Blueberry wine ceases fermentation

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jlt22

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I recently started a blueberry wine using frozen blueberries that I thawed and washed just before using, and I followed a recipe from a book I've used successfully with other fruit wines. I added the yeast to the primary on Feb 6, and on Feb 7 there was definite activity. Then by the end of Feb 8, the activity seemed to have settled quickly and has remained settled (i.e., "flat") since. I took an SG reading today (Feb 9) and it was 1.070. The starting SG was 1.085. This seems off as other fruit wine has gotten to 1.02 after about 4 days for me, and there's no sign that this blueberry wine is doing anything at the moment. The room's temperature is consistently between 70-72 Fahrenheit. Thoughts? Can it be "jump-started"?
 
Agree with above - check the pH. It's likely to be skewed now because of some fermentation but still good to check on it. Blueberries often run pretty acidic so that can cause fermentation issues. If the pH is significantly below 3.00 that may well be the issue. I've seen a pH in blueberry wine as low as 2.98 but that was during the ferment. Adjusting the pH a bit might help it restart alone with raising the temp up to the upper 70s. Another yeast starter, as suggested is a good way to go too in case the original yeast has died.
 
* did you add an organic YAN or DAP? Chemical nitrogen is like candy for yeast and they can crash after using it up.
* pH on retail blue berry can be all over the place. ex 2018= 2.83/ 2020= 3.11/ 2021= 3.44. A book recipe is likely to add acid just in case of a high pH pushing the must with generated CO2 into a toxic zone. ,,, (that 2.83 pH had TA of 1.31% so the acid needed to be cut by half)
* temperature is good, yeast are exothermic so the carboy might be two degrees warmer than air temp. ,,,, To the extent I can I try to preserve fruit aroma and would run 65+/-
* since this is a book recipe what metabisulphite per gallon did you do? Wine is a preservative system so if several barriers are high it can knock off the good microbes too.
* not related to stuck fermentations but curious why you would wash frozen fruit? Any industrial frozen blueberry you have eaten comes in a fourty pound block which gets dumped into a batching kettle without checking for bugs or dirt. Washing causes thawing and loss of juice.

As @Scooter68 and Boss noted a starter in warm water with yeast nutrient is the normal direction. Lallemand did a good YouTube on yeast.
This post is eight “BOOK REVIEWs” on YouTube ,,,
An easy to follow, low tech guide for using dry yeast, 36 minutes
* Everything you need to know about dry yeast, Brittney Berg, Sales Manager for Lallemand answers many frequently asked questions about dry yeast ranging from production, rehydration to repitching. Questions that were covered: What is A.D.Y. (active dry yeast)? How is it made? What is Trehalose? Why are there not as many dry strains available compared to liquid? Do I need to rehydrate dried yeast? How do I go about doing that? How do I store dry yeast? and how once I have opened a packet? Do I need to aerate? Can I repitch another ferment with this yeast? What if I ignore the best by date?
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Basic concepts one gets in a microbiology course as competitive cell populations going into a fermentation, plus practical details as nutrition/ pH as a fence/ use of metabisulphite/ sorbate/ filtration/ infection vectors/ microbial spoilage/ weaknesses of spoilage organisms/ always mix your yeast to prevent pockets of infection/ what if we dose with less than recomended yeast. (1) 1 hour; 12 minutes and (2) 1 hour, 19 minutes
Part 1: https://youtu.be/bFouHaECa94 * Budding Geniuses: Yeast Management & Selection to Maximize Wine Quality & Drive Wine Style, Scott Labs loves yeast! Yeast have a huge impact and yeast selection is an important tool for driving wine style. Proper nutrition and fermentation practices combined with strain selection are important to achieve a desired outcome. Join us for Part 2 of an exciting two-part episode of our webinar series where host Darren Michaels and guest speaker Dr. Nichola Hall explore the world of yeast, yeast selection, and fermentation outcomes. Budding Geniuses Part 2: Good Fermentation Practices - The Importance of Proper Yeast Rehydration - Nutritional Management - How to Use Nutrients to Drive Aromas
Part 2: * Budding Geniuses: Yeast Management & Selection to Maximize Wine Quality & Drive Wine Style: Scott Labs loves yeast! Yeast have a huge impact and yeast selection is an important tool for driving wine style. Proper nutrition and fermentation practices combined with strain selection are important to achieve a desired outcome. Join us August 6th for Part 1 of an exciting two-part episode of our webinar series where host Darren Michaels and guest speaker Dr. Nichola Hall explore the world of yeast, yeast selection, and fermentation outcomes. Budding Geniuses Part 1: Yeast Physiology and Selection - Basic Yeast Physiology and Growth Cycles - Yeast Nutritional Requirements - Selecting Yeast Using Our 2020 Winemaking Handbook
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A microbiologist talks about requirements for growing yeast. Of note she is good at “off the cuff” answers of what is happening and fixes in the question session. 1 hour, 16 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Majzto54Q * Snap Out of It: Restarting a Stuck Fermentation: a quick review and live Q&A with Dr. Nichola Hall and Darren Michaels, where we will be discussing stuck wine treatments and how to get a restart going towards the best possible outcome. Topics Include: - Brief procedure overview - Critical control steps in building a successful starter - Treatment of toxins and competitive species - Optimal yeast and nutrient options.
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... To be continued as I binge watch
 
