I started a Zinfandel on Nov 11th. It's brix was 25 and I let it warm up to room temp before pitching the yeast. Within 11 days I began to notice the fermentaion had slowed considerably and it was not at the 1.000 range that I was hoping for. within 3 days I noticed that the fermentation had slowed to nothing more than the odd bubble in the juice and the specific gravity hadn't changed either. At this point I decided to siphon off a little to see how it tasted and wasn't surrised that it was a little on the sweet side for my liking.
At this point I decided to look into ways to re start the fermentation and found some advice that adding some yeast nutrient couldn't hurt, so I added some. I noticed initially some foaming as I added it and over the next day or two a slight increase in bubbling, so I had hope that I was back on track.
I have noticed that the fermenation has slowed down again and that the specific gravity has changed, but very little.
When I open the lid of the bucket I observe around 5 bubbles rising to the top over a 10 second period.
I have also read after adding the Yeast nutrient that any leftover nutrients can act as food for spoilage germs, is this true? and is there a way to sterilize it so the yeast nutrient will not aid spoilage?
What should my next course of action be with this wine to ensure a proper fermentation?
as it sits right now the specific gravity is 1.002 and I would like to have it in the .996-.998 range.
Thanks
Paul
At this point I decided to look into ways to re start the fermentation and found some advice that adding some yeast nutrient couldn't hurt, so I added some. I noticed initially some foaming as I added it and over the next day or two a slight increase in bubbling, so I had hope that I was back on track.
I have noticed that the fermenation has slowed down again and that the specific gravity has changed, but very little.
When I open the lid of the bucket I observe around 5 bubbles rising to the top over a 10 second period.
I have also read after adding the Yeast nutrient that any leftover nutrients can act as food for spoilage germs, is this true? and is there a way to sterilize it so the yeast nutrient will not aid spoilage?
What should my next course of action be with this wine to ensure a proper fermentation?
as it sits right now the specific gravity is 1.002 and I would like to have it in the .996-.998 range.
Thanks
Paul
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