Has fermentation restarted?

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TemperanceOwl

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My fresh strawberry wine doesn't seem to want to stop being fizzy. Below are all the details of this strawberry journey…it's kind of long, but I wanted to provide all the clues I could up front, to see if you all have some ideas of what's going on. I'm afraid the sorbate didn't do its job and my wine has restarted fermentation after back-sweetening. What do you all think?

I started a fresh strawberry wine in early May, racked off gross lees in late May, left it alone, and racked again on September 5. At this step I combined a 6 gallon and a 1 gallon into a single 6 gallon, transferring by gravity.

On September 14 I added ascorbic acid and 750 ml of a sweetened F-pack, and the next day, Sept 15, I back sweetened with simple syrup, and added potassium sorbate (1/4 tsp/gal) and k-meta - on this step I added the chemicals to a fresh carboy and vacuum racked into it.

I planned to bottle last weekend, October 3, but when I tasted it, it was too tart, and was fizzy. I had assumed that the 4 months in the carboy would have naturally degassed it. The SG measured 1.024. I degassed then until my drill battery died, and it foamed and foamed. Afterwards, the SG measured 1.028 - I wondered if my simple syrup had not mixed in well, and I was stirring up sugar into the wine during degassing. I went ahead and added another 1.5 cups of simple syrup then, and mixed it in (but did not check the SG afterwards - duh).

Yesterday, October 10, I started to bottle, and the first bottle filled up with foam before it was 2/3 full of wine. I vacuum racked to a clean carboy and back twice (4 transfers). It was better, but still not completely still. This morning the SG measured 1.034. When I dumped the test sample back into the carboy it fizzed.

Does it sound like the fermentation has restarted, slowly, and I will just have to wait it out? Or is this normal for a fruit wine, somehow? I will check the SG again in 48 hours and see if it has dropped from today. I'm kind of bummed…I got all my bottles cleaned and sanitized yesterday, ready to go, but I sure don't want any strawberry bottle bombs!

Thanks for any guidance you can provide!
 
what were you hydrometer readings?

Hi, Julie. At the end of active fermentation on May 26 the SG was 0.994.
On 9/5/15 when I racked it was still 0.994.
On 9/14/15 after adding the f-pack and ascorbic acid the SG was 1.008,
On 9/15 after adding 5 1/3 cups simple syrup, potassium sorbate and K-meta, I think the SG was 1.030 (notes aren't clear).
On 10/3 the SG was initially 1.024, and after I stirred and degassed (stirred up the sugar from the bottom maybe) the SG was 1.028.
It was still too tart then (10/3), so I added more simple syrup (approx. 1/2 tsp/5oz, or 1.5 cups+1.5 tablespoons). Unfortunately did not write down the SG after adding syrup.
On 10/10 I racked several times trying to degas. This morning, 10/11, the SG was 1.034.
I just saw a bubble pass through my airlock, although it could also be from temperature and barometric pressure changing.
I'm afraid it has restarted. Should I add more sorbate now, to try to keep the yeasts from reproducing? Or just let it go on about its business? Do you know how long it takes to finish re-fermenting in this situation?

Thank you!!!
 
Hi Temperance

you wrote "On September 14 I added ascorbic acid and 750 ml of a sweetened F-pack, and the next day, Sept 15, I back sweetened with simple syrup, and added potassium sorbate (1/4 tsp/gal) and k-meta - on this step I added the chemicals to a fresh carboy and vacuum racked into it."

I read that you added 1/4 tsp per gallon of sorbate plus kmeta. If I got that right, then I think you did not add the correct amount of sorbate as mine reads to add 1/2 tsp per gallon, plus of course the correct amount of kmeta (1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons) at the same time. Also I tend to wait post those chems to give them time to actually work before I add any backsweetening. In any case if you got fizz something isn't working for you.

Since I read that sorbate has about 1 year shelf life I've started storing it in the fridge with my yeast. Besides too small a dose maybe your sorbate is old and losing it's ability to knock back the yeast?

Pam in cinti
 
I agree with cintipam, I do not believe you added enough sorbate and there us a chance that it has started fermenting again. You cannot add sorbate at this time, you will need to ensure it has stopped. Keep checking the sg to see if it is going down and it it has not changed within a cop,e of weeks then you don't have a fermentation going, at this point, sorbste and k-meta.
 
I read that you added 1/4 tsp per gallon of sorbate plus kmeta. If I got that right, then I think you did not add the correct amount of sorbate as mine reads to add 1/2 tsp per gallon, plus of course the correct amount of kmeta (1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons) at the same time.

Pam in cinti

Hi, Pam and Julie. I think you're right. I got that 1/4 tsp/gallon from an article on back-sweetening online, and I'm pretty sure that's what I did. But I just checked my package and sure enough, it says 1/2 tsp per gallon. Rats. Thank you for pointing that out! I'm afraid that's what has happened.

Will it ferment all the way to dry again? Is it going to end up terribly unbalanced and too high in alcohol, or since I at least sterilized some of the yeast will it just ferment a little bit more? It tastes really good right now, when I can catch a sample that's not fizzy.

Thanks, y'all!
Nell
 
It will keep fermenting till there is no more sugar left or the yeast dies because of the alcohol %.
Just let it go and hopefully you can always back sweeten if not dilute it a bit to make up the difference.

Good Luck !!

keep us informed -
 
Just out of curiosity, did your wine ever clear? Strawberry can look like it is pretty clear, then when you bottle and let it sit, it can throw quite a bit of sediment. Arne.
 
Hi, Arne. It looks beautifully clear. I think it cleared, but then it may throw sediment later and I'll find out differently.

Another piece of data… I checked the SG Sunday morning and it was 1.034, and again 36 hours later and it was exactly the same. If it is fermenting again it is going really slowly. Maybe it's approaching the 15%-18% when EC-1118 dies off.

I went ahead and added the rest of the sorbate and another 1/4 tsp of kmeta, and will leave it alone for 10 days. I'm not going to be surprised if it does throw sediment again after this. I hope it turns out ok. A lot of work (and beautiful strawberries) went into it.

Nell
 

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