sounds like a defective hydrometer. In ordinary water it should float at the 1.000 level

 

[JimmyT]

This makes no sense, what does "my alcohol is a 5" mean?

My guess would be they are reading the brix scale on the hydrometer. Only thing that would make sense to me.