Concord wine problems

[winemanden]

You think you've got problems do you?



I'll get my coat and shut the door behind me.

 

[P Waddah by Jimbo]

My 5 gallon carboy is filled right to the base of the neck. The 1118 has been in there for 5 hours or so now. I'm wondering if I'll have a problem with gushing or, since the gravity is only 1.006 and the wine is currently at 61F, and there was no aeration or splashing, maybe by the time the yeast wakes up to gushing force the remaining sugars will already be consumed?
Wishful thinking, or should I rack it to a 6.5 gallon carboy now?

You might get 1% alcohol. Are you making it for a Church? Just thinking.

 

[rbqricchi]

1.006 is the gravity it is stuck at. The O.G. was 1.092.

 

[P Waddah by Jimbo]

1.006 is the gravity it is stuck at. The O.G. was 1.092.

okay, cool

 

[ChuckD]

@rbqricchi
Did your ferment finish? If you are bulk aging let me recommend some oak for bulk aging. I used 1 spiral in a 5-gallon carboy and it did wonders for a wild grape wine.

@BigDaveK add @winemaker81
I fermented an apple wine… one carboy with EC1118 and one with 71B. I racked about two weeks ago and Now the EC1118 is crystal clear while the 71B is still cloudy. I have a a three gallon carboy that was two thirds to three quarters 71B. It is crystal clear as well. So yeah, it looks like the EC1118 murdered their cousins and finished that one. It will be interesting to see how that carboy compares on taste.

 

[BigDaveK]

I fermented an apple wine… one carboy with EC1118 and one with 71B. I racked about two weeks ago and Now the EC1118 is crystal clear while the 71B is still cloudy. I have a a three gallon carboy that was two thirds to three quarters 71B. It is crystal clear as well. So yeah, it looks like the EC1118 murdered their cousins and finished that one. It will be interesting to see how that carboy compares on taste.

I start my fruit dessert wines with 71B later adding EC1118. The glycerol and fruity esters from 71B seem to hold up nicely.

 

[rbqricchi]

Chuck, glad you asked! On Jan. 12 I re-hydrated a packet of EC-1118 and dumped it in. This was in a 5 gallon carboy, filled to the base of the neck. I thought about moving it back to my 6.5 gallon carboy but decided I would just keep a close watch for a day or two and move it only if necessary. The carboy was on a table in my basement, where the temp was 60F.

Soon there was a thin white ring of foam around the base of the neck, but no perceivable bubbles, so I wondered if the foam ring could just be from me pouring the milky yeast in. After two days, still no apparent activity so I put the carboy on a heating pad and wrapped in a blanket. Later in the day I added a half teaspoon of yeast energizer and the wine immediately foamed up, so I knew there had been activity after all. Fortunately, it did not foam up enough to climb into the airlock.
For the next few days I had slow, visible fermentation – a few bubbles constantly streaming to the top. After about 4 days it stopped and a couple days later there was no foam around the neck and no activity at all. I let it sit a couple more days and then took a reading. No change! Still 1.006!

I agitated the wine in my hydrometer jar several times thinking gas in suspension was holding the hydrometer up, but no dice. Still 1.006.

I racked to a clean 5 gallon carboy, sulfited and topped up and set it back in it’s dark corner in the basement where it is 58F, intending to let it sit until spring.
A few days ago I decided to carry it upstairs and let it sit until spring up here where the temp is between 66 and 69 degrees, figuring that it will have a better chance of slowly munching down those last several gravity points. Hopefully it will get there with time.

That’s where I stand now.

 

[ChuckD]

Chuck, glad you asked! On Jan. 12 I re-hydrated a packet of EC-1118 and dumped it in. This was in a 5 gallon carboy, filled to the base of the neck. I thought about moving it back to my 6.5 gallon carboy but decided I would just keep a close watch for a day or two and move it only if necessary. The carboy was on a table in my basement, where the temp was 60F.

Soon there was a thin white ring of foam around the base of the neck, but no perceivable bubbles, so I wondered if the foam ring could just be from me pouring the milky yeast in. After two days, still no apparent activity so I put the carboy on a heating pad and wrapped in a blanket. Later in the day I added a half teaspoon of yeast energizer and the wine immediately foamed up, so I knew there had been activity after all. Fortunately, it did not foam up enough to climb into the airlock.
For the next few days I had slow, visible fermentation – a few bubbles constantly streaming to the top. After about 4 days it stopped and a couple days later there was no foam around the neck and no activity at all. I let it sit a couple more days and then took a reading. No change! Still 1.006!

I agitated the wine in my hydrometer jar several times thinking gas in suspension was holding the hydrometer up, but no dice. Still 1.006.

I racked to a clean 5 gallon carboy, sulfited and topped up and set it back in it’s dark corner in the basement where it is 58F, intending to let it sit until spring.
A few days ago I decided to carry it upstairs and let it sit until spring up here where the temp is between 66 and 69 degrees, figuring that it will have a better chance of slowly munching down those last several gravity points. Hopefully it will get there with time.

That’s where I stand now.

Unfortunately sometimes the wines gonna do what the wine wants to do!

I think the sweetness and foxy (concord) taste benefits from some
Oak. Try a medium toast oak spiral in the carboy for two or three months. Even if the Sg doesn’t change it will increase the dryness. I have not heard complaints about this dose in a five or six gallon batch.

 

[rbqricchi]

I may try that in the future but I want to see what it tastes like without oak first. Thanks!