Droc
Junior Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2013
- Messages
- 104
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I think I need some help... I'm kind of new to making wine with fresh fruit and I can't get my blackberry wine to start fermenting.
I started off with 5 pounds of Blackberries and 1 pound of Raspberries, then added about 1/3 gallon water. I then added 5.5 cups of sugar to get the SG up to 1.090. I put the pulp from the blackberries and raspberries in mesh bags and then added 1 tsp potassium metabisulfite and 3/4 tsp pectic enzyme and let sit for 24 hours.
The next day the ph was 3.6 and SG 1.092 at 66 degrees. I made a slurry of 1 tsp bentonite and 3 oz water and added that while my yeast rehydrated (I used Lalvin K1-1116). After i pitched the yeast I added 1 tsp of nutrient and 1/2 tsp of energizer and stirred vigorously for about 6 minutes to get some O2 in the must.
The next morning I added another tsp of nutrient and energizer and stirred again, then put it into a closet where it is a little warmer (around 65 degrees right now, it's cold here in PA). The at 5 PM I added another tsp of nutrient and stirred again.
I still had no activity so the next day I took a portion of my juice and put it into a blender to get a good bit of O2 into the must, and added another tsp of nutrient and energizer and gave another good stir. I also squeezed the bags of pulp to get the juices out and removed them from the primary.
Then today, I took a sample to check SG to check if it was going on and I wasn't seeing it, and the SG hasn't dropped at all from the beginning.
The only thing I can think of is I added to much potassium metabisulfite at the beginning, but I've made a peach mead using the same process and had no problems with that.
If anyone has any ideas on how to get this going I would greatly appreciate it. If I left anything out that you have questions about, please let me know. Thanks!!!
I started off with 5 pounds of Blackberries and 1 pound of Raspberries, then added about 1/3 gallon water. I then added 5.5 cups of sugar to get the SG up to 1.090. I put the pulp from the blackberries and raspberries in mesh bags and then added 1 tsp potassium metabisulfite and 3/4 tsp pectic enzyme and let sit for 24 hours.
The next day the ph was 3.6 and SG 1.092 at 66 degrees. I made a slurry of 1 tsp bentonite and 3 oz water and added that while my yeast rehydrated (I used Lalvin K1-1116). After i pitched the yeast I added 1 tsp of nutrient and 1/2 tsp of energizer and stirred vigorously for about 6 minutes to get some O2 in the must.
The next morning I added another tsp of nutrient and energizer and stirred again, then put it into a closet where it is a little warmer (around 65 degrees right now, it's cold here in PA). The at 5 PM I added another tsp of nutrient and stirred again.
I still had no activity so the next day I took a portion of my juice and put it into a blender to get a good bit of O2 into the must, and added another tsp of nutrient and energizer and gave another good stir. I also squeezed the bags of pulp to get the juices out and removed them from the primary.
Then today, I took a sample to check SG to check if it was going on and I wasn't seeing it, and the SG hasn't dropped at all from the beginning.
The only thing I can think of is I added to much potassium metabisulfite at the beginning, but I've made a peach mead using the same process and had no problems with that.
If anyone has any ideas on how to get this going I would greatly appreciate it. If I left anything out that you have questions about, please let me know. Thanks!!!