A little help from my friends - stuck fermentation

[bearpaw8491]

I started a batch of “2nd wine” from the press cake of a muscadine wine on 21 Oct 2021. The initial S/G was 1.100 - yep, went kinda overboard but according to recipe I was using! The wine continued to ferment normally with the S/G dropping from 1.100 to 1.020 on 21 Feb this year. The S/G has remained at 1.020 to date.
Not sure why the fermentation stopped since conditions were the same for 2 other batches of “regular” muscadine wine which finished at S/G 0.097.
I’m uncertain as to how to proceed since this is my first stuck fermentation in 20 yrs of winemaking (but it’s also my first attempt at a 2nd wine).
Should I mix up a new yeast starter, dose the wine with some nutrients & energizer, pitch the yeast and see if it restarts OR hit it with sorbate and kmeta, bottle and give a sister-in-law who loves syrup, err super sweet wine ?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

John

 

[salcoco]

make a yeast starter with EC1118. ounce foaming well add one cup of must, once it is foaming well add two cups of must, let it foam well add four cups of must, continue in this manner doubling the must each time the pervious volume has started fermenting. yeast nutrient before you start also would help

 

[VinesnBines]

Sooooo I had a stuck fermentation for a couple weeks; stuck at 1.030 for at least a week. I tried making yeast starters with EC 1118 but they seemed to stall. My first mistake was that I had it under airlock at first but it fermented to 1.030. Anyway, I added nutrient, added small yeast starters, took out of the carboys (15 gallons) and into buckets. I warmed them up, stirred several times a day; added water (these were 6 gallon kits that I had shorted the water so I took them to 6 gallons each) the water took it to 1.022 so I added sugar to get back to 1.030, still nothing for days. Finally I threw up my hands and splash racked (dipped pitchers out of the buckets and poured) into a 50 liter keg and a 5 gallon carboy both in a cooler room than primary. In less the 4 hours the fermentation restarted and was down to 1.020 in 30 hours. Now, two weeks later, down to 1.000.

Try everything and then when you get tired, leave it alone and see what happens.

 

[winemaker81]

I agree with creating a starter -- let it set overnight to allow the yeast to reproduce and produce a larger initial colony. Add yeast nutrient -- lack of nutrient can be a large problem.

 

[BigDaveK]

I haven't had one stuck yet but I enjoy reading these posts. They get me ready for when it does happen.

I seem to have the opposite problem.

Since November all my ferments have been in the same small 10x10 room, door closed. Yesterday I put together my first banana wine. This morning when I went to add yeast I noticed the temperature had risen 2 degrees, 4 degrees over ambient. @winemaker81 you mentioned yeast in the walls of old wineries. Well, I added the yeast and had honest to God foam in 4 friggin' hours!!! I've decided to wait with the yeast on my next batch just to see what happens.

 

[winemaker81]

I haven't had one stuck yet but I enjoy reading these posts. They get me ready for when it does happen.

The (not so) secret solution is to have extra yeast on hand and not panic. Make a good starter and things will go!

@winemaker81 you mentioned yeast in the walls of old wineries. Well, I added the yeast and had honest to God foam in 4 friggin' hours!!! I've decided to wait with the yeast on my next batch just to see what happens.

Yeast is in the air. As long as EC-1118 works for you, you're fine!

 

[bearpaw8491]

Well, thanks to all. Made up the starter this morning (05:00) as Salcoco recommended but it hasn't taken off yet. Will remain calm and carry on as Winemaker81 and Vinese Bines suggested and hope for same result as Big Dave K!!! All parameters - pH, temp, nutrition seem to be OK. Will monitor for the rest of weekend and let you know what happens.
Thanks

 

[bearpaw8491]

Well, we finally have ignition albeit very slow. I'll watch it for a few days and monitor S/G drop to ensure the little beasts haven't decided to take another vacation. Thanks again for the help and suggestions. Happy Easter and remember; don't hide any real eggs in the house. Don't ask me how I know this!!

 

[Chuck E]

@bearpaw8491 Have you been stirring it everyday? It helps.

 

[bearpaw8491]

I "splashed racked" shortly after the second inoculation and sure that helped kick things off. I'll continue to monitor and stir. Can't get too much O2 at this point. Thanks

 

[VinesnBines]

So my stuck Chardonnay is down to .996 and I pronounced it done enough for dosing with Kmeta and topping up.

