# wine wont stop working! help!!!



## nectarine (Jun 28, 2010)

I;m not sure what I;m doing wrong! I have a gallon of apple wine which I made in 2008, which I put into a demi-john and bunged with a rubber bung, at this time it had stopped working, but, within a few months it started to bubble again, and so I put an airlock in and let it continue. Again, it appeared to be finished, I bunged it up again, then went travelling for 6 months, on my return it had popped its cork, but, because it smelled and tasted ok, I put the airlock in again - this was in March 2010., and the wine is still working away, and showing no sign of ever finishing!

Then, yesterday, I took two demijohns out to bottle the wines - one 2009 apple and the other 2009 plum, both made during the end of summer, and blow me, if these two wines are now fermenting away again, the apple is fermenting like a mad-thing!

So,my question is, how can I stop the wines from working, or should I?

Thankyou for your help.


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## winemaker_3352 (Jun 28, 2010)

Are you sure they are fermenting and it is not CO2 coming out of the wine?

Have you taken SG readings to verify if it is still fermenting?


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## St Allie (Jun 28, 2010)

Welcome to the forum nectarine!

sounds gassy to me,

Last year, had a ribena wine that just wouldn't stop working either.. took months even with lots of degassing.. finished very sweet too.

I just left it to sort itself out, which it did eventually.

Allie


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## winemaker_3352 (Jun 28, 2010)

Yeah - my strawberry is that way now - i have degassed it - and i still see some CO2 being released. Just have to have patience.


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## nectarine (Jun 28, 2010)

*thankyou*

Well, thanks to you all!
I never recall have to de-gas wine when I made it some years ago - I never needed to.....but, I guess you're right. I have recently made kit-wine and done the endless shaking business to de-gas it....so, I assume that is what I need to do with this?
Why does some wine become so gassy? Is it especially so with apple? 
Anyway, thankyou for your help.


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## Tom (Jun 28, 2010)

Yea can be needing degassing. Also the air pressure will have an effect on wine as well. Using a solid bung and change in aripressure or temp can be why if blew.


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## xanxer82 (Jun 28, 2010)

Did you Use sulfite and sorbate?


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## nectarine (Jun 28, 2010)

*thanks*

No, I didn;t. The recipe didn;t call for it, and I am just a beginner, is it too late now? Thankyou for your help


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## Wade E (Jun 28, 2010)

There are lots of instructions that arent included in recipes as they are a given and you really should have an understanding of making wine before trying. I am not badgering you just trying to tell t=you why it wasnt in the recipe so please dont take that as an insult. Do you have a hydrometer? If so please take an sg treading and report back, if not plese get 1 for further wine making as it is very easy to use and will tell you all you need to know about the wine. If this wine was started in 2008 I will say irs nearly impossible that this is still fermenting. What temp is the wine at right now? If its been in cooler temps most of the time then the wine wont degas by itself and when its subjected to warmer temps like 75* it will start releasing gas as warmer temps help let trapped C-2 out of suspension.


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## nectarine (Jul 1, 2010)

*many thanks*

I really am grateful for all your replies - thankyou.
I am not certain that I added sulphite - camden tablet - this was 2 years ago, and when I had just resumed wine-making, after a gap of 10 years or so. Therefore, I added one today......
I am de-gassing like crazy - shaking the demi-johns regularly - is there an easier/more effective method? It bubbles up furiously, then subsides.....
So, hopefully, with this double-whammy approach it will eventually calm down!!!!
The specific gravity is 990 - so, of course, it cannot really be fermenting...It;s just that I never ever recall having a wine behave in this way before, and it confused me. So, thanks again. Very glad to have found this fascinating web-site, and look forward to learning lots from it.


