Am I Stalled at 1.088??

[roadpupp]

So I have my first white wine ever in Primary. Started April 3rd after work.

Mosti Modiale Bourg Royal White. A suggestion from George. I followed the directions carefully and cleaned, sanitized and added the water as directed. I did heat some of the filtered water before adding so that my must was about 74 degrees when I pitched the EC-1118 yeast. I hydrated the yeast in 102 degree water as directed on the package, checking the temp with a thermometer. I only let it sit for 5 minutes and now I understand I may have cold shocked the yeast. Is this my issue?

Starting SG was 1.090

The next morning, foaming and yeast smell, all looking great. 24 hours later, still lots of foam but the temperature has fallen to 68 degrees (my work area is 66).

This morning, no foam, very little visible fermentation action and the SG reading is 1.088! Temperature is 67.

On my first red kit (also EC-1118), I thought my work area was too cool so I used a brew belt . It fermented like crazy and the temp was 80-82 for the first few days before settling down to 78 and it went to 0.990 in a week. Because of this, I decided against the brew belt and hoped the 66 degree temp would work fine and not stress the yeast in fast fermentation as it may have on the red. By the way, the directions on that one had me sprinkle the dry yeast on the must.

I am suprised that the SG appears not to have moved much at all.

I thought about it and decided to plug in the brew belt. I was thinking I'll monitor it and remove it when it gets above 75 to see if the fermentation will pick up.

Perhaps I am just being a nervous nellie but it seems like once the must cooled, the fermentation is basically nil. I'm inexperienced, though and maybe after the first 24 hours of foaming, it just simmers along and doesn't show too many signs?

What say you all? Should I plug it in or just be patient and see if the SG goes down slowly. It barely appears to have moved and all that foaming for 36 hours seems like it should have drastically affected the SG.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

add the brew belt, its too cool. You can raise and lower the belt to adjust the temp of the must. Higher=cooler, lower=warmer. get it to about 74 to 78. If things don't pick up after it gets to temp you may have to re pitch yeast to start it again.

 

[ibglowin]

66 is to cool without some assistance. Give it a stir, warm it back up to 72 and see if it doesn't come back to life. Many of the whites are very quiet "fizzy coke" fermenters. You almost would never know they are fermenting unless you put your ear right down to the top of your primary. Keep it warm until it takes off then you can remove the heat for a few days but you will have to put it back on once it starts to drop below ~68. It it doesn't take off you should have enough sugar to get another pack of EC1118 and try it again. Keep it warm!

 

[cpfan]

Personally I can't believe that there was lots of foaming but the sg has only dropped from 1.090 to 1.088. That's a barely measurable difference possibly caused by the difference in temperature. It implies that there has been no fermentation, but the foaming implies that there has been fermentation. Since I do not believe visual signs of fermentation, I have to guess that this must has not been fermenting.

If this was my kit I'd be pitching more yeast (without rehydrating it).

Steve

 

[brothermoo]

Lavlin state that 1118 ferments well within 50°F to 85°F but obviously it will be slow if cooler.. My fermenting places both stay between 62-70°F so im used to being patient for the yeast to multiply to critical mass

 

[roadpupp]

Thanks all-

I'll keep an eye on it now that it has a brew belt and have another packet of EC-118 standing by if needed. Much appreciated advice.

 

[grapeman]

36 hours into the wine process is way too soon to worry about it being stuck. Warm it up a bit and it will be fine.

 

[mmadmikes1]

66 is to cool without some assistance. Give it a stir, warm it back up to 72 and see if it doesn't come back to life. Many of the whites are very quiet "fizzy coke" fermenters. You almost would never know they are fermenting unless you put your ear right down to the top of your primary. Keep it warm until it takes off then you can remove the heat for a few days but you will have to put it back on once it starts to drop below ~68. It it doesn't take off you should have enough sugar to get another pack of EC1118 and try it again. Keep it warm!

What he said

 

[Wade E]

You really need to wait until its fermenting reallyt good before letting the temp drop. No matter what Im making I always start my fermentation at around 82* when I add the yeast and try to keep it around there (not much more) until its going really good and then if its a fruit wine or white wine only then will I let it drop some. With kits though its not recommended to let the temp drop much below around 72* and from what they say due to the processing you wont gain much by doing a cooler fermentation. Im not to sure I really believe that myself as I know a strong fermentation will burn off fruitiness so I still coo ferment my whites.

 

[roadpupp]

Thanks guys. Last time the red fermented to dry in 7 days instead of the 14 the kit said to wait. I ended up racking it with the lees to get some color and flavor but protect from oxygen for the last week . I thought I had done something wrong by letting it sit around 80 for too long so this time I thought I would get it started at 75 but not use the belt. Now I know and the tip about regulating the temp by moving the belt up or down seems to be working.

I came home to lots of fizzing, a temp of 76 and an Sg of 1.4156 La Vista Road,
Atlanta, GA 30084
078. I'm learning the ins and outs of the temps in primary on a few cheap kits. Thanks for the tutelage !

 

[roadpupp]

Not sure what happened there but the iPhone converted to a stored address from my clip board. Anyway 1.078 was the SG last night.

Wade how long do you keep a primary at 82 and what do you drop to for a white or a red?

Thanks

 

[ibglowin]

After it gets going you can let it drop to ~72 degrees. Just keep it from dropping below ~70 and things should finish out just fine.

 

[Wade E]

Agree with above post, reds Ill let stay warmer though like around 75 or a tad bit higher. If it wasnt a kit Id let it get even cooler for whites and fruit wines like more around 62 but warm it back up near the very end to make sure it finishes properly.