# WHEN DOES FERMENTATION STOP



## scotty (Jun 20, 2006)

Hi all again. I finally have a question that i believe is posted in the correct forum.





Here goes. First of all I'm still working with the one gallon batches made from frozen Welches concentrates.


My 100% grape gallon has been racked to a new sanitary jug with an airlock.


I have read where i should wait 2 months before i rack again.


Today i read that i can tell when fermentation stops when the water in the airlock is level or no longer being pushed toward one side by the gasses.


That sounds sensible and easier to watch. 


During primary fermentation and after the first 10 to 14 days i was hanging around th bottle with an led timer waiting for the bubbles to have more than 2 minutes time before another bubble would appear. Now that im into what I think is secondary fermentation for my (((whatever)), can you folks please give me some tips about this secondary fermentation and any other things that i should pay attention to


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## paubin (Jun 20, 2006)

Scotty, 

Fermentation will stop at SG .990 or when the alcohol content is higher
than the yeast can take killing the yeast (this is dependent on the
type of yeast you used and its alcohol tolerance). Fruit wines can take
longer to ferment out the wine grape wines. You should periodically
check the SG of your wine to guage its progress towards .990. Rack the
wine when the lees and sediments are built up and firm at the base of
the carboy.There is no set schedual for racking. You can see several
pics of carboys prior to racking in this forum that you can use as a
good example of when racking should be done. I will be posting a pic of
before and after racking pics later this evening. Once you are down to
.990 it is time to stabilize and bulk age or bottle. Filtering you wine
is always a good option also. I usually bulk age so stiring to remove
suspended CO2 is not as crucial, although I do stir well prior to
bottling. I prefer not to stir until bottling time so that
CO2 coming out of suspension will displace O2 in the carboy. Remember
O2 is the enemy now, so limit exposure as much as possible. I hope that
this helps you out and hopefully some of the learned sages of this
forum will chime in if I missed anything. Also getting some good books
on wine making are extremely useful. I would suggest jcc berry's and
terry garey's.


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## scotty (Jun 20, 2006)

i dont check the sg because i didn't want oxygen to get at the liquid. There is alread a settlement of lees just one day after racking the gallon. i can see some very mild fermentation because there is gas trying to push through the airlock. i guess i'll wait just a few days and rack again. at that time ill get the hydrometer out. 





thanks


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## bilbo-in-maine (Jun 20, 2006)

Scotty - As a matter of terminology, it is correct to refer to fermentation at 
this stage as primary fermentation, even though it has been racked once 
into your second vessel. Secondary fermentation would begin if you were to 
innoculate the wine with malolactic bacteria to do malolactic fermentation in 
order to reduce malic acid. To know when your primary fermentation is 
finished, forget about watching the airlock for activity. Use your hydrometer 
and don't be too nervous about exposing the wine to air at this point. When 
you get readings in the low .990's as Pete said, check on two or three 
consecutive days to make sure the reading doesn't go any lower. 
Fermentation can be assumed to finish when the number is stable and you 
have kept the wine around 68-75 degrees. You may have to wait a week to 
10 days after initial racking.


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## bilbo-in-maine (Jun 20, 2006)

Scotty - As a matter of terminology, it is correct to refer to fermentation 
at this stage as primary fermentation, even though it has been racked 
once into your second vessel. Secondary fermentation would begin if you 
were to innoculate the wine with malolactic bacteria to do malolactic 
fermentation in order to reduce malic acid. To know when your primary 
fermentation is finished, forget about watching the airlock for activity. 
Use your hydrometer and don't be too nervous about exposing the wine 
to air at this point. When you get readings in the low .990's as Pete said, 
check on two or three consecutive days to make sure the reading doesn't 
go any lower. Fermentation can be assumed to finish when the number is 
stable and you have kept the wine around 68-75 degrees. You may have 
to wait a week to 10 days after initial racking. Do not rack again in several 
days, just let things take their course, get used to using the hydrometer, 
and keep asking questions.


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## scotty (Jun 20, 2006)

ok i was concerned about air thanks


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