leaving wine alone or not

[mattlait]

Im in the middle of fermenting 5 liters of peach and 5 liters of ginger wine along with 10 liters each of bananna, apple and mint (herb) wine.... and have hit a snag......

All the airlocks seem to have stopped bubbling (almost.... four bubbles a minute only) and i guessing i could add crushed Campden tablets to stop the process all together......

But do i need to?

Can i leave the wine in demijohns untill everything stops and clears?

My apple wine smells like eggs (gulp) but tastes ok..... should i leave it?

( im asking as my significant other decided to 'rescue' 2 two day old pups who were not feeding and therefore yours truely is up every 3 hrs feeding and doing the necessary!!!)

 

[cpfan]

I hate to rely on visual signs of fermentation.

How long ago were they started, and do yu have a current specific gravity reading?

Steve

 

[mattlait]

the mint wine was started back in early may! and the rest except the ginger wine were started begining of june......... before i had a hydrometer...... the sg of the ginger wine was 1.078 (ish)... ive not got any current readings

 

[JohnT]

The only thing I would advise is this... If you get that rotten egg smell, rack the wine of off the lees (sediment). There is no law that is carved in stone that you must add campden tablets, but it would be preferred (if your fermentation is truely complete.

The compden tablets help protect the wine against unwanted nasties. It will also stop any fermentation that is currently going on.

For wine begun in May, I would have to say that fermentation is comlete by now. Rack this wine and add campden.

For wine only 3 or 4 weeks old and still cloudy, I would wait another week before adding campden, but might want to rack it now.

 

[mattlait]

cheers JohnT. I'll try to get that done inbetween feeding and sleeping!!!

 

[Julie]

You need to get current readings, never depend on the bubbles in an airlock, that really isn't telling you much. I would get some readings before proceeding any farther.

 

[ohbeary]

Matt, as Julie said take some readings, anywhere near .990 and its pretty much done, the 1.078 for the ginger is a bit low and I would add a can (200ml) of white grape concentrate to bring it up a bit.

 

[mattlait]

cheers obeary... i got some of those on order today!!

 

[mattlait]

oops a massive typo there folks ...................ginger wine starting sg was 1.780!!!!!!!!!

 

[Julie]

Are you sure on that sg for the ginger, I would more believe it was 1.078. 1.780 is extremely high, what yeast did you use with that?

 

[mattlait]

youngs dried yeast with 250 gm Ginger (blended) ,1 Lemon.200 gm Raisins.1 fresh red chillies .2.5 litres of Water .1 teaspoon of yeast .1 teaspoon of Pectic enzyme .1 kg of White Sugar..................... i think i must start writing everything donw on the puter not on scraps of paper which the kids get!

 

[JohnT]

cheers JohnT. I'll try to get that done inbetween feeding and sleeping!!!

What???? so let the kid go hungry for a while. It will toughen the kid up! You could also simply leave the kid in the car. Just crack the window for some air!

(Now before everybody gathers pitchforks and tourches, I was only kidding)

 

[Stressbaby]

5liters wine with 1kg sugar is a lot closer to 1.078.

 

[mattlait]

Lol JohnT they are 2 day old pups as in the k9 variety!
Yep I looked again and it was 1.078....... gotta look for my glasses too now

 

[JohnT]

Lol JohnT they are 2 day old pups as in the k9 variety!
Yep I looked again and it was 1.078....... gotta look for my glasses too now

(helps if I read the ENTIRE thread)

OK... adjusting... Can't you just velcro them to the wall?

 

[jswordy]

If your apple smells funny but tastes fine, in my experience you can age that out of it over time.

 

[mattlait]

cheers jswordy ... ill hope and pray as it doesnt taste like it smells!
ok here goes ( and i had my glasses on)
mint 5ltr sg 1.020
mint 2.5 ltr sg 0.990 (this one is cloudy)
apple 10 ltr sg 1.030 (smells of eggs)
ginger/chilli 5ltr sg 1.032 (starting sg was 1.075)
peach 5ltr sg 0.996
banana 5ltr sg 0.994
banana 5ltr sg 0.992 (diluted with 1 ltr extra water to make up to 5ltr)

any ideas for what i should/could be doing now.......?
could i add pectolase to clear the cloudy wines or should i rack them off and top up with ???????(suggestions please)
any ideas will keep the mrs on side!