48 hours and no fermentation!

[hounddawg]

Last night I pitched another yeast starter at 11pm (I had a long work day). Just checked it at 10am. SG reads the same 1.070. Here's a reading of the acid. Not sure how accurate these paper straps are but still looks like a 3.6 to me. Hopefully it takes off in the next 12-24 hours or else I'll be splitting my must like @hounddawg said or maybe @mikewatkins727 method. Those sound promising.

paper strips are not any to good. a cheap ph meter and some 4 buffer solution to keep it calibrated
Dawg

 

[AJH89]

paper strips are not any to good. a cheap ph meter and some 4 buffer solution to keep it calibrated
Dawg

So if my current yeast pitch doesn't take off, I'd like to know yalls full proof-of-concept plan

 

[hounddawg]

what do you have ?
gallons of water ?
fruits or juices ?
SG ?
how much of everything ?
Dawg

 

[KCCam]

So if my current yeast pitch doesn't take off, I'd like to know yalls full proof-of-concept plan

Did you follow the recipe exactly?
What temp is your must?
How much lemon juice did you start with?

I tried SP once and couldn’t get it to ferment either. Since then I’ve learned that partly why the recipe calls for a slurry, a healthy colony of yeast from a previous fermentation, is to improve the chances of fermentation. I also learned from @hounddawg and others that when using dry yeast it helps to only use 32 oz of lemon juice per 6 gallons of must. Add the rest after fermentation.

If you started with more than 32 oz lemon juice, I like Dawg’s suggestion of cutting it with water, and adding sugar to bring it back up to SG 1.070 (me, I’d go to 1.085). You could try that on a small scale, say take 1/2 gal of must in a primary, add 1/2 gal water, add sugar, mix very, very well until you are sure the sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast on top to avoid any problems you might be introducing from rehydrating the yeast. Cover with a towel (don’t stir again). This will only cost you a modest amount of sugar and a package of yeast to try. If that works, start introducing similarly cut must to the active fermentation slowly, over a couple days.

My answer, when I had problems? I “converted” it to Dragon Blood by thawing 9 lbs of frozen triple-berry blend and 5 very overripe bananas, added enough sugar to bring SG to 1.090, and sprinkled EC-1118 on top. It took off immediately, and fermented perfectly.

I’m not an expert (yet), so take my suggestions with a grain of salt (uh, or sugar).

 

[hounddawg]

Did you follow the recipe exactly?
What temp is your must?
How much lemon juice did you start with?

I tried SP once and couldn’t get it to ferment either. Since then I’ve learned that partly why the recipe calls for a slurry, a healthy colony of yeast from a previous fermentation, is to improve the chances of fermentation. I also learned from @hounddawg and others that when using dry yeast it helps to only use 32 oz of lemon juice per 6 gallons of must. Add the rest after fermentation.

If you started with more than 32 oz lemon juice, I like Dawg’s suggestion of cutting it with water, and adding sugar to bring it back up to SG 1.070 (me, I’d go to 1.085). You could try that on a small scale, say take 1/2 gal of must in a primary, add 1/2 gal water, add sugar, mix very, very well until you are sure the sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast on top to avoid any problems you might be introducing from rehydrating the yeast. Cover with a towel (don’t stir again). This will only cost you a modest amount of sugar and a package of yeast to try. If that works, start introducing similarly cut must to the active fermentation slowly, over a couple days.

My answer, when I had problems? I “converted” it to Dragon Blood by thawing 9 lbs of frozen triple-berry blend and 5 very overripe bananas, added enough sugar to bring SG to 1.090, and sprinkled EC-1118 on top. It took off immediately, and fermented perfectly.

I’m not an expert (yet), so take my suggestions with a grain of salt (uh, or sugar).

heck I've read your posts, you've learned more in a few months than me in years
Dawg

 

[AJH89]

what do you have ?
gallons of water ?
fruits or juices ?
SG ?
how much of everything ?
Dawg

5.5 gallons of water
Only lemon juice @ 64ozs
9lbs of sugar
3 tsps of yeast nutrients
1 tsps of yeast energizer
1.070 sg

 

[AJH89]

Did you follow the recipe exactly?
What temp is your must?
How much lemon juice did you start with?

