Still Bubbling. . . . . .

[chettd]

I made batch of blue berry wine three months ago and have racked it twice. It has been sitting in the three gallon carboy now for about a month undisturbed and I am still seeing small air bubbles working their way to the neck. I am very new to wine making, but from what I do understand, bubbles should have stopped by this point right? I would like to bottle it in a month to six weeks, and I want to make sure I have a decent first batch on my first attempt at wine making.

 

[jtstar]

Have you taken an sg reading, tell us about the recipe that you used your beginning sg also let us know more about your wine

 

[Julie]

I agree with JT, you need to take a reading first.

 

[Runningwolf]

In addition to the above comments have you stabilized this wine and do you plan on sweetening it?

 

[chettd]

I haven't stabilized yet. I don't think there will be a need to sweeten. I will take a SG reading and get back with you. On another note, I see a lot of comments regarding MLF in reference to a negative occurance in wine. What does MLF stand for?

 

[chettd]

Okay the SG reading right now is about 1.01. The starting SG was appx. 1.1 when I began this recipe. The receipe came from this site and as I said I am making blue berry. http://www.brewsupplies.com/homemade_wine_recipes.htm I don't know if the temp matters, but the current temp of the wine is about 69 degrees.

 

[Wade E]

Blueberry can be a tough one as it naturally contains benzoate which is a yeast inhibitor so sometimes it can go very slow. Take some readings a few days in a row to see if its actually still fermenting or if its done and just releasing tapped C02. It also get the temp up to around 75 to help fermentation finish and also to get that C02 out of your wine.

 

[chettd]

When I take the reading again am I looking for the SG to continue to fall? Also how long should I expose it to higher temps? Just a few days or until the bubbles stop appearing?

 

[Wade E]

You should see if you can get it to ferment lower so youll be looking hopefully for lower #'s. If the sg doesnt change at all then while you have the temp up there you should degas your wine as trying to do it a colder temps doesnt work.

 

[chettd]

Okay. I've moved the carboy into a room with higher temps (in the upper 70's) I'll monitor the bubbles and check the SG in a few days to report how this works.