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## midwestwine (Jul 1, 2010)

nectarine said:


> I really am grateful for all your replies - thankyou.
> I am not certain that I added sulphite - camden tablet - this was 2 years ago, and when I had just resumed wine-making, after a gap of 10 years or so. Therefore, I added one today......
> I am de-gassing like crazy - shaking the demi-johns regularly - is there an easier/more effective method? It bubbles up furiously, then subsides.....
> So, hopefully, with this double-whammy approach it will eventually calm down!!!!
> The specific gravity is 990 - so, of course, it cannot really be fermenting...It;s just that I never ever recall having a wine behave in this way before, and it confused me. So, thanks again. Very glad to have found this fascinating web-site, and look forward to learning lots from it.



try this for degassing it works great
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/the-stainless-steel-mix-stir.html


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 1, 2010)

I use a Robinair 2 Stage vacuum pump - but they can get pretty pricey - a Medical Aspirator Pump just as well and are alot cheaper.

This can also be used to rack your wine from one vessel to another.


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## non-grapenut (Jul 1, 2010)

I just shake the hell out of my carboy during the 1st-2nd racks at the end of the deed, keeping the syphon apparatus attached so only gas escapes. I'm cheap...it works.


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 1, 2010)

non-grapenut said:


> I just shake the hell out of my carboy during the 1st-2nd racks at the end of the deed, keeping the syphon apparatus attached so only gas escapes. I'm cheap...it works.



Doesn't a 6 gallon carboy full of wine get pretty heavy to hold and shake the hell out of?


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## xanxer82 (Jul 1, 2010)

winemaker_3352 said:


> Doesn't a 6 gallon carboy full of wine get pretty heavy to hold and shake the hell out of?



Certainly! lol


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## non-grapenut (Jul 6, 2010)

winemaker_3352 said:


> Doesn't a 6 gallon carboy full of wine get pretty heavy to hold and shake the hell out of?



It does, but I come from Nordic blood...Viking women can do just about anything a Viking man can do, and maybe more!


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 6, 2010)

non-grapenut said:


> It does, but I come from Nordic blood...Viking women can do just about anything a Viking man can do, and maybe more!



Enough said - reminder to never make you mad


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## jdeere5220 (Jul 7, 2010)

Wow, and I thought I was manly using my 18.8 volt DeWalt drill with the stirrer paddles..... I can definitely see a trip to the back cracker if I tried to shake a 6-gallon carboy ! 

Hey, non-grapenut, that would make a great YouTube video!


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## rfalls (Jul 7, 2010)

When this happens to me, I put a little sugar in the wine, tsp. or so. If it bubbles up, I assume that it is not totally fermented. Then I taste it to see if it is to my liking, or needs more sugar. If it needs more I add it. If it seems o.k., and doesn't need to be sweetened, I will aerate (or de-gas) it by pouring it back and forth a few times into another container, then put the airlock back on, and see what happens. If it settles down, then use the sulphite and sorbates as advised by other members.


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## Noontime (Jul 8, 2010)

non-grapenut said:


> It does, but I come from Nordic blood...Viking women can do just about anything a Viking man can do, and maybe more!



I shake the carboy as well to degas the wine, but I am a mere mortal man of Irish descent so I do things the lazy way. I put a folded towel under the carboy and rock it back and forth vigorously.


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## grapeman (Jul 8, 2010)

I think part of the problem is the lack of sulfite additions. Yes you have gas, but what is causing it? I bet that it is not just trapped unreleased gas, but gas produced by a malolactic fermentation - mlf. This is a bacteria that is used to reduce acids, primarily malic acid in all sorts of wines. Apples are naturallyhigh in malic acid. MLF can take months to complete, especially if it is mildly cool. It works to completion in a few weeks at 75 - 80 degrees and many months below that. I would warm it up, and get a malic acid test kit such as the Accuvin test. It will finish up with the warmer temps in a few wekks. At that point, sulfite the wine, but don't use sorbate after mlf. The problem is then you can't sweeten. If you use the sorbate, you run the risk of creating geranium odors and tastes in the wine.

Once you have sulfited it, that will prevent any further bacterial actions. Degas it with a spoon or drill mounted stirrer or even vacuum, and bottle it then.


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## non-grapenut (Jul 8, 2010)

you guys are all funny about the carboy shaking thingie! Look for the youtube video coming soon!


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