Help with first batch ever....CoNfUsEd!

[PappyCamas]

Hi, I am PappyCamas's wife and what he forgot to mention was that I brought the berried home about June 10th. I washed them, put them in our primary, covered them with water and a simple syrup mixture of about 4 cups of sugar/water and added a package of Red Star Dry active yeast (regular bread yeast) Is it possible that the wine is already at too high an alcohol content for the wine yeast to even start?

 

[Scooter68]

I suppose that's possible - have you tasted it lately? If it's well along in the fermentation you should definitely be able to taste a strong alcohol presence.
More importantly is that after that long fermentation, if successful should be pretty much all over. I would rack it to a new container(s) and then check for any fine bubbles - that would be an indication that a secondary fermentation is ongoing. Even if you don't see bubbles top the carboys off with airtraps and watch them. If you don't see any rise in the trap or bubbling then it's pretty likely fermentation is ove r possibly stopped/stalled - BUT from June 10th approx to July 26 is over 6 weeks and it would be very unusual for fermentation of a wine to be active at this point unless additional sugars and or yeast were added.

At this point if there is sufficient alcohol for the wine to keep (And enough to satisfy you all) then the only thing to work on is checking Acidity, and waiting for it to clear. The acidity would be something to check and adjust asap if needed. Clearing will just take time. Tick, tock, tick, tock.

 

[Julie]

If you used breast yeast, there is a chance that it has reached its alcohol level. Can you get regular wine yeast? And when racking to another vessel does not create a secondary fermentation. When fermentation starts it is all the same fermentation, there is no secondary fermentation. And do not judge fermentation by bubbles or no bubbles. Use the hydrometer!

 

[Tnuscan]

The Wine yeast should take off fine. Sprinkle it on surface, lay towel or lid over bucket, it should be going within a couple days. The acid level is not that bad, it's a little high but sometimes it is. If sitting that long hasn't brought any new issues you might get it going and make some good wine.

 

[Scooter68]

The majority of people and discussions about fermentation refer to secondary fermentation as that stage of fermentation which occurs at a much slower rate than what we see in the initial 2-7 days (normally). I was referring to secondary fermentation as that which is the continuation of the original fermentation but at a lower rate - sometimes marked by fine streams of bubbles but not in all cases. Airlocks with the cap inside will rise and that is an indication of gassing off which normally comes from fermentation OR the gases released by K-Meta or campden tablet(s). Of course even that is not guaranteed if the seal of the container is not good.
Another point of demarcation is that once we have reached an SG of 1.030-1.010 folks normally rack from the primary fermentation vessel to a carboy to remove the gross lees and a lot of the yeast which has now died as the alcohol level has risen. That racking helps prevent off tastes from the yeast and occasionally from the lees which may contain seeds that could release unsavory tastes and smells. That is the point at which we refer to as having entered or begun our secondary fermentation.
IF a new yeast is introduced after the original yeast has died one could fairly refer to that as a secondary I was not suggesting a NEW fermentation.
Finally a hydrometer reading only indicates amount of sugar left in the must which indicates that additional fermentation may be possible. One could ferment a wine dry (.995-.990) add additional sugar and yet not have an active fermentation but there would be the potential for fermentation. In one case I had a black currant wine that fermented down to 1.005 and stopped. It remained at that level for several months. The yeast was capable of an 18% wine but did not complete. My calculated ABV was 16.9% (Starting SG 1.134 Ending 1.005) . Since I wanted a dessert wine I was content. No further fermentation occurred - especially since I used Campden tablet at every other racking until I bottled the wine. The Hydrometer reading only indicates the amount of sugars remaining.