critterhunter
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Being newbies (only our second batch of wine being made) we REALLY need your help here! Using a 7 gallon primary, our first batch of wine was 30 pounds of pears and 6 pounds of white rasins. We had put in about 5 to 7 pounds of sugar water and couldn’t fit in the rest, so about a week later when fermentation slowed down we removed a bit of fruit and poured in the rest of the sugar water to equal 10 pounds of sugar, which made the fermentation start back up again. All was well with that batch.
Now, Saturday we started another batch of pear wine using pears from the same tree but this time they were frozen when we put them in. Also, instead of white rasins this time we put in one and a half gallons of Juicy Juice Raspberry/Apple juice. This stuff says no preservatives on it like sorbate or sulfites. Also, this time we put in the entire 10 pounds of sugar at one time.
The other ingredients are as follows and were the same for the first batch:
2 & ½ teaspoons of acid blend
2 & ½ teaspoons of pectic enzyme
7 crushed campden tablets (1 per gallon, but we only used 3 total with the first batch)
After about 15 hours we put in 7 teaspoons of yeast nutrient (1 per gal, but in the first batch we only used 3 teaspoons total). We then at the same time put in 2 packs of champaign yeast.
The time we put in the yeast nutrient and yeast was about 10AM yesterday morning. Had we waited 24hrs to put those in it should have been done at about 5PM yesterday, so we were a little early on that if that matters.
The bucket sat in the basement until last night at around 6PM and we saw no signs of fermentation from the breather, so we moved it upstairs. The house is at 66 degrees upstairs so it was probably 55 to 58 in the basement. Our first batch of wine had been made in the summer so we thought it was too cold in the basement this time for the yeast to get going.
Well, this morning it still shows no signs of fermentation, and yes we have been stirring it twice a day like our first batch. There is a lid on the bucket with breather like the first batch, but even still since we are stirring it twice a day I don’t see where oxygen would be a problem.
So with the yeast and nutrient put in yesterday morning, us stirring it that night again, and stirring it this morning (for our twice a day routine) the breather still shows no signs of life.
The fruit this time (unlike the first) was frozen and we had put warm to hot water along with the juice in it, so I’m sure it was off to a cold start. Even sitting upstairs all night the bucket feels much cooler than the 66 degrees temperature.
We figure three possible things might be wrong and REALLY need your HELP and advice on this. We just taped a heating pad to the side of the bucket thinking it’s just too cold to start about an hour ago. If it does start up, once it’s going well for say a day do you think we can remove the heating pad?
The second possibility is that the wine is too sweet having put in all ten pounds of sugar this time instead of roughly half of that with the first batch, then the other half on that first batch was about 5 days later when fermentation had slowed way down, at which time fermentation started back up on that wine. Perhaps putting all ten pounds in along with a gallon and a half of Juicy Juice Raspberry/apple juice made the must too rich? We had put in 30 pounds of pears like before so we were only able to put about a gallon to maybe two of water into it. Do you think it’s too rich? If so, how much must juice do you think we should remove and add plain water to it to make things less rich?
The third possibility we can think of would be the champaign yeast. We put in two packs and the expiration date is good on them, and like I said 1 teaspoon of nutrient per gallon instead of a total of 3 we used in the first batch.
Also, and this is very important, just like the first batch we just put the yeast right in and stirred it up. We didn’t start the yeast in warm water or anything. Should we get a couple more packets of yeast, warm that up in a ½ cup of water or something, and put that in?
Another possibility is that we over sulphited it with 7 campden tablets (1 per gallon), where as the first batch we only put a total of 3 in there.
Also, the frozen pears we used this time (they weren’t frozen with the first batch) were a bit more ripe, so I’m sure there was more sugar from them this time combined with the all 10 pounds of sugar and 1 & ½ gallons of the juicy juice which is pretty sweet. And like I said we only were able to put in about a gallon & a half or so of plain water with all that.
One more question: If we do remove some must and replace with water can we pour in say another half gallon of juice in say 4 or 5 days to replace the lost raspberry/apple juice?
We NEED advice here? What should we do? See if the heating pad gets it going? If it does how long should we leave in on there since the house is 66 degrees? Won’t we be able to take it off once it gets going well for say a day? If you think the must is too sweet how much should we replace with plain water? Or, since we didn’t warm up the yeast in water should we buy two more packets and warm that up? Do you think we over sulphited the wine, and if so how much must should we remove and replace with say water?
