2 chardonay kits stalled

[Dentman]

Hello friends, I have 2 chard kits from fontana that i started last friday (10 days) i do the joeswine thing and make to 5 gallons, a little chaptalization and an oak stave. i think the initial read was 1.150 Ive done more of these kits than i can remember and never had a problem. Both kits have stalled around 1.035 - i had them in my usual setup with a rope light wrapped around the buckets for heat - my basement is cold - 58 degrees.

The running temps during fermentation ws 84 i know a little hot. My only guess is because i batched them cold, when the heat came up it sent the SG through the roof and i have over chap'd them.


So i cooled them down and added a new packet of ec1118 and now 3 days later no activity . They are sitting at 75 degrees now. Im gonna rack them to glass tonight, but i don't know what to do otherwise. Any advice from the community is welcomed

 

[pillswoj]

If your initial SG was 1.150 as you say, the potential alcohol would have been ~ 21% you are currently at about 16%. Although EC1118 is good to around 18% you would have a tough time getting it restarted.

 

[Dentman]

Ok thank you. I took a phone call during the batch I guess I didn’t pay attention close enough. Im fairly certain the sh was that high.

So would you recommend adding water to the batch? It was a 6 gal kit made to 5 gal

 

[cmason1957]

Adding a gallon of water to it will get your original SG down to about 1.125 which is still up in the rocket fuel range. If it ferments all the way out, you will end up 16.5%ABV, which is better and you might be able to get EC-1118 to restart. I am pretty sure that when Joe adds sugar, he only takes it up to about 1.100.

 

[Dentman]

ok thanks much.