# Getting the answer you want fast!



## Wade E

Welcome all wine makers! When you need an answer on wine making please be very specific as to what the recipe is, temp, starting gravity and gravity now, amount of sulfites added, Brand and exact kit being made, in other words provide us with as much info as you can otherwise we will have to answer your question with one of these questions as we dont want to give you the wrong answer. Doing this will most likely give us enough info to properly diagnose whats going on with your wine. We so want to help you get your batch of wine finished and done right because we are all one big wine making family!


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## bargeric

*Homemade wine*

My homemade wine came out with a rotten egg smell. What can be done if anything to fix this?


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## winemaker_3352

Could be hydrogen sulfide in your wine.

The possible causes of hydrogen sulfide contamination are:

Too much sulfites, usually the result of grapes being dusted with too much sulfur during the growing season
Lack of proper nutrients (nitrogen, yeast hulls) during fermentation
Yeast combining with various forms of sulfur (some folks swear that Red Star Montrachet yeast is notorious for causing H2S, but we've never experienced this ourselves)
Bacterial contamination due to poor sanitation technique

H2S contamination can be prevented if you:

Add proper amounts of sulfites to wine
If making wine from scratch (not from a kit), add a proper amount of yeast nutrient prior to pitching yeast (Fermax, DAP, etc.)
Use proper yeast for the wine you're making, and make sure it has not passed the expiration date or gotten too hot in storage.
Maintain sanitary conditions for your equipment and must (especially prior to pitching yeast)

I have read that you can do the steps below to rid the rotten egg smell:

First, measure the amount of sulfites in your wine using a test kit
If deficient, treat wine to 50 PPM sulfites
Rack and splash - rack your wine two or three times, being sure to splash it around a lot as the wine goes from vessel to vessel. The aeration (introduction of oxygen) will help counteract the H2S.
Put the airlock back on and wait a couple of hours or overnight. If it still smells like rotten eggs, keep going...
Get a piece of copper (i.e. copper flashing) from a home supply store.
Pour the wine over the copper so that it runs over the surface of the metal into a receiving vessel.
Fine or filter the wine.
By now, the sulfur smell should at least be greatly diminished. If you can still detect a smell (we've heard that humans can detect H2S in quantities as low as 2 parts per billion), you might try to use an egg white or a gelatin fining agent and fine your wine. Add normal amounts recommended by the manufacturer.
Filter wine through a tight filter.
When all else fails you can use copper sulfate on your wine. A 0.1% solution added at about 0.5 ml per gallon, will give you about 0.3 PPM copper sulfate in your wine. BE CAREFUL. Remember, this stuff is poisonous. DO NOT EXCEED 0.5 PPM of copper.
Fine your wine with a bentonite or Sparkolloid fining agent. This will remove all the copper sulfate.
Filter wine if necessary to remove fining agent.


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## niwilkes

*Wine Conditioners, what is it?*

Background: I'm a newbie to the home wine making world. Just bottled our first batch--a Winexpert Kit: Muller Thurgau (sort of a Reisling). It's been fun! 

Question: My (limited) understanding of a wine conditioner is it's something added to the wine just prior to bottling to somewhat alter the flavor of the wine. The Wine Maker's Toy Store folks, among others, sell a product called "Wine Conditioner". What is it chemically? In what situations would you use it?


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## Tom

Wine conditioner will also back sweeten the wine it also has sorbate. BUT, I/we feel it leaves a cough medicine taste. If you plan on back sweetening make simple syrup.
Why are you looking into this?


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## Wade E

It is inverted sugar along with sorbate and its just enough sorbate to prevent the product itself from fermenting so if you add this to a wine please use the recommended amout of additional sorbate per gallon.


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## Minnesotamaker

When stabilizing a wine before sweetening, remember to also add sulfite at the same time you add the sorbate. They work in concert to prevent a new fermentation.


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## guinness5

*Restarting Fermentation AFTER adding sorbate...ugh*

Without going into too many details of how (and why) I got here, I am wondering if there is any hope for this spiced apple wine....

Originally planned to be a sparkling cider, I fermented it to about 8% alcohol. I added an appropriate amount of sorbate to this batch to prepare for bottling. For various reasons, I decided that the sparkling cider was a bad idea at this point and thought a spiced wine would be better. I added cloves and cinnamon and it really has a wonderful flavor. BUT to be really much better and balanced, I want to increase the alcohol level to about 12%-14%. I read a few places that even after adding sorbate, you can restart fermentation if you start it working before you pitch it. (The sorbate prevents existing yeast from working, but new yeast already fermenting could overpower the effects of the sorbate).

