Am I reading this hydrometer wrong??

[Ajmassa]

Someone will surely chime in with some insight. Whatever you do- do not toss it.
You added more water and more yeast today. And then you said your seeing activity and big dense gas bubbles. That’s a good thing.
The whole thing sounds strange- but if you erase the week of fermentation from memory it’s not weird. SG measures 1.100. A good potential abv. Pitched yeast. Seeing activity. Just go with it. I think you might have yourself a 2nd full fermentation after that initial ‘ghost fermentation’. Keep us posted

 

[CK55]

Someone will surely chime in with some insight. Whatever you do- do not toss it.
You added more water and more yeast today. And then you said your seeing activity and big dense gas bubbles. That’s a good thing.
The whole thing sounds strange- but if you erase the week of fermentation from memory it’s not weird. SG measures 1.100. A good potential abv. Pitched yeast. Seeing activity. Just go with it. I think you might have yourself a 2nd full fermentation after that initial ‘ghost fermentation’. Keep us posted

Yeah, i think it was the yeast i pitched came with the kit and was dead, so i hadnt realized till the next day that something was up. It doesnt smell off, but im hoping for the best. Especially after i added a entire packet of guaranteed fresh yeast with a date of packing 7 days before i used it.

 

[CK55]

Do you think that them selecting EC-1118 was a good choice, and also the oaking was pretty intense on this kit, 2 bags of oak dust and a bag of chips with orders to chuck all in right at start of primary.

 

[Ajmassa]

Do you think that them selecting EC-1118 was a good choice, and also the oaking was pretty intense on this kit, 2 bags of oak dust and a bag of chips with orders to chuck all in right at start of primary.

Yeah man. EC1118 is chosen a lot because it’s a beast. High tolerances across the board. Drop your work boots in a bucket with 1118 and it’ll ferment!
The oak is a good thing. And you’ll probably want more later. Added for a ferment will help with body/structure/color. It can really benefit a kit wine. To extract “barrel aged” oak taste just add cubes spirals or staves during aging.

 

[CK55]

I really hope it turns out fine, I dont know what to think since all the fruity aroma of the juice is gone for the most part, makes me worry about fruity flavors in the wine,

 

[Sramic]

Hi CK55,

It has been asked before, but I don't see that you tried it.

Can you fill your Hydrometer testing tube with only water, then put your Hydrometer in there, and take a reading of the water? should be close to 1.000 (typically calibrated at 15°C)

What is our reading?

 

[CK55]

I did try it, and it did read 1.000 on the dot.

So yes hydrometer is fine.

 

[bstnh1]

So i think my hydrometer is full of shi$ because I took a gravity sample after a very active fermentation thats reading 1.100 yet, i can smell the alcohol and the foam has dropped off completely. Is it possibly that my hydrometer is wrong or am i just misreading it. I can post a picture. Because Ive only used my hydrometer for beer and just decided to check my wine kit. Wine smells fine.

What the heck is going on? am i just reading it wrong????? Maybe i am. but its floating all the way as far up as possible.

Sorry about the picture being a bit blurry my phone wouldnt focus when i took the pics.

https://imgur.com/a/HwBBNPK

Kit says it should read 1.020 to 0.995

 

[Scooter68]

One missing bit of data is the Beginning SG reading. It's possible that the original SG reading was well over 1.100 and I don't understand your statement that your Hydrmeter won't read more than 1.100. All the hydrometers I've seen are capable of reading an SG up to at least 1.130 and my current hydrometer reads all the way up to 1.160 (That would give a potential ABV of 21.66%.

IF your must was not properly prepared and was in fact highly concentrated, you could have started out with a reading well over 1.100 and the yeast simply died when it reached it's limits OR died/stalled due to other factors. Even the best kit makers can make a mistake. And of course we are assuming you followed instructions to prepare the including diluting the original must if so directed.

https://www.highgravitybrew.com/store/pc/catalog/hydrometer_1440_detail.jpg

 

[CK55]

One missing bit of data is the Beginning SG reading. It's possible that the original SG reading was well over 1.100 and I don't understand your statement that your Hydrmeter won't read more than 1.100. All the hydrometers I've seen are capable of reading an SG up to at least 1.130 and my current hydrometer reads all the way up to 1.160 (That would give a potential ABV of 21.66%.