I tried SP once and couldn’t get it to ferment either. Since then I’ve learned that partly why the recipe calls for a slurry, a healthy colony of yeast from a previous fermentation, is to improve the chances of fermentation. I also learned from @hounddawg and others that when using dry yeast it helps to only use 32 oz of lemon juice per 6 gallons of must. Add the rest after fermentation.

If you started with more than 32 oz lemon juice, I like Dawg’s suggestion of cutting it with water, and adding sugar to bring it back up to SG 1.070 (me, I’d go to 1.085). You could try that on a small scale, say take 1/2 gal of must in a primary, add 1/2 gal water, add sugar, mix very, very well until you are sure the sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast on top to avoid any problems you might be introducing from rehydrating the yeast. Cover with a towel (don’t stir again). This will only cost you a modest amount of sugar and a package of yeast to try. If that works, start introducing similarly cut must to the active fermentation slowly, over a couple days.

My answer, when I had problems? I “converted” it to Dragon Blood by thawing 9 lbs of frozen triple-berry blend and 5 very overripe bananas, added enough sugar to bring SG to 1.090, and sprinkled EC-1118 on top. It took off immediately, and fermented perfectly.

I’m not an expert (yet), so take my suggestions with a grain of salt (uh, or sugar).

I did Lon D's recipie almost exact except... I did not use a yeast slurry (I wasn't sure what that was) and it took me 9lbs of sugar to get the sg where the recipie called for instead of 6lbs. 64 ozs of lemon juice as said in recipie. Why even add the lemon juice if it's such a beatdown on the yeast? Why not Just add it all after fermentation is done?

 

[AJH89]

If it is not fermenting by the time I get back to my house tonight I will be splitting the must, adding water and sugar to both and pitching the yeast starter for each

 

[Jovimaple]

We had this convo with someone else on another thread so I went back and reread your posts here and saw you have it under airlock.

I suspect yours might not have enough oxygen if you have it under airlock. If it's in a carboy, I would suggest dumping it into a sanitized food grade bucket and cover it with a thin towel. If it's in a fermenting bucket with an airlock, I would suggest removing the airlock and - you guessed it - covering it with a thin towel.

I started a 3 gallon batch of skeeter pee (with half the lemon) in a bucket 4 days ago, pitched the yeast 3 days ago, and it's fermenting fine in the bucket with a towel over it, on a heater pad which is set for 74 degrees F. It started at 1.080 and was down to 1.062 last night, and it's even more bubbly and foamy today. I used a pack of EC-1118 which I started in a cup of 100 degree F water for 15 minutes, then stirred it into the must I had prepared about 20 hours earlier.

I stir my wine musts every day during primary fermentation to get oxygen to the yeast, then when the S.G. gets below 1.010, I rack to a carboy with an airlock.

 

[AJH89]

Fermentation has taken off! I did what @hounddawg suggested and split the must. It only took 24hours for the Fermentation to take off. What a learning lesson with this Skeeter pee.

 

[AJH89]

Now my next concern.. nothing big. But I forgot to get an initial sg of my must before ever adding any sugar. I'm trying to hit 18%abv. How many lbs of sugar total you think it'll take to get me there? My last batch of strawberry wine hit around 19-21% and tasted amazing! People could tell it was strong but it tasted so good it didn't matter. Hoping to get something like that again.

 

[hounddawg]

Now my next concern.. nothing big. But I forgot to get an initial sg of my must before ever adding any sugar. I'm trying to hit 18%abv. How many lbs total you think it'll take to get me there? My last batch of strawberry wine hit around 19-21% and tasted amazing! People could tell it was strong but it tasted so good it didn't matter. Hoping to get something like that again.