So, I sweetened the batch and added yeast/nutrient/etc - starting it for a while before adding it to the wine. Nothing happened. Tried with various yeasts (some baking, some wine) and never really felt like I got the yeast working well before adding it. 

Am I destined for a poor/mediocre spiced apple wine or is there a nuance to restarting fermentation? Should I keep trying?

Eric
State College, PA


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## Runningwolf

Your best bet might be to make a trip to MD. and get some Everclear and add to it. Hope you're not making this in a dorm room? LOL


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## djrockinsteve

You are going to have to blend it if you want to do that. Sorbate prevents yeasts from breeding. The recommended dosage (1/2 teaspoon per gallon) is actually on the high side. You would have to add a lot of juice to dilute that sorbate down.

Don't dump it though. Let it age a year.


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## thecrabappler

*Question*

Hey new to the site. Got my grandma's crab apple wine recipe. Pretty simple. Cut the apples, put it in a bucket with some gin, sugar. let sit for 6 weeks and enjoy before mass! (yes she actually put that in there lol!) Recently I read something online about pectin enzyme and campden tablets? Is that something that HAS to be used? Or can I still make and drink it the way granny used to?


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## thecrabappler

Runningwolf said:


> Your best bet might be to make a trip to MD. and get some Everclear and add to it. Hope you're not making this in a dorm room? LOL



What is everclear and what does it do? Would I add to add it and wait a certain period of time. Wan't to make sure I do it right.


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## thecrabappler

djrockinsteve said:


> You are going to have to blend it if you want to do that. Sorbate prevents yeasts from breeding. The recommended dosage (1/2 teaspoon per gallon) is actually on the high side. You would have to add a lot of juice to dilute that sorbate down.
> 
> Don't dump it though. Let it age a year.



So then add the sorbate, and add juice (my question mark doesn't seem to be working). what juice. wouldn't that take away from the original flavor. And wait a year! Must I wait. Or was that wait a year if I don't add anything.


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## BobSestili

Had this happen to me this year. Splashed it around, racked a few times. Got 90% of smell out. How much copper sulfate would you use in a 60 gal barrel?


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## Firestarts

*jjjjjzzzz*

thats interesting my friend, good


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## Cannew

Quote: What is everclear and what does it do?

Everclear is pure grain alcohol, with little or no taste. Will spike up your wine and is usually added to the last racking and allowed to sit for at least a month to blend with the wine.


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## sully

says to stir my must every 24hr. will that disrupt my yeast??? it just started bubbling. what is the purpose of stirring must???? is it nessacry??


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## djrockinsteve

You stir to introduce oxygen to the yeast, bring the sugar to the yeast and keep fruit, if any wet. It also dissipates CO2


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## Firestarts

*oh its great*

I think that's right!


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## sully

so i just made a strawberry wine that turned out very dry so i am wondering the best method to sweeten. i do not like artificial sweeteners so am wondering if the non sugar wine sweeteners will taste as good as using real sugar. not sure what is the best easiest way.


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## Tom

OK make simple syrup. 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. heat water to almost a boil add sugar whisk over heat till clear. add slowly to wine and taste often.


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## BobF

... after it cools ...


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## Rocky

Sully, how is the strawberry taste of the wine? If you want more of it, you could substitute juice exctacted from fresh strawberries for the water in your "simple syrup." Get a pint or two of fresh strawberries, rough chop them, boild them in a saucepan and strain out a cup or so of the liquid and add two cups of sugar. Using this, you would sweeten and add flavor at the same time. Remember to stabilize with k-sorbate before adding any sweetener.


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## barryjo

I saw a formula for adding simple syrup to a small volume of wine to determine how much to add to the whole batch. If I recall, it was like teaspoons to a cup or some such. And then had the conversion factor for a gallon. I neglected to write it down. Does anyone have this or know where I could find it??? 
Thanks in advance.


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## kookkal

Good fruits and ingredients in a proper mix will not cause any smell...


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## MACs

*Tomato Wine Problem? HELP!*

HELP! I started a batch of tomato wine 3 days ago. After allowing 24 hours, I pitched the yeast. Active fermentation was visible in 24 hours. The initial SG was 1.095. After 48 hours my SG is already down to 1.002. I did stir before taking a reading. Do I have a problem or should I just proceed to racking to a secondary?


