Other So Close and Yet... So Close! (i.e., Glad Hatter Zin Stuck Just Above Recommended SG)

[JoaniB]

Hi all,

I'm still working on the primary fermentation of my Glad Hatter Zinfandel (with grape-bag). Things have been going well, but now the SG is determinedly stopped at 1.002 for the past few days.

The instructions with the kit say to wait until SG is below 1.000 for two days, but I really don't think it's going to budge any lower (unless I deliberately misread my hydrometer and pretend the meniscus line is the SG).

I was thinking that, with the SG being so close (and so close to the recommended primary fermentation time), it may not be beneficial to try adding any yeast or restarting fermentation, or to leave it in faint hopes (and risking oxidation).

Can I rack this into a secondary fermentation carboy? Will I get a sweeter wine, or a more alcoholic one?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[cpfan]

A couple of questions...

• have you checked the calibration of your hydrometer in water?
• what is the temperature of the wine?

Hopefully rjb222 will check in. He's the only one round here with Glad Hatter experience.

Steve

 

[Rocky]

Joani, an SG of 1.002 is not too sweet but it is not dry either. It depends on how your taste runs. I doubt that you would be successful in restarting fermentation at such a low level of SG. I would continue with the recipe directions which probably say to go to a carboy until the wine clears, stabilize and add fining agents and either bulk age or bottle. If you find that the wine is too sweet for your taste, you can brew up another batch to dry (i.e. SG = 0.990-0.995) and blend out some of the sweetness.

The wine will have a perceptable sweetness and the alcohol will not be quite as high as it would have been had it fermented to dry. What was your starting SG? Subtract 1.002 from that number and multiply the result by 131 and you will get an approximate ABV. For example, if your initial SG was 1.095 and you subtract 1.002 from that, you are left with 0.093. Multiplying that number by 131 gives 12.183 or about 12.2% ABV.

 

[JoaniB]

Hi, CPfan, Temperature was 17C today (62F). I had checked the calibration when I started, and it worked well.

Thanks for the advice, Rocky and CPfan.

 

[ibglowin]

First off, 62F is COLD for fermenting a red wine. Second, the meniscus IS the SG reading point. Why don't you try warming up the carboy to the the recommended 70-74F and see if that helps!

 

[cpfan]

Hi, CPfan, Temperature was 17C today (62F). I had checked the calibration when I started, and it worked well.

Thanks for the advice, Rocky and CPfan.

I'd warm that wine up to about 24C, give it a good (but gentle) stir after it reaches 20C, and again the next couple of days. Hopefully that will help.

Steve

 

[mmadmikes1]

And Rack it to secondary. That is close enough to rack. Recommended was the key word here. sometimes the new O2 will really kick start a wine when moving to secondary.

 

[JoaniB]

*embarrassed look* My apologies, Ib, I was remembering the legs up the side as the meniscus. I misnamed it. Upon review of my scientific terms, I have been reading the correctly-titled meniscus properly.

I'll give your suggestions a try and see how it goes. Thanks!

 

[rjb222]

Warm your wine up to 23 - 24 C After it is warm lift your sediments up into suspension. A little bit of oxegen will helps get the ferment going again. Hopefully you get a restart your SG. level is very low restarting this low can be a problem.

 

[mmadmikes1]

BTW it may not restart no matter what, wine with that low of SG does not like top restart, but lets hope it does, sweet red wine kinda sucks

 

[JoaniB]

I agree, Mike, though the very first thing I did was test the SG today and it was down to 1.000! I was so stunned that I took the temperature, stirred it, and took a second SG reading, and it was definitely 1.000. Whee! Yeah, not a huge fan of sweet reds.

As long as it's fermenting, it's safe to keep it in the primary fermenter, right? I figure that I'll be racking as soon as Wednesday, but keep worrying that it will do something silly like oxidize while I have my back turned.

 

[Rocky]

JoaniB, if it is at SG = 1.000, I would definitely get it into a carboy under airlock ASAP! I did not realize you wre still in your primary fermenter. Technically it is still fermenting, but the amount of CO2 being givien off is barely enough if enough to protect the wine in a primary container. Get it out of there right away.

 

[JoaniB]

Thanks for the heads-up, Rocky!

 

[ldmack3]

I had a similar problem. I ended up buying a low end (scale wise, not quality) hydro to make more accurate reading and to double check once it got below 1.020, max on scale.
Seemed to completely resolve my issue.