Making Mulberry Wine, but not sure about primary ferment

[ericonthehill]

I'm making my first batch of wine, and using Mulberries from the tree in our backyard. I got everything going friday, and saturday added the yeast. My SG reading was at 1.100 which is what I wanted. But It's now Almost 36 hours into fermentation and my SG is at 1.095. Like I said I'm new at this and am not sure how quick my SG readings should fall. The recipe I'm following says it will hit 1.020 in 5 to 7 days. Is this normal for the SG to fall so slowly??

 

[Deezil]

Moved the thread for ya, so more people see it.

Can i get more info from ya?

How many lbs of mulberries?
Any water? How big is the batch?
Other additions?
What yeast strain?
Any chance you stirred it up good to get some oxygen in there?
Is the fruit bagged or floating freely?

The more you can share about what you did, the easier and more definitive we can be in helping you out

 

[ericonthehill]

30 lbs. of Mulberries 3 gallons of water, and the yeast is Lalvin K1-V1116. I'm making approx. 5 gallons of sweet wine. It's divided between 3 buckets and the berries are bagged, but loosely in the bag. Started day one with Berries, water sugar, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme, acid, and campden tablets. I stir it morning, afternoon and night, and followed directions to get the yeast started before I added it. One bucket puts off bubbles when I stir it, the other two don't, but the SG reads the same in all three, 1.095. Again I started at 1.100. I just put them on chairs thinking the concrete was too cool for the yeast. ANd the temp of the must is at about 74 degrees and room temp is 73.

 

[ericonthehill]

When I started, I divided all ingredients evenly. So nothing would be different in either bucket.

 

[ericonthehill]

I may be jumping the gun, and worried about nothing, as it's only been about 36 hours of fermenting. I just don't want to spoil my batch. All buckets have a yeasty, spoiled like smell to them which makes me think it's working but slowly. Yet again I'm new to this.

 

[Deezil]

Provided you dosed out your nutrient - do you have energizer? - appropriately, and your acid levels are in check.... You should be good, with some patience.

Leave it for the night, check it in the morning - willing to bet there's more action.
Good call taking it off the cold concrete.

If the must is warmer than the room, all by itself, thats a good sign.

 

[Deezil]

Should smell vaguely of beer or bread.. Along with the fruit you're using.. But somewhere in the back of your mind it should tickle that "bread/beer"-smell connection..

Sounds like alls well though

Patience

 

[ericonthehill]

Awesome. Thanks. I may pick up some energizer tomorrow just in case.

 

[ericonthehill]

Smells like a bakery starting up in there.

 

[Arne]

Smells like a bakery starting up in there.

Sounds like you are in good shape. Now all you have to do is remember the 3 P's. Patience, patience, patience. Arne.

 

[ericonthehill]

It looks like the colder concrete floor was the culprit. Just 8 hrs ago I put my must on chairs and this morning all are very bubbly, and have a stronger smell then before. So it seems all is well. Thanks for the advice to those who gave it.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

I'm making my first batch of wine, and using Mulberries from the tree in our backyard. I got everything going friday, and saturday added the yeast. My SG reading was at 1.100 which is what I wanted. But It's now Almost 36 hours into fermentation and my SG is at 1.095. Like I said I'm new at this and am not sure how quick my SG readings should fall. The recipe I'm following says it will hit 1.020 in 5 to 7 days. Is this normal for the SG to fall so slowly??

This sounds quite familar or a great coincidence. Was that you in the store on Saturday??

 

[ericonthehill]

Day 3 of primary fermentation and 1st full day of having the must elevated instead of on the concrete floor. In the last 24 hrs. the SG is at 1.070. It was at 1.100 and going no where. It's bubbling like there is no tomorrow and smells like a bakery and has a rich Mulberry smell now. I combined the 3 buckets into 2 and neither bucket has missed a step. I'm planing on transfering to the carboy at 1.040. So far I'm pleasantly surprised by the rich mulberry aroma, hopefully that is a good sign of a tasty wine!

 

[ericonthehill]

Yep. And friday too. lol Just making sure I got everything straight. So far it seems to be going great! Does it sound right that I'm siphoning at 1.040? It's what the recipe calls for. I want a sweet wine but also want the final product to be 12% or more so it lasts a while. My recipe does not say when a final stabilizing SG reading should be. I mean the SG reading when to stabilize before sweetening. Any ideas?

 

[ericonthehill]

I'm trying to go by SG readings as much as possible, as I'm keeping a log on this, my first batch of wine, and I want it to turn out well. I'm following 2 recipes because both do not include the proper sg at the different stages, both are very similar but together they are lacking the stabilization sg reading. I figured I'd clarify to avoid any confusion.

 

[Deezil]

Let the yeast go to where ever it is they're gonna go, dont try to stop them. There's different schools of thought as to when to rack to secondary.

1.040 works for some people.

Some, like myself, it doesnt - they always get stuck when i rack to secondary that early. Some people ferment all the way down to 1.000-1.010 before racking to secondary, they just dont stir it as vigorously after about 1.020 because you dont want to introduce oxygen at that point.

It comes down to whatever you're comfortable with, at first.. And as you do more batches, you'll find you alter things to fit what works best for you & provides the best results in your situation

 

[ericonthehill]

Thanks Deezil.

 

[ericonthehill]

It's just the 2nd morning after the yeast got going when I elevated my primary instead of sitting on the cold concrete. I'm already at an SG of 1.050. It's still bubbling like crazy and the smell is getting very strong. If it keeps up at this rate I'll be siphoning to the secondary sooner then I expected. I'm going to stray from the recipe I think and let the SG hit 1.010. My only current concern is the bag of mulberries is floating on the top and won't stay down at all. The CO2 is kicking so hard it is pushing it to the top. The room temp is at 73 degrees consistently and the must is at 100 degrees!!! I have not added anything that the one recipe did not call for, no energizer. It's doing it all on it's own. All I've done is stir, and do SG readings, and then put the lid back on.

 

[seth8530]

Well, youve got to remember that most fruit is buoyant, Also, how much sugar did you add to get the sg that high? What was the sugar contribution from the mullberry, and btw what is a mullberry?

 

[ericonthehill]

3lbs. of sugar to a gallon of Mulberries and a gallon of water. The recipe was spot on, as the SG was 1.100 to start for mulberry desert wine. I'm not sure about the sugar contribution from the mulberries but apparently it's in the same ballpark as blackberries. The recipe I'm using primarily, is for both, and other research I've done shows substitutions and mixing of mulberries and blackberries. A mulberry is a tree born berry. It's a Blackish purple when ripened, but also a mixture of deep redish purple berries. The redish purple ones have a very sweet taste with a little zing at the end that is just a little tart. I'm not a big wine drinker as most wines that I've tasted seem a little boring to me. But I love the range of flavor and sweet and tart that mulberries have. So with so many berries from my tree I decided to see what wine would taste like. The jelly is good and so is mulberry cobbler. I believe mulberries is an acquired taste. Half my kids compare them to candy the other 2 don't think much about them. It's definently worth trying sometime, and they grow in most parts of the country and in the wild.