# Ginger Wine - no fermentation - why?



## YourCaptain (Apr 28, 2013)

A few days ago I started making ginger wine.
The following ingredients were used
500g Ginger
7 chopped chilli's
Zest and Juice from 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 cups of raisens
1kg Sugar
5ml Acid
0.2ml Tannin
5ml Yeast
5ml Yeast Nutrient
0.33ml Sterilizer

It has not started fermenting yet... why?


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## pjd (Apr 28, 2013)

what is the 0.33ml Sterilizer? If it is K meta and was added with the yeast your wine will probably never start fermenting.


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## YourCaptain (Apr 28, 2013)

Yip K Meta.
But the yeast was added 24hrs after the K Meta. It's been 48hrs since I added the yeast. Should I add another 5ml yeast?


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## Julie (Apr 28, 2013)

I am assuming the 5ml Acid is acid blend plus you added an orange and a lemon. How big of a batch is this and what was your sg? 

Have you been stirring it at all? I think you need to stir this very vigoreously a couple times a day to help get it started. If it does not start in the next couple of days, I would make a yeast starter.


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## YourCaptain (Apr 28, 2013)

It is an acid blend that came in a Fruit Wine Making "kit". 
This was for 4.5liters
I am stirring twice a day.
Which starter would you recommend? DAP?
I'm new to winemaking, so dont have all the equipment yet. I purchased my hydrometer last week, it's still in the post. So I have no idea what the SG is. I'm assuming quite high if you consider 1kg sugar in a 4.5liter container.


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## Julie (Apr 28, 2013)

Since you do not have fermentation going take a hydrometer reading.


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## jensmith (Apr 28, 2013)

If its too cold it will not start or will do so slowly. Check your temp and give it a good stir.


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## YourCaptain (Apr 28, 2013)

@Julie - hopefully my hydrometer arrives soons and I can check the SG
@JenSmith - We are going into winter... what type of tempreture is too cold? How do I increase it? Just put a heater on in the room?


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## Julie (Apr 28, 2013)

YourCaptain said:


> @Julie - hopefully my hydrometer arrives soons and I can check the SG
> @JenSmith - We are going into winter... what type of tempreture is too cold? How do I increase it? Just put a heater on in the room?


 
Sorry, I thought you had said you had a hydrometer, just check it when it comes. Try to get you must up to 70 degrees in temp. LOL, I am going to tell you to use a brew belt but I know you don't have one so use a heating pad if you have one, or using a heater in the room works very well too.


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## jensmith (Apr 28, 2013)

Yup. About 70 should be good. If you don't have any heating pads or brew belts wrap it up in a heated blanket. I also will put my brew bucket in the shower stall after I take a long hot shower. I have one of those tiny closed in things. It stays tosty in there for a bit. Hopefully enough for the yeast to start. 
The ginger wine I started last week was slow to start as well. It is fermenting without any foam or big bubbles. If you put your ear next to it you can hear it fizz. If not for the dropping sg I would not be shure it was fermenting!


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## Duster (Apr 28, 2013)

Just as an FYI, I see your recipe is listed in metric scale, 70* that is mentioned is in fahrenheit it would be about 21* centigrade.


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## YourCaptain (Apr 29, 2013)

Overnight I left the heater on in the room where I keep wine, and when I shook it this morning, I got 2 or 3 bubbles out. I have read a few other threads regarding ginger wine, and all of them sound as if they had a slow start.

Not giving up hope just yet.


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## YourCaptain (May 5, 2013)

Finally got my hydrometer. It measures an SG of 1.070. I'll wait a week to check if it drops. I have transferred it into the secondary in the meantime. It tastes gooood...


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## WVMountaineerJack (May 5, 2013)

Ginger root or ginger powder? I have never had a hard time getting a ginger wine to start. What size is this batch? A little white grape juice will help out some, a little food for the yeast, a little body etc. WVMJ


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## Stressbaby (May 5, 2013)

One thing, and I don't know if this would affect fermentation...but that is 2-3 times the amount of ginger you see in a typical 1 gallon ginger wine recipe.


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## cocroach (May 5, 2013)

Hmmm...not sure is that would be the cause. I made a ginger wine recipe last year and tripled the amount of ginger the recipe asked for just because I love ginger. I didn't have any issues with fermentation and the wine came out great.


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## YourCaptain (May 5, 2013)

Ginger root, finely chopped. Can't get white grape juice without preservatives in. That's why I used the raisins. Apparently it's supposed to do the same thing


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## WVMountaineerJack (May 5, 2013)

We have used to a pound/gal, this makes an most excellent substitute for gingerale in the Christmas punch, much more ginger taste and a little kick on its own. WVMJ


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## sceleste54 (May 5, 2013)

I hope you post the progress on this wine YourCaptain, it sounds interesting !


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## YourCaptain (May 10, 2013)

Finally it's bubbling away. 

This makes me a very happy captain.


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## arcticsid (May 11, 2013)

Raisins can add alot of body and dimension to a wine, but at the same time it is known to be notorious for a stuck fermentatin due to the preservatives used in their processing. Sorry, I didnt look up any specific posts regarding raisins, but a quick search on this site may bring up more info about raisins. They can easiy prevent a fermentation from starting and even prevent it all together.

Bensoate is a natural preervative and is prevelant in cranberries and makes for a real tough ferment unless you use a starter. Raisins can be real tough for the same reason. Although I live where I can pick hundreds of gallons of cranberries fighting off the bears and this fermentation issue isnt worth it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_benzoate

This arcticle is my no means a definitive answer but it may explain a little to you about preservatives and how they can affect a fermetation.


Glad to hear you have bubbles fizzing away. Fizz is our friend! LOL

I hope someone else can chime in and explain more about using raisins in wine.

All the best to you, all the time.


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## cocroach (May 11, 2013)

Thanks for the post on this. 

I might have lucked out with the ginger wine I made, I did use raisins and didn't seems to have any issues with getting it to ferment and the wine turned out really nice. I did also give the raisins a good rinse though prior to adding them into the primary; I had heard that doing this can help to remove some of the preservatives.

Since then, I have come across a lot of information related to problems with fermentation as a result of raisins. For anyone using raisins, it's probably worth going the extra mile to know what kind of raisins you're using.


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