Noobie Question

[xune]

Hey guys, just started a batch of wine the other day, Cranberry wine. Started it from some Ocean Spray juice. Anyway, I started it on the 15th, sg at 1.100. Now, the airlock has been bubbling away for almost 3 days now, going strong, a bubble every second or half second. I figured it was going along quite nicely..

I figured today was a good day to check on the sg again, the 17th, and it's still 1.100...

Don't know what the deal is here... Did I mess something up, is it just starting slowly? What's going on? Never had it bubble and not have the gravity go down.. Don't know what I'm looking at..

 

[Tnuscan]

Your fine, it's just starting to take off good. It will start dropping in a day or two.

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi xune. Cannot imagine that the juice would have that much sugar in it so I am guessing that you may have added some sugar. Are you very convinced that all the sugar you added was completely dissolved? Might some of the sugar have been dissolved over time so when you took the gravity you were taking the gravity with some sugar undissolved? An alternative thought is that if the temperature when you took the reading on day 1 was warmer than the day you took the temperature on day 3 (or the temperature of the must was warmer on day 1) then the gravity would register lower (think the difference between water at 100 C (boiling) and water at 5 C (slurpy like) on day 1 than on day 3 despite the fact that the yeast will have consumed some of the sugars over the three days

 

[drainsurgeon]

What Tnuscan said. I've had a couple of wines in the last month that took 2-3 days before the SG started dropping. If your airlock is bubbling and you've got a little foaming action going on in there, you're OK. I don't airlock my primary anymore at the advice of most here. I cover my primary bucket with a towel and stir/record temp and SG twice daily. The extra oxygen the first few days benefits the yeast growth. I'm sure it's going to be fine.

 

[hounddawg]

same with me, no air lock till around .990 needs air at first during fermentation after fermentation then I air-lock
Dawg

What Tnuscan said. I've had a couple of wines in the last month that took 2-3 days before the SG started dropping. If your airlock is bubbling and you've got a little foaming action going on in there, you're OK. I don't airlock my primary anymore at the advice of most here. I cover my primary bucket with a towel and stir/record temp and SG twice daily. The extra oxygen the first few days benefits the yeast growth. I'm sure it's going to be fine.

 

[xune]

Hi xune. Cannot imagine that the juice would have that much sugar in it so I am guessing that you may have added some sugar. Are you very convinced that all the sugar you added was completely dissolved? An alternative thought is that if the temperature when you took the reading on day 1 was warmer than the day you took the temperature on day 3 (or the temperature of the must was warmer on day 1) then the gravity would register lower on day 1 than on day 3 despite the fact that the yeast will have consumed some of the sugars over the three days

Yes I added 2 cups of sugar to the bottle to raise the SG to 1.100, I'm pretty sure I had it all dissolved into the juice before reading. I stuck it all in a bottle and shook it for about 5 minutes 4 different times over the course of half an hour.

The temperature, however, could very well be part of the answer here.. I don't remember checking the temp before checking the SG, and I did heat it up a bit to dissolve the sugar, so it might have been a little warm checking it. The temperature in my house hasn't changed, staying at a constant 76 degrees F, but the wine was heated to roughly 90 before I added the sugar, although I imagine that 15 degrees difference wouldn't change the hydrometer that much..

In any case, I removed the airlock, and put a paper towel over it sealing it with a rubber band. Hopefully this helps a little bit, we'll see.

In kind of an experiment I took the gallon of juice, split it into two 2 quart bottles, and only removed the airlock from one of them. Just wanted to see what kind of difference it makes if any.

 

[Rodnboro]

I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, but are you sure your hydrometer is floating?

 

[Arne]

I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, but are you sure your hydrometer is floating?

LOL, I have been there. Looks like maybe I am not the only one. Arne.

 

[BernardSmith]

But the higher the gravity the higher the hydrometer sits in the liquid. At 1.100, the cylinder for housing the hydrometer would need to be quite small for the hydrometer to be touching the bottom, wouldn't it ? if the gravity was 1.000 then that might be more of an issue. No?

 

[xune]

Haha, no worries there Rod, no insult taken. It is definitely floating yes.

I do have a really narrow graduated cylinder, so I have to make sure it's floating every time I check it, it's a ritualistic thing at this point; if I don't, sometimes it will sit on the edge of the cylinder and get hung up there.

Also just as another note, more for myself than you guys, as of right now 6pm (almost 24 hours later) still no change in specific gravity.

 

[Rodnboro]

But the higher the gravity the higher the hydrometer sits in the liquid. At 1.100, the cylinder for housing the hydrometer would need to be quite small for the hydrometer to be touching the bottom, wouldn't it ? if the gravity was 1.000 then that might be more of an issue. No?

True. My mistake. I saw where it was only 1 gallon and assumed a bucket was being used. I see now where it's in the juice container.

 

[heatherd]

Haha, no worries there Rod, no insult taken. It is definitely floating yes.

I do have a really narrow graduated cylinder, so I have to make sure it's floating every time I check it, it's a ritualistic thing at this point; if I don't, sometimes it will sit on the edge of the cylinder and get hung up there.

Also just as another note, more for myself than you guys, as of right now 6pm (almost 24 hours later) still no change in specific gravity.

I would repitch the yeast. There are lots of things that may have happened, like the yeast being old, but that should get the SG moving in the right direction. I always sprinkle the yeast without rehydrating, and have no problems.

Good luck!

 

[Scooter68]

Before you re-pitch the yeast - Have you taken a pH or TA reading? Pure cranberries are very acidic. On the other hand don't forget that Ocean Spray 100% juice cranberry juice contains several other juices(Grape, Apple and Pear) as well as "Natural Flavors" and pectin (Could cause a haze later on).

I would first get a pH / TA reading as well as be sure of the contents of that juice you started with. (At least you'll know what other flavors may jump out after fermentation.)

Wine Yeast is pretty cheap but why waste it if you have a easily cureable issue that you can fix first. THEN pitch the new yeast.