Problem stopping fermentation

[winer]

I am making wildgrape/banana wine...it fermented very quickly (a few days) to what should have been the alcohol % limit for the yeast. I didn't want it to ferment any further, and besides, I figured it was pretty much done, so I transfered to secondary and stabilized it with the correct amounts of potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate however, 2 months later, it is still bubbling. What do I do?!

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!

Are you sure it is still fermenting? Have you confirmed that with a hydrometer? You should have taken readings 3 days in a row and if the reading was the same - it is done fermenting.

You could be seeing CO2 (wine is degassing) or MLF.

Also just a note - you cannot stop an active fermentation with sorbate - that will just prevent renewed fermentation from happening. The addition of potassium metabisulfite might have shocked the yeast enough to stop working. These 2 things should be added once fermentation is complete.

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

Have you de-gassed?

 

[Tom]

it's almost impossible to stop wine by just stabilizing it when its still fermenting. What was the gravity when you did this? What is the gravity now? What is the temp?
If you dont have a hydrometer then get one asap.

 

[winer]

the bubbling I'm referring to are a small amount of tiny bubbles i can see... nothing like an active fermentation. and like I said, after one week or so, it was about 14% abv using yeast that shouldn't have been able to go beyond that. I guess it's likely to be MLF, but I didn't know what to think since I expected the bubbling to COMPLETELY cease after "stabilizing." So...I will rack the wine...but if it continues to make a few tiny bubbles what then?

 

[winemaker_3352]

the bubbling I'm referring to are a small amount of tiny bubbles i can see... nothing like an active fermentation. and like I said, after one week or so, it was about 14% abv using yeast that shouldn't have been able to go beyond that. I guess it's likely to be MLF, but I didn't know what to think since I expected the bubbling to COMPLETELY cease after "stabilizing." So...I will rack the wine...but if it continues to make a few tiny bubbles what then?

I would degass it - let's hope it is CO2. If it is MLF, the wine might be ruined. As MLF and sorbate are no no's to add together.

But it sounds like you kept the sulphite level up - so that would help to keep MLF from starting naturally.

I am betting it is CO2 bubbles you are seeing.

 

[winer]

I haven't taken a s.g. reading since I first decided I wanted to stop it....it won't do me much good now unless I can find the notes I lost. I know the pot. sorbate doesn't kill the yeast, only prevents them from reproducing...but I read that this was an effective way to stop the fermentation if you didn't want to ferment to dryness...and I didn't think any yeast would survive 2 months later...?

 

[winemaker_3352]

I haven't taken a s.g. reading since I first decided I wanted to stop it....it won't do me much good now unless I can find the notes I lost. I know the pot. sorbate doesn't kill the yeast, only prevents them from reproducing...but I read that this was an effective way to stop the fermentation if you didn't want to ferment to dryness...and I didn't think any yeast would survive 2 months later...?

If you want to stop or i should slow down the fermentation - you can chill it - then i believe you can stabilize it.

 

[winer]

I will degass and rack. If it's still making tiny bubbles then I'm not sure what to do...but for now I will degass and rack and hope!
btw....the first batch of wine I made was apple/crabapple wine which went great at first. A few weeks after I racked it it had a strong rubber smell and really bad taste...but then a few weeks later it wasn't quite as bad. I swirlled some with a couple of clean pennies, and it clearly made it taste much, much better. SO...assuming it was a hydrogen sulfide problem, I decided I would take a chance and run it through a copper kitchen scrubbing pad...big mistake. The wine tastes like metal now. Even though the pad appeared to be copper, it certainly was not 100% copper because it rusts.

 

[Wade E]

Can you stop an active fermentation in progress, yes by chilling it down but unless you have a way to sterile filter the wine at this point its most likely to start fermenting again as soon as it warms up enough again as you didnt kill the yeast, you just made it go dormant. Its either done fermenting and letting off gas or by adding those chemicals to it you mifgt have created a problem in where its really struggling to finish as there is only a small amount oy yeast left to do the job since you added sorbate which prevents any yeast from reproducing thus making he existing yeast struggle which can wreak havoc and cause off flavors and aromas due to the stressed yeast. Not a good idea. Since you added sulfites I highly dought its MLF as it doesnt like s\ulfites and I hope it isnt MLF as malo lactic bacteria and sorbate are not good at all and can also cause bad flavors in your wine which usually taste and smell like geraniums.

 

[closetwine]

Another vote for degassing. I had a blackberry that did this for 3 months til I finally got it degassed good.

 

[winer]

Thank you everyone for the advice!

 

[winer]

found my notes, s.g. was .999 at transfer to secondary...I will check it tonight