Gravity 1.100 -> 1.090 in three weeks, help!

[Discon]

Greetings, folks! Three weeks ago we tipped the yeast into our blueberry wine. Since then it's only fermented a small bit (1.100->1.090, 1.095-1.090 during the last week). There's no visible bubbling through the air lock, but I can see the liquid bubbling, although that may just be CO2 escaping. We put the air lock on straight after tipping the yeast, which I heard can make the wine ferment slower, but surely it should not be this slow? We used a white wine yeast, and the temperature is probably 18-19 degrees centrigrade.

My question is: What did we do wrong? Should we add another packet of yeast?

Thank you so much

Edit: The recipe calls for 4-5 months before bottling, so if the wine keeps fermenting at 0.005 gravity/week, I guess that will be fine, but surely primary fermentation should be quicker?

 

[TonyR]

I don't understand why most people want to make there fermentation air tight. When i am fermenting wine and it is in a bucket i have the lid just resting on top, and that is to keep things from falling in or getting into the must. I stir the must at least on time a day to release built-up co2 and to introduce oxygen, oxygen is your friend during fermentation. If your temp is 18c. 64f that is on the cold side, I would be looking more like 22c 72f. I would transfer it to a carboy when the Sg drops down to 0.994 and then put on an air lock till most of the sediment falls out of your wine then rack it and put in you so2 and then start to age your wine.

 

[Discon]

Thanks for your reply! We made it air tight because the recipe we used said to do so. Do you think letting the lid simply rest on top for a while will increase the activity?

Will check the temperature tomorrow, but it's definitely below 20 C.

 

[sampvt]

Put it in a bucket of warm water and keep topping it up with hot to get the temp up to 23c. Stir it as much as twice a day till it starts to show activity and then let her go. You might want to also consider dropping another yeast packet into it as the other might be weak after 3 weeks. If mine get stuck, I drop in some champagne yeast, that puppy certainly knows how to goggle up sugar, lol. Most importantly don't worry, your not in the sh one t yet.

 

[jumby]

Throw an aquarium heater in the must to warm it up. That's what I use in my fermenter during the winter months to keep the temp up.

 

[WI_Wino]

How are you measuring gravity? With a hydrometer or refractometer?

 

[wineforfun]

To add to the above, you should also be stirring it twice a day while fermenting.

 

[Discon]

Wow, thanks for all your replies

I'll start stirring twice a day, and if it's too cold, I can put a space heater in the room. I am measuring the gravity by hydrometer. Our previous brew was a mead using champagne yeast, and we didn't stir at all while keeping the airlock on the whole time.

 

[Boatboy24]

Blueberry can be challenging. You are definitely a little on the cool side, though I'm not sure of the temp tolerances of your yeast.

I would get a starter going with a new pack of yeast and add that to your must.

 

[Rmarsh]

I've only made 6 batches of wine thus far so I'm still quite a novice, but after making a kit (which has you seal your fermenter and put an airlock on it), I was a little apprehensive to use the 'loose-lid-covered-with-sheet-or-a-towel method'. That said, most of the fruit wines or country wines recipes call for this method and the times I've done it this way, including stirring the must daily, I've had good results. Just my 2 cents, good luck with your batch!

 

[Turock]

Did you use any nutrient? Lack of nutrient is always the reason for sluggish ferments.

 

[Discon]

Did you use any nutrient? Lack of nutrient is always the reason for sluggish ferments.

We did. I believe we added 3 teaspoons to our 20 L batch.

 

[Turock]

Did you add it all at once upfront? The best way to add nutrient is in split doses so that the yeast gets the nutrient it needs thruout the ferment. Of course, be careful about adding it late in the ferment when the yeast can't utilize the nitrogen anymore. There's lots written about nutrient use--it would be good for you to read on it--if you haven't already--because it will make a big difference in your ferments. And then you also won't have to worry about ferments with H2S on them from stressed yeast due to lack of nutrient. It's not all about JUST the proper amount of nutrient, but also the timing of WHEN you add it so the yeast gets it when it needs it the most.

 

[Discon]

Did you add it all at once upfront? The best way to add nutrient is in split doses so that the yeast gets the nutrient it needs thruout the ferment. Of course, be careful about adding it late in the ferment when the yeast can't utilize the nitrogen anymore. There's lots written about nutrient use--it would be good for you to read on it--if you haven't already--because it will make a big difference in your ferments. And then you also won't have to worry about ferments with H2S on them from stressed yeast due to lack of nutrient. It's not all about JUST the proper amount of nutrient, but also the timing of WHEN you add it so the yeast gets it when it needs it the most.

Yup, we added it all up front. Thanks, I'll read some about it

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

How about a few details. What exact yeast are you using? What is the source of your blueberries, from berries or a wine kit or some bottles from a store? Yeast in the beginning need oxygen, dont be nervous about covering your primary with a towel held in place by a bungee cord. Are you sure you are reading your hydrometer correctly (dont be offended), what is the potential reading from your hydrometer that corresponds to the SG reading? How about posting that recipie and the steps you have made so far as really the only thing we know is what temp its at and that you added some kind of nutrient up front and kept it under airlock the whole time.

