not fermenting

[Debbie Swain]

I have one gal strawberry wine and I have not seen any air bubbles in air lock,,when i start the berries i had to wait about 5 days before i added the yeast but havent seen any sign of fermentation. The sg reading started at1.40 when i put in carboy but now it is arouond.99 to 1.00,,what have I done and when can i sweeten some more?

 

[meadmaker1]

If you started at 1.040 and dropped to 1.000 the bubbles went somewhere. How did you store the berries for the five days
Did you treat with campden tablets or k meta.
What does it taste like.
You'll need to treat with a campdon tablet and potassium sorbet per instructions before sweetening
Basicly any time. Maybe wait till the weekend to be sure fermentation is done

 

[Debbie Swain]

If you started at 1.040 and dropped to 1.000 the bubbles went somewhere. How did you store the berries for the five days
Did you treat with campden tablets or k meta.
What does it taste like.
You'll need to treat with a campdon tablet and potassium sorbet per instructions before sweetening
Basicly any time. Maybe wait till the weekend to be sure fermentation is done

the berries were in a nylon mesh bag in a fermerter buckedt an i put ampdon tablets in but i didnt see any bubbles,,an it doesent taste like straweberry it taste like alochol....

 

[meadmaker1]

Fermenting bucket lids leak.
I cover with a tower and stir twice a day, but there is definitely obvious signs it's working. It's kind of like stirring pop. It fizzles and foams.
My guess is it fermented fine in the bucket but didn't bubble because the lid didn't seal tight enough

 

[Zintrigue]

When it drops below 1.000 it's dry, fermentation is probably done.

Now you can move on to stabilizing and degassing. Then backsweeten if you wish.