wine not fermenting in 4 days!!!!!

[wineforever]

i crushed and pressed white wine grapes on saturday and added potassium sulphite right after i pressed them. i waited 24 hours and added yeast and nothing has happened for 3-4 days. im reading everywhere that it should start within 24 hours?

im stirring it everyday about 4 times and the temp is around 70-75 im not sure what to do? i have about 300 liters of wine (2x150l tanks) any help would be much appreciated.

i added the yeast with hot tap water and put it in right away.

 

[Johnd]

i crushed and pressed white wine grapes on saturday and added potassium sulphite right after i pressed them. i waited 24 hours and added yeast and nothing has happened for 3-4 days. im reading everywhere that it should start within 24 hours?

im stirring it everyday about 4 times and the temp is around 70-75 im not sure what to do? i have about 300 liters of wine (2x150l tanks) any help would be much appreciated.

i added the yeast with hot tap water and put it in right away.

When you say “hot” tap water, how hot are we talking about? Most yeast can be rehydrated at up to 109 F, if you were hotter, the yeast is dead. Get a new batch, sprinkle it on top, and leave it alone til it starts.

 

[salcoco]

agree about the yeast also what temp is juice. if below 60degf will take long time to start. temp of 70deg to start is best then cool white wine down to 60-65 degF

 

[NorCal]

I know people sprinkle yeast with success and if it works, that’s the way to go.

I’m more conservative and follow the rehydration procedure specified by the yeast maker, along with a nutrient protocol of go-ferm and ferm-k.

110 degree water, add go-ferm (1.13 gram of Go-Ferm for gallon of must)
104 degree, add yeast (1.2 grams per gallon of must, brix >24.5)
Stir in, then wait 20 min
Slowly add must to yeast slurry until within 18 degrees of must
Pour your healthy starter into must
First sign of fermentation add ferm K (.5 grams / gallon)
1/3 through fermentation add ferm K (.5 grams / gallon)

 

[wineforever]

the temp of the juice is probably below 60, im wondering should i put a space heater in there and set it to 70? ive read on the internet that white wine should ferment at lower temps then red.

i have a fan that i can set to 70 and let it run all night. i added more yeast today and it seem to be starting to bubble a tiny tiny bit and i added it about 8 hours ago.

should i wait until tomorrow and see if its fermenting full force or just put the heater down there now?

 

[wineforever]

hot water was just my tap set to full hot and filled two cups, i didnt do anything special which i should of or just drop it in dry.thanks norcal for the response im going to take a pic of your response and try it next year and see how fast i can get my wine to ferment.

 

[salcoco]

raise temp of must to 70degF get fomentation working then loeer to 60.

 

[wineforever]

 

[wineforever]

This is both of them. I put the yeast in about 20 hours ago and woke up to this. The one looks like it’s fermenting good but the other seems to be having a hard time. Should I put a heater in the room? There is no must it’s just grape juice.
Thank you for all your reply’s

 

[stickman]

I'd be a little nervous about those levels and possible foam-over during peak fermentation. It would be easy to take out a half gallon and move to a warmer area, it should start fermenting and could then be added back to the main tank.

 

[wineforever]

if it start to foam over i will fill large bottle and move them, should i put in a fan to heat up the area?

 

[bstnh1]

if it start to foam over i will fill large bottle and move them, should i put in a fan to heat up the area?

I wouldn't put a fan in there unless the buckets are covered with a towel, cheesecloth, etc. Fibers from the fiberglass insulation will be blowing all over the place.

 

[wineforever]

That’s a really good suggestion. I just covered them with a towel, but the heater is still in there holding the room at 70f.

The one is going good but the other is still the same. I think it’s fermenting a little bit I’d like to see it take off like the other one.

 

[wineforever]

i just created a little mix that i read about on the internet. its 2 cups of the wine a tablespoon of sugar and a half pack of yeast. i mixed that all in and im just waiting for the cup to ferment. once it start fermenting im going to slowly pour it back into my ss tank. and if it still dosn't start fermenting after that im not really sure what to do. its been 5 days!!!.

 

[wineforever]

im thinking about adding some sugar to the wine? i didn't add sugar to either one of them but for some reason one is fermenting and one isn't. maybe the grapes in the one didn't have enough sugar im thinking?

what does everyone think about adding some sugar? and how long can wine stay in the tank not fermenting before it goes bad?

the room temp is at 73f right now and holding steady. its going to take some time to warm up the juice.

 

[stickman]

Do not add sugar, added sugar will only make fermentation more difficult. Have patience, if your cup starts to ferment, don't add it to the tank, rather add some more of the tank juice to the cup, wait ten minutes and then add some more juice, wait ten minutes then add to your tank. Yeast is alive, shocking the yeast with changing conditions is more of an issue than most people realize.

 

[wineforever]

Ok I’ll try that I’m going to leave the cup until it starts fermenting pretty good and then I’ll add it to the tank. It has tiny bubbles now but I want it to ferment a lot and we’ll see what happens.

How long does everyone white wine take to ferment usually?

 

[stickman]

If you make a starter with yeast it is usually fermenting by the next day, if you just toss in dry yeast it might take 2 to 3 days to start. It also depends on the type of yeast and the amount of yeast; what type and how much did you use? For one of your tanks you need around 40 to 50 grams of yeast if you just toss in dry.

 

[wineforever]

Im using lalvin ec-1118 it’s 5g packets and It says to use 5g for 23 liters so I used 6 packets last Sunday and 6 packets yesterday. Next time I will defiantly use 50 grams.

When you say make a starter what do you mean? Fill a bucket and add 50g or make a small starter like 2 cups and add the rest dry?

This yeast is at my local wine stores that why I’m using this one I’m not sure if it’s a good one or not.

 

[wineforever]

It’s crazy that the cup of grape juice won’t even ferment like my one tank with half a pack of yeast for 2-3 cups. Hopefully tomorrow something happens but if not I’m not sure what to do.