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## MACs

Where's getting my answer fast? LOL! I used Red Star Montrachet and active fermentation in the primary is not visible anymore it seems. Just checked the SG again and it is now below 1.000. I did 2 batches of tomato wine at the same time, this one which is with raisins added and another with grape juice concentrate added and Lalvin 1122. I have read a bit about fast fermentations such as this happening for others. Should I just rack to a secondary?


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## MACs

Well no help here I guess. SG was .990 this morning. Racked to Secondary. I conclude just a fast fermentation. Everything else seemed normal.


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## BobF

No problems, MACs.

The original intent of this thread was to explain how to create a new topic/post in a way that will get you a faster answer.

This thread wasn't intended as a place to post questions that need fast answers.


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## MACs

BobF said:


> No problems, MACs.
> 
> The original intent of this thread was to explain how to create a new topic/post in a way that will get you a faster answer.
> 
> This thread wasn't intended as a place to post questions that need fast answers.


Didn't realize that....no worries. Thanks.


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## Wade E

Yep, I guess I should have created this thread and then closed it for reading purposes only. LOL.


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## BabaPerson

Hi,

I think I made a mistake. I am making a Cellar Tracker Selection Estate white Bordeaux (special kit). I decided to try using extended directions. Around August 15 I started the kit, and following the adjusted directions, did not add the Bentonite. Original gravity was 1.088. On August 24, I racked to the carboy. Temperature in by basement has been steady in upper '60's. Yesterday I checked SG at .990. At this point, the extended directions told me to add the bentonite solution to a clean carboy, add the sorbate and metabisulphite, and then rack in the wine. On the other hand, the kit directions said in bold, "Do NOT rack the winebefore stabilizing and fining." As a compromise, I (vigorously) stirred in the bentonite, then repeated with the metabisuplphite and sorbate, then repeated with clarifier. Lots of gas was released. When everything settled, I have about two inches of scum on top of the wine. My thought is just to stir some more, and wait. I am worried that when I rack this that I'll have lees on the bottom, and sum on the surface. Any other suggestions?


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## bstnh1

*Topping up German Muller-Thurgau*

Anyone have a suggestion on what to top up a WE German Muller-Thurgau with? I'm getting ready to bulk age a batch and have come up empty trying to find something that's the same or very similar. Thanks!


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## MothJuic

winemaker_3352 said:


> Could be hydrogen sulfide in your wine.
> 
> The possible causes of hydrogen sulfide contamination are:
> 
> Too much sulfites, usually the result of grapes being dusted with too much sulfur during the growing season
> Lack of proper nutrients (nitrogen, yeast hulls) during fermentation
> Yeast combining with various forms of sulfur (some folks swear that Red Star Montrachet yeast is notorious for causing H2S, but we've never experienced this ourselves)
> Bacterial contamination due to poor sanitation technique
> 
> H2S contamination can be prevented if you:
> 
> Add proper amounts of sulfites to wine
> If making wine from scratch (not from a kit), add a proper amount of yeast nutrient prior to pitching yeast (Fermax, DAP, etc.)
> Use proper yeast for the wine you're making, and make sure it has not passed the expiration date or gotten too hot in storage.
> Maintain sanitary conditions for your equipment and must (especially prior to pitching yeast)
> 
> I have read that you can do the steps below to rid the rotten egg smell:
> 
> First, measure the amount of sulfites in your wine using a test kit
> If deficient, treat wine to 50 PPM sulfites
> Rack and splash - rack your wine two or three times, being sure to splash it around a lot as the wine goes from vessel to vessel. The aeration (introduction of oxygen) will help counteract the H2S.
> Put the airlock back on and wait a couple of hours or overnight. If it still smells like rotten eggs, keep going...
> Get a piece of copper (i.e. copper flashing) from a home supply store.
> Pour the wine over the copper so that it runs over the surface of the metal into a receiving vessel.
> Fine or filter the wine.
> By now, the sulfur smell should at least be greatly diminished. If you can still detect a smell (we've heard that humans can detect H2S in quantities as low as 2 parts per billion), you might try to use an egg white or a gelatin fining agent and fine your wine. Add normal amounts recommended by the manufacturer.
> Filter wine through a tight filter.
> When all else fails you can use copper sulfate on your wine. A 0.1% solution added at about 0.5 ml per gallon, will give you about 0.3 PPM copper sulfate in your wine. BE CAREFUL. Remember, this stuff is poisonous. DO NOT EXCEED 0.5 PPM of copper.
> Fine your wine with a bentonite or Sparkolloid fining agent. This will remove all the copper sulfate.
> Filter wine if necessary to remove fining agent.



thank you! so helpful for me, too. you have answered many questions at once


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## Gwand

Can someone remind of how much Lalvin VP41 MBR® to add to 5 gallons red to initiate MLF. Thanks.


