i think i have a new problem...

[countrygirl]

i just racked my "triple berry blend" tonight and it does NOT taste like alcohol at all! s.g. is .992
what is up with this???
it's the 3lb. bags of black/blue/rasp. from sam's, i used 5 bags and have 3 (plus a little) gallons...it had TONS of fluffy sediment initially, so on the first racking, i strained the pulp...did i do something wrong there???
it's cleared and settled fine after that, but tonight, just kinda tastes like sourred juice???
i'm stumped...
i only had to add about 1lb. sugar and s.g. was 1.050...
i used yeast nutrient, energizer, pectin, and kmeta as per recommended doses...

 

[countrygirl]

there was so much pulp, it was hard to get enough liquid without pulp, maybe i didn't have a proper s.g. and didn't add enough sugar??
but why would i get a .992 tonight?

 

[RedNeckWino]

Try a few more glasses and report back, My strawberry does not have a lot of alcohol taste-but I know its there. What % did you shoot for? Mine was only sugared up to get 10% ABV so the alcohol is kinda on the light side.

 

[countrygirl]

i was shooting for 1.030, but got a 1.050 intially and just stayed with that.

 

[RedNeckWino]

Fermented to dry that should only yield about 8% ABV I believe. So might be like mine. Taste all the berries and not much alcohol. Drink enough and it will show its self though. Maybe Wade or Dan will corect me if I'm wrong here....

1.050 - .995 / .00736 = 7.4728260 ABV aprox.

 

[Luc]

According to my SG table you will even have less alcohol: about 6.1%

Look here to download my table:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sjcvgeebjqn

That is indeed low for a wine, and low alcohol my cause early spoilage.

So you will have to referement it or add more sulphite as usual to prevent spoiling.

By the way, how does it taste ???

How much do you have.

If it tastes fine and you only have 1 gallon you could consider early drinking and no aging. So you will have it consumed before it can spoil.

Luc

 

[Julie]

Luc's right the alcohol is low, this would be the reason why you really can't taste it. I would do like he said, drink that while you other wines are aging. I usually shoot for an sg between 1.080 and 1.090.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Yup - i also agree with Luc. My strawberry peach i made at 11% - and with the addition of the fpac - the alcohol is present but masked by the fruit.

I would try to keep the fruit wines at a Starting SG around 1.085 = (11 - 12% ABV) - be sure to backsweeten and add an fpac.

 

[countrygirl]

that's what i did wrong
i didn't get the s.g. up enough, duhhh
i think i had 1.030 on my mind for backsweeting on my strawberry breeze.
i think i may referment, because it does taste fruity and still smells fruity, even if i did get a sourish taste with the racking...
i have 3+ gallons, so i think it's worth saving!

 

[djrockinsteve]

1.080 would have been good. It's still good, don't dispare. Drink up. Just pace yourself.

You could always do another batch with a higher gravity and blend to get a 1.080

 

[countrygirl]

heated up some of the juice and added 4 lbs. sugar and got up to a 1.050.
i will check s.g. again tonight and pitch another yeast...

 

[ffemt128]

heated up some of the juice and added 4 lbs. sugar and got up to a 1.050.
i will check s.g. again tonight and pitch another yeast...

That is what I was going to suggest. You may not even have to pitch yeast again. There may be enough viable yeast to take off again.

 

[countrygirl]

i added 3 more cups sugar tonight in addition to the 4 lbs this morn, to get 1.078...keeping fingers crossed

 

[countrygirl]

pitched 1122 last night, and tonight, nothing is happening...it is 69 degrees in the utility room, so i've sat the bucket down in front of the vent and stirred it well to incorporate some o2...will report back tomorrow!

 

[countrygirl]

nothing this morning

 

[ffemt128]

nothing this morning

Are you sure? Have you checked it with a hydrometer? Maybe try adding some nutrient....

 

[Dugger]

It seems like you're shooting too high for your alcohol - you got about 7-8% the first time around and now you've added sugar to get another potential 10-12% if I'm understanding your process correctly. Perhaps your yeast can't handle this.

 

[ffemt128]

i added 3 more cups sugar tonight in addition to the 4 lbs this morn, to get 1.078...keeping fingers crossed

I missed this part where you took it to 1.078. I was under the impression that you were still at the 1.050 where you were before the additional 3 cups of sugar.

It seems like you're shooting too high for your alcohol - you got about 7-8% the first time around and now you've added sugar to get another potential 10-12% if I'm understanding your process correctly. Perhaps your yeast can't handle this.

I would double check with hydrometer add nutrient and hope you stop at a reasonable alcohol %. If that does occur, you will be fairly sweet. If fermentation is occuring and you end with rocket fuel, you can always dilute with some kind of juice to blend or do as Steve said and make another batch either higher or lower depending on how this turns out to blend.

 

[countrygirl]

s.g. 1.074
i'm thinking about trying a starter...

 

[ffemt128]

s.g. 1.074
i'm thinking about trying a starter...

Well based on the above, you may be fermenting although at a slower rate. I would almost be tempted to give it a day or 2 more and see what happens. Check SG daily.