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Fruit

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Couple weeks ago I started 5 x 30 liters plastic fermenters of plums wine. Pretty much same all 5 tanks. Except that some were given 8kg of sugar syrup and some maybe 7 kg.
3 tanks fired up very quickly and were fermenting well, there is still minor bubbling present (one bubble every 15-20 seconds). I will move this wine to other tanks very soon.
But two tanks-it seems nothing started there. I am a bit afraid to open that tanks, not to contaminate. I do not think I applied too much campden (6 tablets for about 26 liters of must), I guess I have done everything prett much same as other 3 tanks. It is now end of summer here in Australia and Feb was very hot and very dry. Couple days ago I added some more yeast and some more yeast nutrient and no any changes-nothing happens.
Anybody knows what happened and what to do ?
(I do not rehydrate yeast, I just put 10 grams on top of must and mix well-that worked very well before).
 
Usually one would not seal the fermentation under an airlock. Instead allow plenty of oxygen/stirring to get the ferment going.

I agree in that we need SG data for the 5 tanks. Can’t do the metric conversion in my head quickly to point to anything in particular. Double check the Camden amount, sugar amount, etc.

I don’t suspect excess acid, or low pH, unless you added too much acid.
 
I did not check specific gravity at all. I did not add any acid. I used fruits (not juice), removed stones and fruits were cut into pretty thin slices (every half of big plum was cut 3-4 times...it took me days to do that by hand. In fact I made 10 x 30 liters tanks like that (in two "sessions") and no problems with 8 tanks.
I used bags (mesh) in 9 tanks and one without mesh.
I know I should check and record data, SG etc... :-(
I work full time, was very busy at work and at home with other duties, Feb was hard-fricking hot...constantly busy, tired, nervous and in rush...perhaps wine did not like that atmosphere.
All that cutting fruits took me faaar longer than I expected. I need to find or make some device before next season.
 
All that cutting fruits took me faaar longer than I expected. I need to find or make some device before next season.
Try cutting the fruit in half, remove the pit, and freeze. Will be a lot easier. Another time saver is to get pH strips, will give you a quick idea that your pH is in a good starting point. That’s for next time.

For now, since the ferment is still relatively young, I would taste test each tank. If the tank hasn’t started fermenting it should taste sweet. You can also draw off a few liters from a “fermenting” tank to a non-fermenting tank to try and jump start it.

You can still go out and buy a hydrometer and get a specific gravity. We won’t know the starting point, but it may yield a clue. Perhaps you added too much sugar and the yeast are drowning. Kind of need more data.

Also, it’s possible the lid was not secure, and so there would be no airlock bubbling.
 
I have hydrometer, just never had time/patience to learn well how to use it.
I just measured that two problematic tanks. One reads 0.97-0.98 or so (almost 1.00), and it does not taste sweet, it tastes like wine.
This is a mix of two plums-one with dark purple skin (Plum Angelina) and second fruit is Plum Luisa (huge fruits, they belong to japanese plums).
Second problematic tank tastes sweet, this is Plum Luisa only (yellow flesh with yellow skin fruits). Hydrometer floats on 1.025-1.027
I moved about 1.5 liters from still slowly fermenting tanks to not fermenting (?) tanks, stirred well and will have a look tomorrow.

I can not firmly exclude the possibility, that one of problematic tanks (mix of two plums, first tank described above) did actually fermented but so quickly and so rapidly that I "missed that". Is that possible that the whole fermentation process was done within say 24 hours ?
I was about 30C or more, day by day, when I started that batch.
 
I have hydrometer, just never had time/patience to learn well how to use it.
I just measured that two problematic tanks. One reads 0.97-0.98 or so (almost 1.00), and it does not taste sweet, it tastes like wine.

I imagine these readings are really 0.997 to 0.998?
 

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