 

[VinesnBines]

I "splashed racked" shortly after the second inoculation and sure that helped kick things off. I'll continue to monitor and stir. Can't get too much O2 at this point. Thanks

That was what kicked mine back into gear. Lessons learned!

 

[Nebbiolo020]

For stuck fermentations after a gravity of about 1.030 you will not receive any new flavors or etc from yeast it’s just alcohol at that point so use EC-1118 or repitch new yeast of the same strain originally used. I do this yearly in commercial winemaking as it ensures a clean and full fermentation.

 

[bearpaw8491]

Thanks Nebbiolo020. Fermentation finally reignited last week. It's moving along slowly. Don't plan to do anything else to it other than monitor.

 

[bearpaw8491]

Well, here's my "first born" skeeter pee. Photo 1 cloudy after addition of Country Time Lemonade;


Photo 2 10 days after fining with bentonite:



Bottling tomorrow.
Thanks to all!

 

[Nebbiolo020]

Well, here's my "first born" skeeter pee. Photo 1 cloudy after addition of Country Time Lemonade;
View attachment 87814

Photo 2 10 days after fining with bentonite:

View attachment 87815

Bottling tomorrow.
Thanks to all!

Looks nice and clear

 

[StimVino]

Well, here's my "first born" skeeter pee. Photo 1 cloudy after addition of Country Time Lemonade;
View attachment 87814

Photo 2 10 days after fining with bentonite:

View attachment 87815

Bottling tomorrow.
Thanks to all!

Hey bearpaw8491,

Well, here's my "first born" skeeter pee. Photo 1 cloudy after addition of Country Time Lemonade;
View attachment 87814

Photo 2 10 days after fining with bentonite:

View attachment 87815

Bottling tomorrow.
Thanks to all!

Just reviewing and old thread here and i was wondering about your bung setup in the top photo. Looks like its drilled with 2 holes for a hand pump with a stopper. I may be reading too much into it, but are you using some kind of custom technique for degassing? Thanks

 

[Rice_Guy]

Hey bearpaw8491,

Just reviewing and old thread here and i was wondering about your bung setup in the top photo. Looks like its drilled with 2 holes for a hand pump with a stopper. I may be reading too much into it, but are you using some kind of custom technique for degassing? Thanks

The photo is a head space eliminator. It is not suggested for long term storage/ over a few weeks, since some of them leak and the bulb will get sticky and stop indicating.

I have used check valves for year long storage BUT there is some learning curve on how to put a system together. I suggest an actual vacuum gage so you have a number read out of if vacuum is holding and all connections treated as if you were assembling natural gas lines.
To your degassing question, a check valve is effective for degassing with a vacuum. My target end point is to hold -5 inches Hg for thirty minutes. Squeaky clean degassing is over kill. // Some CO2 bleeding into the head space protects the wine when I vacuum cork or age in a carboy.

 

[bearpaw8491]

Hey bearpaw8491,

Just reviewing and old thread here and i was wondering about your bung setup in the top photo. Looks like its drilled with 2 holes for a hand pump with a stopper. I may be reading too much into it, but are you using some kind of custom technique for degassing? Thanks

Hey ryanstimmel, it's a "head space eliminator"as Rice Guy indiacted. Got it and several other items from allinonewinepump and have been very satisfied. I use a homemade vacuum system to rack, degass, and bottle and it works very well. I also purchased a custom bottle filler from allinonewinepump recently and it has replaced my Buon Vino Super Auto bottle filler that I had used for many years; no more lifting heavy carboys - YEA. Steve is a great guy to do business with and far exceeds customer expectations in every aspect.

 

[Dukeisaac]

Hey ryanstimmel, it's a "head space eliminator"as Rice Guy indiacted. Got it and several other items from allinonewinepump and have been very satisfied. I use a homemade vacuum system to rack, degass, and bottle and it works very well. I also purchased a custom bottle filler from allinonewinepump recently and it has replaced my Buon Vino Super Auto bottle filler that I had used for many years; no more lifting heavy carboys - YEA. Steve is a great guy to do business with and far exceeds customer expectations in every aspect.

I second everything that ryanstimmel said re the all-in-one wine pump. The AIO has been a game changer. No more lifting heavy carboys and possibly break your back or run the risk of dropping a full carboy on your feet. With its bottle filler, no more bending down to fill bottles. With the Head Space Eliminated there is no need to worry about finding more wine to eliminate headspace. The AIO makes wine making so much easier.