Thanks all for the info and guidance! This forum is great. The pH seems to be the running theme, so I'm going to assume that's a part of the problem. I don't currently have a pH meter, but now I plan to invest in one. I'm going to try adding some water and a yeast starter. It's a 1-gallon batch. After I posted the initial question, I removed the fruit from the primary and did notice some thin froth form on the top by the end of the day. But, not enough to consider it very active. This was the recipe, btw:

2 lb blueberry (fresh or frozen)
7 pts water
1 3/4 lb sugar
(I ended up adding another 1 cup to get to a good starting SG)
1 1/2 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp energizer
1 campden tablet crushed
1 pkg yeast
1/2 pt red grape conc. to be used later in the process

Mixed everything (except the conc.) but the yeast in the primary, then added the yeast after about 24 hrs. I was curious that it didn't require the nutrient.
 
@jlt22, it's likely you didn't need the acid blend, as the blueberries are quite acidic. I also note you added yeast energizer, but not nutrient. I'd add that and give it a day. If you get any movement in SG, you're probably fine.
 
Yeah, I ended up adding the nutrient (1 tsp) and it's been a couple hours and there already seems to be a little activity, but I'll check the SG tomorrow. Maybe the batch was saved. I really hope so - I hate wasting fruit. Strange the recipe didn't include the nutrient. Maybe an oversight.
 
When making a new wine variety for the first time - it's wise to check a recipe out with more than one source when possible and ALWAYS take measurements for for the SG and pH BEFORE making additions. Undoing additions to wine batches is not a fun process.

You are not the first to have a problem with blueberry wine and more times than not it comes down to a pH issue.
 
I'm new at this but I'll add my 2 cents - which in today's money is pretty much zero.

I've been a canner for a long time and depending on what I'm doing I will freeze the fruit or vegetable because it breaks down the produce, releases juice, speeds up processing. I would never wash thawed produce.

From the recipes I've seen I thought 3 - 4 pounds fruit per gallon was the rule of thumb. More for flavor rather than affecting fermentation.

I'm having my own issues with blueberry. Two identical 1 gallon batches started in November. One took off like gangbusters the other didn't. I recently posted questions about it in another thread and all I can say is there are some VERY knowledgeable and generous wine makers here.
 
The couple other fruit batches I've done also called for 3-4 lb fruit as opposed to the 2lbs called for in this blueberry one. But, I guess this is the fun of it all; start with one recipe then troubleshoot issues, and modify the recipe.

Also, good to hear the tip on checking the SG and pH before any additions!
 
I've never gone that low in fruit per gallon. ( 2, 3, or 4 lbs/gal) Some folks prefer a lighter flavor but most folks on here that do a lot of fruit wines tend to go with as little water addition as possible with most fruits gettign all the liquid from the fruit itself with a very small amount from the simple syrup. For Blueberries I stop at about 6 lbs per gallon. The only fruit I heard where people use such small amounts is Elderberry and there I have heard folks talk about 3 lbs but never less than that.
 

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