Ginger Wine - no fermentation - why?

[YourCaptain]

A few days ago I started making ginger wine.
The following ingredients were used
500g Ginger
7 chopped chilli's
Zest and Juice from 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 cups of raisens
1kg Sugar
5ml Acid
0.2ml Tannin
5ml Yeast
5ml Yeast Nutrient
0.33ml Sterilizer

It has not started fermenting yet... why?

 

[pjd]

what is the 0.33ml Sterilizer? If it is K meta and was added with the yeast your wine will probably never start fermenting.

 

[YourCaptain]

Yip K Meta.
But the yeast was added 24hrs after the K Meta. It's been 48hrs since I added the yeast. Should I add another 5ml yeast?

 

[Julie]

I am assuming the 5ml Acid is acid blend plus you added an orange and a lemon. How big of a batch is this and what was your sg?

Have you been stirring it at all? I think you need to stir this very vigoreously a couple times a day to help get it started. If it does not start in the next couple of days, I would make a yeast starter.

 

[YourCaptain]

It is an acid blend that came in a Fruit Wine Making "kit".
This was for 4.5liters
I am stirring twice a day.
Which starter would you recommend? DAP?
I'm new to winemaking, so dont have all the equipment yet. I purchased my hydrometer last week, it's still in the post. So I have no idea what the SG is. I'm assuming quite high if you consider 1kg sugar in a 4.5liter container.

 

[Julie]

Since you do not have fermentation going take a hydrometer reading.

 

[jensmith]

If its too cold it will not start or will do so slowly. Check your temp and give it a good stir.

 

[YourCaptain]

@Julie - hopefully my hydrometer arrives soons and I can check the SG
@JenSmith - We are going into winter... what type of tempreture is too cold? How do I increase it? Just put a heater on in the room?

 

[Julie]

@Julie - hopefully my hydrometer arrives soons and I can check the SG
@JenSmith - We are going into winter... what type of tempreture is too cold? How do I increase it? Just put a heater on in the room?

Sorry, I thought you had said you had a hydrometer, just check it when it comes. Try to get you must up to 70 degrees in temp. LOL, I am going to tell you to use a brew belt but I know you don't have one so use a heating pad if you have one, or using a heater in the room works very well too.

 

[jensmith]

Yup. About 70 should be good. If you don't have any heating pads or brew belts wrap it up in a heated blanket. I also will put my brew bucket in the shower stall after I take a long hot shower. I have one of those tiny closed in things. It stays tosty in there for a bit. Hopefully enough for the yeast to start.
The ginger wine I started last week was slow to start as well. It is fermenting without any foam or big bubbles. If you put your ear next to it you can hear it fizz. If not for the dropping sg I would not be shure it was fermenting!

 

[Duster]

Just as an FYI, I see your recipe is listed in metric scale, 70* that is mentioned is in fahrenheit it would be about 21* centigrade.

 

[YourCaptain]

Overnight I left the heater on in the room where I keep wine, and when I shook it this morning, I got 2 or 3 bubbles out. I have read a few other threads regarding ginger wine, and all of them sound as if they had a slow start.

Not giving up hope just yet.

 

[YourCaptain]

Finally got my hydrometer. It measures an SG of 1.070. I'll wait a week to check if it drops. I have transferred it into the secondary in the meantime. It tastes gooood...

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Ginger root or ginger powder? I have never had a hard time getting a ginger wine to start. What size is this batch? A little white grape juice will help out some, a little food for the yeast, a little body etc. WVMJ

 

[Stressbaby]

One thing, and I don't know if this would affect fermentation...but that is 2-3 times the amount of ginger you see in a typical 1 gallon ginger wine recipe.

 

[cocroach]

Hmmm...not sure is that would be the cause. I made a ginger wine recipe last year and tripled the amount of ginger the recipe asked for just because I love ginger. I didn't have any issues with fermentation and the wine came out great.

 

[YourCaptain]

Ginger root, finely chopped. Can't get white grape juice without preservatives in. That's why I used the raisins. Apparently it's supposed to do the same thing

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

We have used to a pound/gal, this makes an most excellent substitute for gingerale in the Christmas punch, much more ginger taste and a little kick on its own. WVMJ

 

[sceleste54]

I hope you post the progress on this wine YourCaptain, it sounds interesting !

 

[YourCaptain]

Finally it's bubbling away.

This makes me a very happy captain.