PLEASE help us save our wine! I figure we got a day or two to figure this out before the fruit starts going bad maybe?
Now, Saturday we started another batch of pear wine using pears from the same tree but this time they were frozen when we put them in. Also, instead of white rasins this time we put in one and a half gallons of Juicy Juice Raspberry/Apple juice. This stuff says no preservatives on it like sorbate or sulfites. Also, this time we put in the entire 10 pounds of sugar at one time.
The other ingredients are as follows and were the same for the first batch:
2 & ½ teaspoons of acid blend
2 & ½ teaspoons of pectic enzyme
7 crushed campden tablets (1 per gallon, but we only used 3 total with the first batch)
After about 15 hours we put in 7 teaspoons of yeast nutrient (1 per gal, but in the first batch we only used 3 teaspoons total). We then at the same time put in 2 packs of champaign yeast.
The time we put in the yeast nutrient and yeast was about 10AM yesterday morning. Had we waited 24hrs to put those in it should have been done at about 5PM yesterday, so we were a little early on that if that matters.
The bucket sat in the basement until last night at around 6PM and we saw no signs of fermentation from the breather, so we moved it upstairs. The house is at 66 degrees upstairs so it was probably 55 to 58 in the basement. Our first batch of wine had been made in the summer so we thought it was too cold in the basement this time for the yeast to get going.
Well, this morning it still shows no signs of fermentation, and yes we have been stirring it twice a day like our first batch. There is a lid on the bucket with breather like the first batch, but even still since we are stirring it twice a day I don’t see where oxygen would be a problem.
So with the yeast and nutrient put in yesterday morning, us stirring it that night again, and stirring it this morning (for our twice a day routine) the breather still shows no signs of life.
The fruit this time (unlike the first) was frozen and we had put warm to hot water along with the juice in it, so I’m sure it was off to a cold start. Even sitting upstairs all night the bucket feels much cooler than the 66 degrees temperature.
We figure three possible things might be wrong and REALLY need your HELP and advice on this. We just taped a heating pad to the side of the bucket thinking it’s just too cold to start about an hour ago. If it does start up, once it’s going well for say a day do you think we can remove the heating pad?
The second possibility is that the wine is too sweet having put in all ten pounds of sugar this time instead of roughly half of that with the first batch, then the other half on that first batch was about 5 days later when fermentation had slowed way down, at which time fermentation started back up on that wine. Perhaps putting all ten pounds in along with a gallon and a half of Juicy Juice Raspberry/apple juice made the must too rich? We had put in 30 pounds of pears like before so we were only able to put about a gallon to maybe two of water into it. Do you think it’s too rich? If so, how much must juice do you think we should remove and add plain water to it to make things less rich?
The third possibility we can think of would be the champaign yeast. We put in two packs and the expiration date is good on them, and like I said 1 teaspoon of nutrient per gallon instead of a total of 3 we used in the first batch.
Also, and this is very important, just like the first batch we just put the yeast right in and stirred it up. We didn’t start the yeast in warm water or anything. Should we get a couple more packets of yeast, warm that up in a ½ cup of water or something, and put that in?
Another possibility is that we over sulphited it with 7 campden tablets (1 per gallon), where as the first batch we only put a total of 3 in there.
Also, the frozen pears we used this time (they weren’t frozen with the first batch) were a bit more ripe, so I’m sure there was more sugar from them this time combined with the all 10 pounds of sugar and 1 & ½ gallons of the juicy juice which is pretty sweet. And like I said we only were able to put in about a gallon & a half or so of plain water with all that.
One more question: If we do remove some must and replace with water can we pour in say another half gallon of juice in say 4 or 5 days to replace the lost raspberry/apple juice?
We NEED advice here? What should we do? See if the heating pad gets it going? If it does how long should we leave in on there since the house is 66 degrees? Won’t we be able to take it off once it gets going well for say a day? If you think the must is too sweet how much should we replace with plain water? Or, since we didn’t warm up the yeast in water should we buy two more packets and warm that up? Do you think we over sulphited the wine, and if so how much must should we remove and replace with say water?
PLEASE help us save our wine! I figure we got a day or two to figure this out before the fruit starts going bad maybe?
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