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## Boatboy24

Gwand said:


> Can someone remind of how much Lalvin VP41 MBR® to add to 5 gallons red to initiate MLF. Thanks.



According to MoreWine, 2.5g is enough for 250L. 

http://morewinemaking.com/products/dry-malolactic-bacteria-vp41-25.html


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## Gwand

Boatboy24 said:


> According to MoreWine, 2.5g is enough for 250L.
> 
> http://morewinemaking.com/products/dry-malolactic-bacteria-vp41-25.html



Thanks Jim. I assume I adjust the amount of bacteria proportionately downward to accompany only 5 gallons. Unfortunately I left this information out of my notes when conducting the fermentation on my montepulciano juice.


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## trudy

Can you help I can't seem to find on here where I post messages. I've changed my phone to a iPhone and doesn't seem to come up the same as the Samsung. 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## NoobVinter

Should I adjust acids to an actively fermenting fresh berry wine? 

I'm about 40 hours s/p yeast pitch. SG was 1.064 a couple hours ago. 

My Tartaric Acid is 0.56%. I want 0.60%. Should I adjust now, later, is it too late, do I forget about it, am I close enough? I don't have a clue how to make the decision.

I would really appreciate any thoughts. Have a great night everyone, take care.

Noob




Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## sdelli

NoobVinter said:


> Should I adjust acids to an actively fermenting fresh berry wine?
> 
> I'm about 40 hours s/p yeast pitch. SG was 1.064 a couple hours ago.
> 
> My Tartaric Acid is 0.56%. I want 0.60%. Should I adjust now, later, is it too late, do I forget about it, am I close enough? I don't have a clue how to make the decision.
> 
> I would really appreciate any thoughts. Have a great night everyone, take care.
> 
> Noob
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making




Since your primary is well on its way now I would probably leave it alone now. Check it after it is done and adjust before putting through the secondary.


Sam


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## NoobVinter

sdelli said:


> Since your primary is well on its way now I would probably leave it alone now. Check it after it is done and adjust before putting through the secondary.
> 
> 
> Sam




Thank you Sam. I didn't see this before. Wish I did though. It's clearing right now. I'll check before the bottle and see what's going on. I really appreciate the information. Good luck with your ferms.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## plowboy

Quick question: I picked up some apple cider to use as a filler in my strawberry batch. Didn't look and the cider has that dreaded potassium sorbate in it. No idea what the concentration would be. 



Question is, if I mix it all together will the yeast still do it's thing? It's about 17L of berry juice and 6L of cider


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## cintipam

Very good catch!!!
Sorbate will not kill yeast, but is like birth control for yeast. Once you introduce it it will limit yeast reproduction. i would wait till SG is about 1.005 before adding the cider. It will ferment a bit longer, but not much. thats why the very low SG

Hope this helps 

Pam in cinti


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## plowboy

I was pretty sure that was the answer but figured I would ask anyways. 

Thanks, now to try and track down some different cider.


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## cecilias9

*Mold on my must*

I just started 3 batches of muscadine wine. I have added the 1/4 teaspoon of sodium metabisulfite to the must, then next day the pectic enzyme, the yeast nutrient and calcium carbonate. After letting is sit 24 hours I was bringing up the SG by adding sugar water. It was getting late, so I didn't let the sugar water cool all the way to room temperature. This morning I have mold growing. I skimmed it off, and added more sodium metabisulfate. Do I also have to add more of the other ingredients tomorrow or can I continue adding more sugar water after letting it sit the 24 hours, then wait a day and add the yeast. Should I do a quick start solution for my yeast?

Thanks.
Cecilia


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## olusteebus

*Need help determining how much rouge tannin to add*

I am making 5 gallons of Blackberry Jam wine. I want to add rouge tannin before ferment.

