# How long is too long in primary?



## homesteader26 (Sep 16, 2014)

I have Concord grape wine that I started on 9/1 - it is foaminga lil and has small bubbles but the SG hasn't changed much at all. The house temp is high 60's in the warmest area in my home. What do others do to keep the must warm enough for fermentation to keep it going?


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## brottman (Sep 16, 2014)

If you started a wine over 2 weeks ago, it is probably in the late stages of fermentation at this point. Take a SG reading with a hydrometer. If it is below ~1.01 (most likely it is, if not completely fermented) get that thing into a carboy.


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## homesteader26 (Sep 17, 2014)

I've been checking the SG daily and stirring twice daily. There are small bubbles but it seems very slow and the SG hasn't budged much since the start. Wondering if I messed up when I started my yeast. I mixed it with warm water but didnt let it sit much longer than a minute or two. Here's a picture - should I keep it where its at? Add more yeast? Or put in carboy? 

. These are my two batches this morning


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## richmke (Sep 17, 2014)

Post what you started with, and what you did to it. If you started with Concord Grape Juice with Sorbate in it, you are toast.

The SG should have started dropping significantly within 2 days of pitching the yeast. 

Are you making 2 different batches, or is 1.126 the starting SG pic, and 1.104 the current SG?

Try pitching more yeast. Wine kit instructions say to sprinkle directly onto the must. If you are going to rehydrate first, then follow the proper procedure to avoid shocking the yeast.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/how-hydrate-yeast-10353/

Follow the instructions for difficult must. When he writes "small amount", I would add a cup of the must to the rehydrated yeast. Don't wait longer than 15 minutes to add the cup of must - the newly activated yeast need the sugars and nutrients from the must, or they will die.


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## homesteader26 (Sep 17, 2014)

I started with Concord grapes and made the juice by cooking and straining. The recipe is basic equal parts juice, sugar and water. The recipe has a pack of bread yeast sprinkled on to toast and floated for 3 days then stirred and strained. Skimmed and stirred each day 4 days then strained again. I did not have a hydrometer but bought on and carboys at that point and saw SG was nowhere near being done so I added more yeast Red Star in one and Lalvin (said it was good to restart stuck fermentations). 2nd yeast added 5 days ago. Can this be saved?


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## richmke (Sep 17, 2014)

I have never made wine from grapes, so you will have to wait for other guys to post.

I think you need to check and adjust the wine's PH/total acidity.

May need to add Yeast Nutrient, and maybe Yeast Engergizer. Might want to consider Pectic Enzyme too.

You only want 1 type of yeast. I think you should inoculating (K-meta or cooking stage) first to kill off whatever is there in case "adjusting" the must activates the yeast (also 2 weeks is a lot of time for other bacteria to start growing). Then pitch with Lalvin only.


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## homesteader26 (Sep 17, 2014)

To clarify my post I have two buckets in this batch which is why there are 2 different yeasts - one per 5 gallon bucket.


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## richmke (Sep 17, 2014)

FYI this is from your other post:



> I started 2 new batches of Concord grape using cooked juice. This morning it has a nice foaming on top but I'm not sure how long I leave it alone or when to skim and stir? My original recipe said ferment 3 days before skimming and straining. Does this seem right? My first batch hasn't come out great so advice is welcome. My recipe is equal parts cooked juice, water and sugar. Very basic. My yeast is Lalvin EC-1118 and a batch Red Star Premier Cuvee



Skim off what you have now (the bread???). Once you get the fermentation going again, stir and check the SG daily to make sure it is dropping. When the SG is below 1.01 (about 5-7 days), then rack (skip the skimming and straining) to a carboy for continued (secondary) fermentation.


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## homesteader26 (Sep 17, 2014)

These are different threads because I'm doing the 2nd batch of 2 buckets differently (skipping the bread on the 2nd batch started yesterday and using wine yeast). What I wanted to clarify is that the 1st batch is 2 buckets and each has a different yeast in it (not combined).


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## richmke (Sep 17, 2014)

What yeast did you put on the bread? When you added more yeast, was it the same yeast?


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## homesteader26 (Sep 17, 2014)

Richmke it was different yeast - first was bread yeast then I added wine yeast - is this where I erred? Shoot I added a yeast that said it helped stuck fermentation so I didn't think that would be an issue - clearly something is not right. Question would it still be fizzy if it were done?


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## richmke (Sep 17, 2014)

2 different yeasts, in and of itself, is not the problem. It is just something that is not a good idea. You still have a problem of why the fermentation did not start in the first place.

I found this on concord grapes:



> The bottom line on concord grapes . They are too high in acid and too low in sugar to make a good wine without the winemaker adjusting the wine to accommodate for these deficiencies.



Seems like adding sugar adjusted that problem. Diluting with water helps to adjust the acid level.

However, I am not sure if you got the mixture correct. Your SG is a little high. So, I'm guessing your acid level is off too. You will need to test the PH, and adjust.


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## richmke (Sep 17, 2014)

This is a recipe I found:



> 5 Gallon Recipe
> 
> 50 lbs Concord grapes (crushed and stems removed)
> 
> ...


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## homesteader26 (Sep 18, 2014)

Trying to save this slow must - my new batch has a thick cap on it and I had more than would fit in the bucket sooo I put it in quart mason jars and left the caps loose. They were had a thick cap as well so Tonight I stirred those 2 quarts into one of my slow buckets to see if I can get some yeast working in there. I also put a space heater in the small room to raise the temp as it was barely 68 where they are. Think this might help?


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