EMERGENCY HELP NEEDED! Must Isn't Fermenting!

[Tom]

1st get a hydrometer and ck the gravity. There is no time line. You can rack off @ 1.015 to get it off the gross lees. Once .990 its dry. I would not put it "down" until after stabilizing for aging. Keeping it warm during this time will spped up the aging if @ 70*.

 

[Tom]

Oh, If you want more Raspberry flavor make a f-pac after you stabilized.

 

[critterhunter]

I have a hydrometer just haven't tried using one yet. So, you are saying if the hydrometer reads .990 then that means all the sugar has been converted and it has no work left to do processing that?

I could use a quick how-to on how to use that hydrometer. I have the tall testing vial you put the hydrometer in. Just put some juice in that? It's going to be hard to do without picking up some debri, I think. Does that matter?

So you'd suggest racking into the carboy and keeping that upstairs for a while to insure it's done, only putting it in the basement when we are trying to clear/stabilize down the road?

It's still going this morning. After stirring it I measured 69.7 degrees. Like I said, the house temp is about 66 to 67 upstairs where it sits. It's bubbling about once per second now.

That makes visible fermentation from about Monday in the middle of the night to this morning, so about 2 & 1/2 days so far. Whats the norm for how long I should see signs of fermentation (the breather bubbling)? I think the first batch we made went about 5 days. Just curious if it can be done in say 3 to 4 days because if it stops before 5 days I'll be worried something is wrong.

I measured the basement temp and if I remember right the floor is about 57 degrees. So it shouldn't go down there until down the road when we are trying to stabilize/clear it? When we rack into the carboy in say a week or when no signs of bubbles are present any more we should then keep the carboy upstairs until we do the stabilizing/clearing? Is 57 degrees a good temp for that, and it's off limits to put the carboy down there this week when we rack it, right?

 

[Runningwolf]

We have a lot of tutorials that Steve and a few others are building. Please feel free to look through them.

 

[jdeere5220]

Critter.... you sure ask a lot of questions. That's fine, but I get the feeling you are stressing a little bit (I started the same way).

Relax.... the yeast know what to do.

So, you are saying if the hydrometer reads .990 then that means all the sugar has been converted and it has no work left to do processing that?

Yes, except there is no magic hydrometer reading. When the hydrometer reading stops dropping and you are anywhere below 1.000, then you are done fermenting. When you think it might be done based on not seeing any activity, starting checking it every couple days and see if the hydrometer reading is stable. That's the only way to be sure.

I could use a quick how-to on how to use that hydrometer. I have the tall testing vial you put the hydrometer in. Just put some juice in that? It's going to be hard to do without picking up some debri, I think. Does that matter?

Nope, doesn't matter. Just do it the same way every time. I put the wine into my test vial first, then gently drop my hydro in giving it a little spin. You spin it to try and keep CO2 bubbles from sticking to it. If it sticks the the side of your test tube, try spinning your test tube to try and make sure it's perfectly straight up and down (mine has a slight lean to it).

So you'd suggest racking into the carboy and keeping that upstairs for a while to insure it's done, only putting it in the basement when we are trying to clear/stabilize down the road?

Yes.

That makes visible fermentation from about Monday in the middle of the night to this morning, so about 2 & 1/2 days so far. Whats the norm for how long I should see signs of fermentation (the breather bubbling)? I think the first batch we made went about 5 days. Just curious if it can be done in say 3 to 4 days because if it stops before 5 days I'll be worried something is wrong.

There is no "normal" really. If it stopped completely in 2 days and the specific gravity was 1.030 or something then yes something is wrong. But you are fine. Since you got it pretty warm and the yeast were having a party it might finish pretty quick. Just use your hydrometer.

I measured the basement temp and if I remember right the floor is about 57 degrees. So it shouldn't go down there until down the road when we are trying to stabilize/clear it? When we rack into the carboy in say a week or when no signs of bubbles are present any more we should then keep the carboy upstairs until we do the stabilizing/clearing? Is 57 degrees a good temp for that, and it's off limits to put the carboy down there this week when we rack it, right?

You have it right. DO NOT let the wine get chilled at this point. The end of the fermentation is when the yeast need to be encouraged. They are struggling to keep going because the alcohol content is getting high, so you want to keep it nice and warm to insure they finish the job. The fermentation goes a lot slower at the end, just be patient. In addition when you de-gass the CO2 will come off a lot easier if the wine is warm. After you are done with that and added your stabilizers, then it would be fine to put it in a cooler area to clear. It's going to be there for a while.

 

[critterhunter]

Thanks for all the input. We racked yesterday to the carboy after the breather stopped showing signs of life. The day before it was bubbling about once every 30 seconds so a day later it was dead. Now I've got a whole slew of other questions which you can see in the other two threads.

 

[Tom]

Do you have a hydrometer? If so whats the gravity?