Hi all,
Its been a very long time since I've made any wine and have only made kit wine before I decided to get back into the hobby. This time around i decided to try an all juice pail that was imported from Cali. The juice (Cab Sauv) came chilled and pre-inoculated so all I had to do it warm it up, give it a stir and off it goes. All has been going fine and the SG had been dropping well. I racked to secondary when the SG hit 1.014, thinking it would be completely dry in a few days. Well it has been slowwwwwwwwly bubbling away until yesterday which is like a month...and that just doesn't seem right.
Background: So the only thing I did to the juice pail was add a grape pack so I could get some fermentation happening on the skins. Although not in my notes, I did punch down the skin pack everyday, twice a day. I removed the pack when I racked to secondary.
Here are my notes:
October 11, 2011
Started Cab Sauvignon all juice pale from Winemount estates this evening. Starting SG was 1.100. Brew belt was put on primary. Will add grapeskin pack tomorrow if I can locate one.
October 12, 2011
Fermentation started today – air lock is bubbling away. Added a Zweigest grape pack from CellarCraft tonight. Gave the must a good stir.
October 14, 2011
Fermentation still bubbling away. Took SG reading at 1.090. Im assuming that the grape pack probably raised the original SG to 1.110. Gave the wine a stir and added a racking can to the must to hold the grape skin pack down under the surface of the must.
October 16, 2011
Fermentation appears to be slowing as the air lock is not bubbling as furiously. Took SG reading at 1.064 so there is still a ways to go. Gave the wine a stir and punched the grape pack down a few times then left the racking cane in again to keep the skin pack below the surface of the must. Will SG check again in 2 days.
October 23, 2011
Fermentation is definitely slowing – SG reading at 1.020. Going to stir the wine once more before racking to secondary later this week.
October 25, 2011
Racked to glass carboy tonight - SG reading at racking was 1.014.
After this I basically just left it to do its thing for a month since it was still bubbling ever so slowly. Tonight I checked SG as bubbling has basically stopped and it was at 1.000. Is it safe to say its done/dry enough to stabalize and age or should I try to get it started back up with a starter to get it down below 1.000? Fermenting for 2 months just doesn't seem right....
Any help is definitely appreciated!
Thanks!
Its been a very long time since I've made any wine and have only made kit wine before I decided to get back into the hobby. This time around i decided to try an all juice pail that was imported from Cali. The juice (Cab Sauv) came chilled and pre-inoculated so all I had to do it warm it up, give it a stir and off it goes. All has been going fine and the SG had been dropping well. I racked to secondary when the SG hit 1.014, thinking it would be completely dry in a few days. Well it has been slowwwwwwwwly bubbling away until yesterday which is like a month...and that just doesn't seem right.
Background: So the only thing I did to the juice pail was add a grape pack so I could get some fermentation happening on the skins. Although not in my notes, I did punch down the skin pack everyday, twice a day. I removed the pack when I racked to secondary.
Here are my notes:
October 11, 2011
Started Cab Sauvignon all juice pale from Winemount estates this evening. Starting SG was 1.100. Brew belt was put on primary. Will add grapeskin pack tomorrow if I can locate one.
October 12, 2011
Fermentation started today – air lock is bubbling away. Added a Zweigest grape pack from CellarCraft tonight. Gave the must a good stir.
October 14, 2011
Fermentation still bubbling away. Took SG reading at 1.090. Im assuming that the grape pack probably raised the original SG to 1.110. Gave the wine a stir and added a racking can to the must to hold the grape skin pack down under the surface of the must.
October 16, 2011
Fermentation appears to be slowing as the air lock is not bubbling as furiously. Took SG reading at 1.064 so there is still a ways to go. Gave the wine a stir and punched the grape pack down a few times then left the racking cane in again to keep the skin pack below the surface of the must. Will SG check again in 2 days.
October 23, 2011
Fermentation is definitely slowing – SG reading at 1.020. Going to stir the wine once more before racking to secondary later this week.
October 25, 2011
Racked to glass carboy tonight - SG reading at racking was 1.014.
After this I basically just left it to do its thing for a month since it was still bubbling ever so slowly. Tonight I checked SG as bubbling has basically stopped and it was at 1.000. Is it safe to say its done/dry enough to stabalize and age or should I try to get it started back up with a starter to get it down below 1.000? Fermenting for 2 months just doesn't seem right....
Any help is definitely appreciated!
Thanks!