Secondary Fermentation Stalled

[Dim13]

Hello,

Just my second time making wine and I searched the forums and found a number of threads related to this, but every situation is a little different, right?

Anyway, making a Cabernet Franc from a kit (Winexpert Selection). Trying to move onto the stabilizing and clearing stage, but can't get the SG below 1.000 (according to the instructions, it should be at 0.996 or below). It has been holding stable at 1.000 for about five days now. I'm at around day 15 after commencing with the secondary fermentation.

The primary fermentation took a few days longer to complete (the SG was a little high at first; took an extra couple of days to get below 1.100), I assume because it was in a coolish room (temps were in the mid 60s).

Yesterday, I took the carboy from that room and moved it to a warmer room, looking to kickstart some fermentation and the SG is still at 1.000 as of today.

Virtually no activity at all in the airlock.

Gave the wine a taste tonight and it actually tastes pretty good. Oaky, not overly sweet at all...dry.

Is it OK to move onto the stabilizing and clearing phase or should I try something to get the SG down to 0.996?

Thanks for any help!

 

[smurfe]

Why don't you let it set a couple more days at the warmer temperature to see if it moves any at all. Is there any lees on the bottom? You might give it a light stir to re-suspend the yeast to see if maybe they might work a little harder. One thing to consider as well is your hydrometer might be off a little. That is not uncommon.

 

[smurfe]

I'm sorry, I forgot to add a warm welcome to the forums. Feel free to post any question. Look forward to reading your posts.

 

[Dim13]

Thank you both for the welcome and the advice. I'll give it another couple of days in the warmer room and also give it a stir and see what happens. It's only been in the warmer room for about 24 hours, so maybe some more time is what the doctor ordered.

Thanks again for the reply and I'll post again in a couple of days and see if the SG has gone down at all.

 

[Racer]

Just wanted to say Hi! and welcome to the forum too. And I'll add 1 more thing to check for. Did you de-gas your sample to make sure thats not making your reading off by a little bit?

 

[Dim13]

Thanks! Actually, I didn't de-gas. My instructions say to wait for the SG to drop to 0.996 before starting the stabilizing/clearing phase. Looks like the de-gassing comes in this phase with rigorous stirring, is that right? Sorry...again, this is only my second time and the first batch went off according to the instructions. Thank you!

 

[Racer]

Sorry I didn't say that correctly. You need to de-gas the sample so the CO2 doesn't throw your reading off. You can either microwave the sample or you can fill the sample container (leave some space in it) and then tightly cover the top with your hand and shake it vigorously to de-gas it, then take a reading.

 

[Dim13]

Actually, you said it right the first time and I mis-read it! I will try that tomorrow and see what the reading is. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Wade E]

I find these Winexpert kits to always have a problem getting to the low end of the sg spectrum and refuse to make them because of that and the fact they these kits just dont produce a wine as good as Cellar Craft or the RJ Spagnols IMO. There are other brands also but I dont have access to these so cant comment on them but I feel that the W.E. is infrior to these 2. I would try degassing to see if the gases are actually suspending the hydrometer.

 

[Dim13]

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

I took another reading tonight after (hopefully) de-gassing the sample and by the time the dust (or foam) settled, I was still at about 1.000. It's been in the warmer temps for about 48 hours now and no real movement.

I'll give it another stir to see if I can get anything going, but at what point do you all think I should surrender and just move onto the stabilizing/clearing phase and keep my fingers crossed that it comes out OK?

Or are there any other tricks to try?

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[Wade E]

Give it a few days more but I dont think it will come down at all now and not worth trying to add anything else to try and get it any further. There really isnt much sugar left for the yeast to eat so I really wouldnt worry about it at all.