IF your must was not properly prepared and was in fact highly concentrated, you could have started out with a reading well over 1.100 and the yeast simply died when it reached it's limits OR died/stalled due to other factors. Even the best kit makers can make a mistake. And of course we are assuming you followed instructions to prepare the including diluting the original must if so directed.

https://www.highgravitybrew.com/store/pc/catalog/hydrometer_1440_detail.jpg

Yeah they told me to do half a gallon of water to mix the bentonite then after that add the concentrate to it, and i added the juice then proceeded to top up with the remaining 1.00 gallons that they asked for. All pure spring water since my tap is garbage. So i suspect they maybe made a error. I added a half a gallon of distilled water to it and it seems to be going now, i have another half a gallon of clean distilled water if it doesnt work out. But it does smell better and it is actively bubbling now so maybe i dropped it far enough thats its fermenting will take a sample today and see if the gravity has gone down. That will let me know if i fixed whatever was wrong.

 

[CK55]

Took a sample it went from 1.100 or higher to 1.060 overnight, so whatever I did got it fermenting well. So i hope i recovered the wine it still has a bit of a strangeish odor which i dont know if its just fermentation issues. or the oak

 

[bstnh1]

How many total gallons of must do you have in the primary?

 

[CK55]

How many total gallons of must do you have in the primary?

After adding another half gallon of distilled as mentioned above 6.5 Gallons

 

[Scooter68]

Unfortunately there is no way of knowing what the situation was when you started. ALWAYS take your own readings before starting a fermentation. Mistakes happen and unless you check the situation, once fermentation has started, there is no way to know where you started from. Even if the kit container has hand written test results, check it yourself. Nothing worse than spending your time, effort and money and ending up with a undesirable 'wine.' The last thing I do before pitching yeast is to do one last check of SG and pH. Even if it was done just a couple hours before or the night before, that's your last chance to catch something that's off. If you look through the threads here you will find even the most experienced folks talking about measuring the wrong thing, (Adding the wrong additive, Adding K-Meta when they though they were adding something else. )
The carpenters creed applies here: Measure twice cut once (Pitch Once).

 

[CK55]

Unfortunately there is no way of knowing what the situation was when you started. ALWAYS take your own readings before starting a fermentation. Mistakes happen and unless you check the situation, once fermentation has started, there is no way to know where you started from. Even if the kit container has hand written test results, check it yourself. Nothing worse than spending your time, effort and money and ending up with a undesirable 'wine.' The last thing I do before pitching yeast is to do one last check of SG and pH. Even if it was done just a couple hours before or the night before, that's your last chance to catch something that's off. If you look through the threads here you will find even the most experienced folks talking about measuring the wrong thing, (Adding the wrong additive, Adding K-Meta when they though they were adding something else. )
The carpenters creed applies here: Measure twice cut once (Pitch Once).

It is starting to smell fruity again, so i dont think it picked up anything weird it smells okay, just a bit of a alcohol smell that might just be green alcohol cause it smells like what a young beer does just a bit fruitier.

 

[CK55]

Wine is confirmed to be fine and the gravity reached 1.020 today and i put it into secondary as per directions. And topped up to the best i could with 5 bottles of good quality Spanish Grenache 2 of those bottles were California Syrah.

WIne is now fermenting again untill it reaches dry then i will move it and clarify with with included Compounds and degas and bottle it.


I have high hopes for it.

 

[bstnh1]

You said you had a total of 6 1/2 gallons in the primary. Why did you need 5 bottles of additional wine for topping up? Aren't You making a 6 gallon kit?

 

[CK55]

Because my fermentation vessel is 7 gallons. And i had to get it up to about a inch from top so i dont oxidize the shit out of it.

 

[bstnh1]

Because my fermentation vessel is 7 gallons. And i had to get it up to about a inch from top so i dont oxidize the shit out of it.

If you plan to keep making wine, it would make sense to pick up a couple of 6 gallon carboys and eliminate the need to top up with so much wine. By the way, did you check the date on the kit when you started it? You said the yeast was dead and that could indicate that you have an old kit.

 

[Zintrigue]

In regard to the green smells, I know Grenache and Syrah, depending on where they're grown, can both throw strong herbal aromas. Perhaps your palette is just more sensitive to these? I mean if you think that's bogus sounding, I just want you to know that all imitation maple smells like celery to me. Whole family dousing their pancakes in celery juice on Saturday morning. (Science explanation: Fenugreek is used to make things smell mapley, but it's part of the celery family) So you know, we're all different, perhaps you're just more sensitive to the green smells.

Either case, hope it comes out good. I have a Grenache/Syrah on my counter waiting to be pitched, so cheers!