My false wine is stuck

[anyjuan]

As I mentioned in my other post I made pineapple wine last week and decided to try what my book calls "false wine" . After straining out the wine I put the remaining pineapple must into another fermenter and added water with a high sugar content well dissolved .( one kg to 2.5 liters of water ) .I waited overnight to let the it cool as I had heated the water to dissolve the sugar ,next morning it was just warm and I added two packets of wine yeast ,but now two days later it still isn't fermenting. No bubbles in the lock ,or foam when I removed the sealed lid to check, so I added two more packet of yeast. A day later still nothing is happening . I tested the sg and its 1.110 and indicates a potential of 15% alcohol.
Any ideas will be appreciated.

 

[NorCal]

What is the pH? Did you add nutrient?

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi anyjuan - and welcome - Is it possible that the wine yeast you added was poorly stored? Is there a sell-by date or date code on the package? What temperature is your fermenting room?

 

[anyjuan]

The yeast is fresh from the wine making store and not expired. My room is nice and warm ,the ph is 5.5 ,which is the same as my house hold water. I didn't add nutrient .
This is the same procedure I used last week ,the same pineapple must and yeast etc. I just added a package of fleichmans yeast to see if it will help

 

[cmason1957]

I doubt the yeast will do very well with a pH that high. Normal for wines is under 4.0. So you are about 10 times low in acid.

 

[NorCal]

My guess would be PH coupled with lack of nutrients. I would get a starter going strong and then add to the must after you adjusted the pH with some tartaric acid and nutrient.

 

[anyjuan]

If I add tartaric acid would that not increase the amount of acid ? I'm at 5.5 now which is acidic ,btw 7 is the neutral point above 7 is alkaline ,and below 7 is acidic. I've dumped about 5 packages of yeast in by now. I have had no trouble in the past but this is my first attempt at "false wine " .

 

[anyjuan]

I'm new to this forum, both of you say my acid level should be stronger .I know wine can turn to vinegar which is very acidic, so are you saying I should start with a very acidic water? I never did that before, but will give it a try if it may help. I'm going to ask the Lady at the wine art supply store , she has won awards for making wine..

 

[BernardSmith]

I'm new to this forum, both of you say my acid level should be stronger .I know wine can turn to vinegar which is very acidic, so are you saying I should start with a very acidic water? I never did that before, but will give it a try if it may help. I'm going to ask the Lady at the wine art supply store , she has won awards for making wine..

wine will turn to vinegar if there is enough oxygen in the wine and no sugar for the yeast to consume. As I understand it, the bacteria that make vinegar don't need an acidic base... they need a sugar free, oxygen rich environment and with that these bacteria will then act on the alcohol in the wine to transform it into acetic acid

 

[Turock]

Lack of nutrient--in a good feeding schedule--is the reason for 99% of stuck wine. The yeast needs food. You must use a good nutrient protocol.

 

[stickman]

Along with the lack of nutrients, and high PH, if you are dumping dry yeast into that sugar solution, that's another problem. Make sure you rehydrate the yeast and adjust to the temperature of the must before addition.

 

[anyjuan]

When I told the Lady at the wine artz store I dumped I kg of sugar for 2.5 liters of water she gasped and said the reason it's stuck is probably to much sugar . So I asked if I strained the pineapple pulp into another pail, and diluted the original container down to 1.080 ( like she said it should be ) then added water to the new pail I dumped the pinapple pulp into and added sugar to 1.080 should it be ok, she said yes, I have done that now,but to the original pail which has no longer any pulp in it I may add a bottle of concentrated fruit juice she recommended as the pineapple will be rather week otherwise ..
Anyway I'm not adding any yeast to the new pail till I see how it's doing tomorrow morning ,and the pail that had the stuck contents will have loads of yeast still on the bottom, so I'll wait till morning to see how it all goes .
Btw My original wine I made ( that I used the pulp for false wine ) is very tasty ,but to one bottle I added that concentrated flavor ( coconut ) that you add one drop to flavor a cake or something , I thought it may taste like pinacolda , but I added to many drops and it now tastes on the bitter side ,I still have 25 bottles I didn't add it to so all is well.
The Lady at the wine artz store said she recommends 4 pounds of fruit/2 pounds of sugar /1 gallon of water.for a reading of near 1.080 . I used twice that amount of sugar to water .

 

[anyjuan]

Thanks Stickman, I had not hydrated the yeast, just dumped it in.. The good news is that a few hours ago I posted that I had a possible cure for my stuck wine, and I have been checking to see if I have any bubbles in the air lock. I'm happy to see the container with the pulp mixture is bubbling,I didn't add yeast so there must have been lots absorbed into the pulp. The other container with the yeast all at the bottom ( I guess) has yet to produce any bubbles but it's still early. My only question now is what am I going to do with all this extra wine ,hah!