I pick the SG that suits my taste, then when it drops below that, i run my SG back to where i like the taste, till your SG remains the same for 3 days in a row, using either EC-1118 OR K1V-1116
that way all my wines run anywhere from 18% to 21% ABV, you will need to add yeast nutrients and yeast energizer, to get 20 to 21 ABV, now i use double to triple the fruit of berries, that way your wines still taste very good
Dawg

 

[AJH89]

I pick the SG that suits my taste, then when it drops below that, i run my SG back to where i like the taste, till your SG remains the same for 3 days in a row, using either EC-1118 OR K1V-1116
that way all my wines run anywhere from 18% to 21% ABV, you will need to add yeast nutrients and yeast energizer, to get 20 to 21 ABV, now i use double to triple the fruit of berries, that way your wines still taste very good
Dawg

I see what you're doing there @hounddawg

You're basically back sweetening during the fermentation process, therefore when fermentation is complete you don't have to back sweeten it anymore and you've gotten max abv%. Pretty smart.

 

[AJH89]

Ugh, the hurdles just keep coming! I checked my SG today and both musts are the same 1.050. So Lon D's recipe calls for 3 more tsps of yeast nutrient and 3/4 tsps of energizer once I get to that SG reading. I got the energizer but only 2 tsps divided between the buckets so 1tsp per bucket. Will that take me the distance for the rest of my fermentation? Or am I going to need more? Any homemade yeast nutrient recipes? Keep in mind before I split the must into 2 I put 3tsps of yeast nutrient in there to start

 

[hounddawg]

Ugh, the hurdles just keep coming! I checked my SG today and both musts are the same 1.050. So Lon D's recipe calls for 3 more tsps of yeast nutrient and 3/4 tsps of energizer once I get to that SG reading. I got the energizer but only 2 tsps divided between the buckets so 1tsp per bucket. Will that take me the distance for the rest of my fermentation? Or am I going to need more? Any homemade yeast nutrient recipes? Keep in mind before I split the must into 2 I put 3tsps of yeast nutrient in there to start

i'd just split what you got left, and from here on out keep extra of most everything including hydrometers
Dawg

 

[AJH89]

Alright, sitting pretty at 1.030. Fermentation still going! Tomorrow I'll be able to go buy more yeast nutrients from my local home brew store and I'll add a couple tsps to each primary to keep Fermentation going to hopefully reach max abv content. Will be slowly step feeding sugar when I get around 1.000 also.

 

[AJH89]

Issue:

I have taken the tops off my primary days ago to start the fermentation as mentioned from multiple people. Put a beach towel over both. One of my primaries had like 10 dead gnats in it, I threw em out and recovered. Now I see a group of gnats chillin outside the towel. I've heard bugs can turn my wine into vinegar. It's definitely not tainted at the moment.. smells like alcohol. any suggestions? Not really a fan of Not using a lid to be honest...

 

[Rembee]

I would go ahead and put the lid back on with an airlock at this point. If your primary is a bucket then they do not always seal up air tight anyway, so you will still have enough O2 for the yeast. That should keep the fruit flies out of it. You can give it a good stir everyday until you get below 1.020 SG which will intorduce 02. Then I would rack to a carboy.

 

[hounddawg]

Issue:

I have taken the tops off my primary days ago to start the fermentation as mentioned from multiple people. Put a beach towel over both. One of my primaries had like 10 dead gnats in it, I threw em out and recovered. Now I see a group of gnats chillin outside the towel. I've heard bugs can turn my wine into vinegar. It's definitely not tainted at the moment.. smells like alcohol. any suggestions? Not really a fan of Not using a lid to be honest...

pump their stomach's to make sure the live nets aren't smuggling booze,,, food grade diatomaceous earth , sprinkled around will help with gnats and ants,
Dawg

 

[AJH89]

Got down to 1.010 sg this morning. Tossed in some sugar and brought both buckets up to 1.030, will be getting more yeast nutrients from the store and will be adding 2 tsps to both buckets. I did notice it sometimes smells sulfuric when I catch wifs of it. Is that from the campden tablets maybe? Should I be alarmed? Sure does taste good though!