# Stuck or completed?



## NorCal (Jun 17, 2014)

A much modified SP recipe. 6 gallon, 10 pounds sugar, 48 oz of reallemon, SG 1.085, Champagne yeast. Fermented to 1.055 in 4 days, added more nutrient covered, put airlock on and had to go out if town for 4 more days. Came back and no sign of fermentation, SG at 1.032. I decided to rack, degas, Sorbate, kmeta, Sparkolloid and put in a carboy with an airlock. I'll be measuring any changes in the SG, but I was quite happy with the semi sweet taste. I plan on letting it sit for 4-8 weeks. Any idea if this yeast could have died off? Should I have tried to restart fermentation?

Comments?


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## calvin (Jun 17, 2014)

If you added sorbate it won't ferment any more


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## bkisel (Jun 17, 2014)

Did you measure that same SG for 2-3 days in a row? If not I would guess fermentation was not complete. Even if so, with my admitted limited experience, I would not consider a fermentation complete unless SG were something like 0.998 or less.

Anyway, if you like the results that's what matters most.


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## sour_grapes (Jun 17, 2014)

NorCal said:


> Should I have tried to restart fermentation?



Personally, I would have tried to have restarted it. OTOH, as bkisel says, if you like it, that is all that matters.

Note that you only have about 7% ABV. This may not keep all that well, so I think I would use plenty of k-meta and drink up soon!


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## 4score (Jun 17, 2014)

calvin said:


> If you added sorbate it won't ferment any more



I thought sorbate just keeps existing yeast from multiplying. If you have existing yeast, I think they could still ferment.


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## calvin (Jun 17, 2014)

4score said:


> I thought sorbate just keeps existing yeast from multiplying. If you have existing yeast, I think they could still ferment.



That's what "they" say. If that was the case you couldn't back sweeten any wine without fermentation continuing.


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## seth8530 (Jun 17, 2014)

calvin said:


> That's what "they" say. If that was the case you couldn't back sweeten any wine without fermentation continuing.


Actually, 4score is right. 

Sorbate will not stop an active ferment nor does it do all that good job on a wine that is not yet clear. To guarantee the effectiveness of sorbate one should wait until the wine is both clear and done fermenting( by verifying SG on multiple days) before adding sorbate. Only then should you add sugars back to the wine.


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## calvin (Jun 17, 2014)

I always add k meta, sorbate, and degass simultaneously before adding clearing agents. I do however wait a week or so before sweetening. I'm not going to try it but it would be very interesting to throw a dose of sorbate in an active fermentation and see if it stops? My guess would be yes. I'm a noob though so I could very well be wrong. How long will a yeast cell live?


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## seth8530 (Jun 17, 2014)

If you want to see for yourself give it a go. I do not imagine it would be very effective on an active ferment.


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## vernsgal (Jun 18, 2014)

I too have found that adding sorbate has not stopped active fermentation. It will stop any added sugar from fermenting. Not sure of the science of why this is, just a personal experience.


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## Julie (Jun 18, 2014)

As others said sorbate will not stop an active ferment but sure does cause some issues, you just shocked the crap out of your yeasties adn it is going to take awhile for them to recover. At 1.032 you should have never added kmeta and sorbate, while you may think you have completed fermentation I can pretty much guarantee you six months or even a year down the road, when those yeasites get over the shock of the sorbate and kmeta that are going to become active again and you will have bottle bombs.


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## NorCal (Jun 18, 2014)

Thank you for the replies and this has definitely been a learning experience. If I measure the SG for a week and the SG doesn't change, am it still at risk of having the yeast become active in the future? For wine made from grapes, that has residual sugar, how do you make sure all the yeast are dead before bottling?


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## Julie (Jun 18, 2014)

you need to ferment to dry, 1.000 or below. if your reading is higher than 1.000 and stays there for a couble of weeks, then you need to treat it as a stuck fermentation


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## NorCal (Jun 18, 2014)

Thanks Julie, assuming I'm happy with the clearing and taste, what would happen if I were to freeze the SP to kill off any active yeast?


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## NorCal (Jun 18, 2014)

Ok, just read a few articles about freezing to stop fermentation. It works, until the wine thaws again. 

Since I added sorbate, is it possible to restart fermentation? Thanks for the help, really interested in learning, more so than saving the $9 worth of materials I have in the carboy.


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## vernsgal (Jun 19, 2014)

As Julie said, if you wait a few weeks and there's no change in SG you have to treat as a stuck fermentation. I would try a yeast starter to see if you can get it going again. Here's one I picked up somewhere and have used successfully in past.
Yeast starter for 5-6 gallon
In a mason jar, measuring cup or container 
add- 1 cups warm water 80-90 F 
2 pinch citric acid 
1/2 tsp nutrient 
2 Tbls sugar dissolved in the water 
Wine Yeast
Let the starter sit and work for 24 hours in a sanitized mason type jar (I use a 2 or 4 cup measuring cup) cover loosely with a paper towel. in 12-24 hours it will really be rolling (if it isn't you might have a problem with that pack of yeast)
When you are ready to add the starter, stir up your must a bit to introduce oxygen, then pour the starter on top of the must. Do not stir in at this point. Wait about 8 hours then gently stir the must
Remember in future to always wait til SG is below 1.000


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## NorCal (Jun 19, 2014)

Thanks for the advice. I checked the SG and in the past two days it has dropped from 1.032 to 1.030. I will try to restart it.


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## vernsgal (Jun 19, 2014)

If it's dropping on it's own just try giving it a good stir several times a day.


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## NorCal (Jun 19, 2014)

Good idea. Perhaps some nutrient, take off the airlock and a good stir? I'll give that a shot before attempting to restart. 


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## vernsgal (Jun 19, 2014)

if you don't want to transfer back to primary pail, stir well daily and just drop a small towel over it instead of using airlock


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## Floandgary (Jun 19, 2014)

I missed what was fermenting. You might consider letting it warm up in to the 70's as well as the stirring. That may get it moving a little.


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## NorCal (Jun 20, 2014)

I racked the SP back into a bucket. Stirred vigorously and covered. The SG was unchanged at 1.03 from the day before and no visual fermentation activity after 12 hours. Simultaneously I started a new army of 1118 yeast, using two cups from the "must" a little energizer, nutrient and sugar. It was going well after 12 hours and I pitched it into the bucket. We will see if it takes off again.


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## Geronimo (Jun 20, 2014)

If it doesn't start, you still have another option. What I did was start another batch, split it into 2 halves and added half of the stuck fermentation to each once they started. Just make sure you let the stuck must breathe a good bit (over night) to dissipate the SO2. 

I have to agree with others... back sweetening a complete fermentation is safe, but bottling a stuck fermentation isn't.


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## NorCal (Jun 20, 2014)

Arg, I don't see any activity. I'll give it a day or two, but I'm done investing my time into it. I'll take it as a lesson learned and I'll start another batch.


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## vernsgal (Jun 21, 2014)

Give it 2-3 days. Keep stirring.I always wait at least 3-4 days after pitching yeast until I do the ARG!


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