Also, a little bit of oak goes well with blueberry

WVMJ

 

[Discon]

How about a few details. What exact yeast are you using? What is the source of your blueberries, from berries or a wine kit or some bottles from a store? Yeast in the beginning need oxygen, dont be nervous about covering your primary with a towel held in place by a bungee cord. Are you sure you are reading your hydrometer correctly (dont be offended), what is the potential reading from your hydrometer that corresponds to the SG reading? How about posting that recipie and the steps you have made so far as really the only thing we know is what temp its at and that you added some kind of nutrient up front and kept it under airlock the whole time.

Also, a little bit of oak goes well with blueberry

WVMJ

Right, so here's the ingredients we used:

9.2 kg frozen blueberries (thawed before use)
5.4 kg sugar
3 teaspoons ascorbic acid
3 teaspoons pectolase
3 teaspoons yeast nutrient
3/2 teaspoon tannins
Vintner's Harvest Wine Yeast AW4 - Saccharomyces Cervisiae


Method:


1: Lightly mush the blueberries, add 1/3 of total to pot
2: Add 1/3 of total sugar to pot
3: Add some water
4: Add 1/3 of the ascorbic acid, pectolase, nutrient and tannins
5: Simmer for 30 minutes, then transfer to carboy, and repeat process two more times. Fill with boiled water to 23 L mark.
6: Wait about 24 hours
7: Tip the yeast, close the lid with an airlock
8: About 14 days later, the blueberries were removed. A very fine net was used to contain the blueberries inside the carboy.

I did some googling, and I haven't been giving the hydrometer a spin before reading off the gravity. I tried this, and got a reading of 1.086. The room was 25 degrees the morning after I turned on the space heater, so I turned it down, and it was 21 degrees this morning.

At this point I'm very tempted to tip in some champagne yeast, as suggested earlier. I'm part of a social society at my uni, and we are brewing using the society's funds, so I'd rather not end up wasting 50 $ of their money.


p.s.: I never expected to get this many replies. Thanks so much, guys!)

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

4: Add 1/3 of the ascorbic acid, pectolase, nutrient and tannins
5: Simmer for 30 minutes, then transfer to carboy, and repeat process two more times. Fill with boiled water to 23 L mark.
6: Wait about 24 hours

You might want to find a better recipe and techinique. You boiled the pectolase, its a protein, you killed it, you can add some more now. No telling what the boiling did to your nutrients depending on what kind it was, if it had vitamins and protiens in it also they could be gone. And after you boiled everything waiting for 24 hours was for what purpose, maybe just to let it cool?

A better next time way would be to thaw your berries, crush them good and proper, add everything together without the yeast and NO boiling, this is not beer its wine, let the pectolase work and then add your yeast. Blueberries have a natural sorbate in them that inhibits yeast but I would guess the boiling should have destroyed most of it. You might want to add a champagne yeast but give this one a couple of days to wake up once its been warmed a bit, to hot though is even worse than a little chilly.
WVMJ

 

[Discon]

4: Add 1/3 of the ascorbic acid, pectolase, nutrient and tannins
5: Simmer for 30 minutes, then transfer to carboy, and repeat process two more times. Fill with boiled water to 23 L mark.
6: Wait about 24 hours

You might want to find a better recipe and techinique. You boiled the pectolase, its a protein, you killed it, you can add some more now. No telling what the boiling did to your nutrients depending on what kind it was, if it had vitamins and protiens in it also they could be gone. And after you boiled everything waiting for 24 hours was for what purpose, maybe just to let it cool?

A better next time way would be to thaw your berries, crush them good and proper, add everything together without the yeast and NO boiling, this is not beer its wine, let the pectolase work and then add your yeast. Blueberries have a natural sorbate in them that inhibits yeast but I would guess the boiling should have destroyed most of it. You might want to add a champagne yeast but give this one a couple of days to wake up once its been warmed a bit, to hot though is even worse than a little chilly.
WVMJ

The recipe actually calls for adding the nutrients and pectolase directly after boiling, but we screwed up and put them in before boiling. We figured that since the liquid would be hot for several hours afterwards, that would have mostly the same effect anyway, so we figured it was fine and didn't add any more. We left it for 24 hours to cool off, as I don't think the yeast would survive the temperature of the liquid after boiling.

Thank you for all your advice! We've looked into oak chips for other wines, and we'll definitely make another batch of blueberry wine some other time.

edit: How much nutrient would you add at this point? Adding too much might be detrimental, right?

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

I forgot to add a comment on the ascorbic acid. Do you have any idea why you added it? This stuff is an oxygen scavenger, good to protect your wine when its done, though not as effective as sulfites. When used in the must at the beginning it is probably sucking up a lot of the oxygen that your yeast need, get in there and stir the snot out of the a couple of times a day to get things going. WVMJ

 

[WineBaker]

Hello ,I`m new too, it took me a while to realize 1st fermentation is IN THE BUCKET lol with a loose lid and towel over top(YEAST AIR IS GOOD) .I stir 2 x a day .When your wine reachs 1.000 Put it in the CARBOY with airlock(WINE AIR IS BAD) If you put it in the Carboy too early it will flow out of your airlock and make a mess (Been there Done that)