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Bryazz

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Hi all.

I have started making some wine again.

I did everything like the sugar,yeast,etc.

However the balloons are not inflated this time,there is a lot of bubbles,so I think something is happening.

I did one thing it dosnt tell you to do,by boiling the solution.

Is it ok to do that?After all is that not why they call it a Brewery?

Many thanks.
 
Hi Bryazz, Brewers brew but wine makers tend to avoid heat. You see, brewers work with grain and grains are only accessible to yeast when the enzymes in the grain are activated and so break down the complex sugars in the grains into more simple sugars that the yeast can process. This is achieved with heat. Wine makers work with simple sugars that yeast can process without any difficulty so heat is unnecessary. But more than that, fruit tends to contain pectins and pectins are set with heat - think jelly or jam - What you want to do is avoid setting pectins. Set pectins do not result in a finer wine. A better jam , perhaps but a poorer wine. However, setting pectins won't prevent the production of CO2 - the gas which is presumably inflating the balloons - or in this is failing to inflate the balloons.
Now it is POSSIBLE that the yeast is quite active and producing enough CO2 to inflate your balloons but there may be a poor seal between the balloons and the fermenter so the gas is escaping OR it is possible that the yeast is not being active for many possible reasons... (but you provide insufficient information for me - or anyone - to offer any specific idea- We do not know the yeast you used, the starting gravity, the pH of the must (the juice) , the temperatures involved etc etc etc.. Details are really necessary. Oh.. and so is an hydrometer. Bubbles or an inflating balloon don't really provide any usable information...
 
Hello there,I have emptied the bottles,and am off to a fresh start.My following ingredients are:

Tap water

Berry dilute

Sugar

Standard Yeast

2x bottles

2x balloons

1 needle (pinholes)

I will moderately heat the water,just so the yeast can foam and do its job.

Any other tips are very appreciated.
 
If you are rehydrating the yeast, simply warm a quarter cup or so of the water to about blood temperature, not higher. Then be sure that there is no more than about 10 degrees F difference (NO MORE THAN) between the yeast and the must (the juice into which you are pitching the yeast). More than 10 F difference can wreck havoc with the health of the yeast. Seriously.

Tap water is OK... but you really want to use a source of water that has minerals but no chlorine or chloramine (chlorine will evaporate off if you leave the water for 24 hours, but chloramine is designed not to evaporate off.. and it can hobble yeast. I would choose spring water if you can get it. Never use distilled water. That can gut yeast..
 
Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you're making "Prison Wine". Are you working from a recipe?
 

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