Watermelon Wine help!

[Bnew17]

Im having problems getting my watermelon wine fermenting. I started my first batch ever last night. Juiced and strained 8 or 9 watermelons and got almost 6 gallons of juice. I added 9 lbs of sugar to get my SG to 1.085. I currently only have the ph strips. I want to get a nice ph kit which i am saving for. The first reading was off the charts (4.4 ph +) i added a teaspoon of acid blend at a time to get to 3.6ph. I ended up adding i believe 15 teaspoon. I put ice bombs in the must over night and this morning i put my Montrachet Red Star in some warm water and pitched about 30 minutes later. I added half my dosage of nutrient at this time. I babysat the must all day adding ice bombs periodically to keep it cool. So far the smell is wonderful with no signs of spoilage. At lunch the red pulp has sunk to the bottom and the must was a clear yellowish color. By 5 oclock there was a bright red color to the must which is what the color was originally before everything settled. I was hoping this meant the fermentation had started but after checking SG it had not. What do i do??? From the time i checked SG until when i pitched yeast was 10 hrs

 

[Julie]

Stir it, if it is fermenting you should hear a slight fizzing sound and stop adding ice bombs. The ice is probably slowing down the ferment.

 

[Bnew17]

Ok i will stir it. I havent really done that yet...just been paranoid about it spoiling.

How long should i give it? Should i pitch yeast again ?

 

[Julie]

If it has not started my this evening, I would make a yeast starter using Lavlin 1118 and add that.

 

[Bnew17]

Julie, i checked it this morning and it was fizzing away and at 1.070 . It started at, and was at 1.085 yesterday evening so it is on it's way!

How do you recommend i go from here with the ice bombs? I didnt put any on before i left this morning, but could stop by at lunch if i had to.

 

[Julie]

You don't need to add any ice bombs at this point. Stir it everyday, twice a day would be good but at leas once a day. Once the sg gets down to between 1.000 and 1.010 snap the lid down and let it ferment to dry. Once dry rack to a carboy and to let you know it will probably not have much in the way of color. You could get some more watermelons, juice them and use the juice to backsweeten with.

Good luck and keep us informed on how it goes.

 

[Bnew17]

Julie thats good to hear! Should i still bentonite at the 3 day or mot since there is no pulp? I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for your help

 

[Julie]

yes you can still bentonite

 

[Bnew17]

Wine was at 1.015 this morning and still going strong. I got busy and was not able to get any bentonite together so i will proceed without it. As expected it has a neutral smell to it. Not much watermelon!