Scott labs recommends the following:

200-500 ppm	20-50 g/hL	1.6-4.0 lb/1000 gal

I want to start with the low end so I want 30 g/hl.

I understand that hl = hecto liters or 100 liters.

thus, I divide 30 by 100 and get .3 grams per liter. 

I am making 5 gallons which is 18.9 liters

.3 grams X 18.9 liters = 5.67 grams

Do I need 5.67 grams of tannin for the 5 gallons.

Do you have a suggestion of more or less rouge tannin

Thanks for reading this and helping.

Buster


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## sour_grapes

I agree with your math. I do not have an opinion on how much to use. For grape wines, I generally use about 0.35 g/liter.

I use 6 gallon batches. With that volume, you can just approximate that 23 L is about 1/4 of a hL. So I just take the number of g/hL (in this case, 30 g), and divide by 4.


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## cheesehead

HELP!!!, I have clearing issues with 6 gallons of a Danger Daves strawberry tart wine started in Feb.
i used 15Lbs of fresh strawberries, 105 ozs strawberry daiquiri mix made with "real fruit" and water and lemon juice as the base. specific gravity was 1.090 & really roiled for a few days then went dry-.990, and after a few days in the carboy it seemed to start back up and roiled a few days into and out through the airlock. fast forward to degassing and racking which have been done thoroughly numerous time and i mean many!!! no gas left and still not clear. I have hit it 2x with a clearing agent ( sparkallloid 1st then the one you boil, the name escapes me ) and also hit it with 2 doses pectic enzyme it still looks like fruit punch almost 3+ months later. temps have been in the low to mid 70's and i have run it through a 5 & 1 micron whole house filter 8x in 1 day about 2 weeks ago. should i try more sparkalloid and let it sit before trying the filter again? This stuff should have been in the bottle in March but I was told Strawberry could take a few weeks Longer but months?


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## Julie

try using superklear, I have always had good luck with this.


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## cheesehead

Thank you Julie, thats the name of the 2nd one I used . I will try that one again.


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## twornson

I am new to forums. How do I post a question?


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## cheesehead

Welcome, You just did,lol, Ask a question pertaining to the specific forum topic , If we cant help , I am sure someone here can direct you to the proper forum topic site. The folks here are very knowledgable and friendly too. So again welcome to the site!


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## twornson

I'm fairly new to winemaking. I've made about 35 gal of sangiovese which turned out good, and about 18 gal of sauvignon blanc which I'm having problems with. 
I was not able to get the brix down below zero, and bottled it anyway. There is now a lot of effervescence in the bottles. I've heard this could be due to residual sugar or malolactic fermentation. What is my best next step? I'm ok with rebottling it.


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## Boatboy24

twornson said:


> I'm fairly new to winemaking. I've made about 35 gal of sangiovese which turned out good, and about 18 gal of sauvignon blanc which I'm having problems with.
> I was not able to get the brix down below zero, and bottled it anyway. There is now a lot of effervescence in the bottles. I've heard this could be due to residual sugar or malolactic fermentation. What is my best next step? I'm ok with rebottling it.



Was this from a kit, juice, or fresh grapes? Either way, you should get it out of those bottles or you're likely to have corks popping and a big mess on your hands. Sounds like you bottled before it was done fermenting. Get it back into a carboy, let it get to zero brix. Add some sulfite, let it clear, then rebottle.


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## twornson

It was fresh grapes. Do I need to add more yeast and nutrient to get it going? I bottled it 9 months after starting, I thought that was enough.
Thanks Jim


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## twornson

I still am not sure how to proceed. I've put wine back into a carboy, and checked for residual sugar using clinitest tablets. It tested about 1/2% RS.


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## djrockinsteve

You can add a little Super Ferment. It will energize the remaining yeast and ferment dry. 

You will then need to clear it again to get all sediment and yeast out. 

Add some Sorbate. This will stop any remaining yeast from reproducing.


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## twornson

what is superferment, and where would I get some/


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## Runningwolf

Superferment is the same equivalent as Fermaid at a fraction of the price. You can get it at piwine.com.


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## yanks4carolyn

*Nutrients and stuff*

I've not seen a thread telling about different nutrients and stuff. I want to know what is the difference in Potassium Metabisulphite and Sodium Meta. ? Are they both considered Campden tabs? If there is a thread for all nutrient info, can you direct me there? Thank you!


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