I recently started a blueberry wine using frozen blueberries that I thawed and washed just before using, and I followed a recipe from a book I've used successfully with other fruit wines. I added the yeast to the primary on Feb 6, and on Feb 7 there was definite activity. Then by the end of Feb 8, the activity seemed to have settled quickly and has remained settled (i.e., "flat") since. I took an SG reading today (Feb 9) and it was 1.070. The starting SG was 1.085. This seems off as other fruit wine has gotten to 1.02 after about 4 days for me, and there's no sign that this blueberry wine is doing anything at the moment. The room's temperature is consistently between 70-72 Fahrenheit. Thoughts? Can it be "jump-started"?
Blueberry wine ceases fermentation
- Thread starter jlt22
- Start date
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Bossbaby
Senior Member
What is the ph, what type of yeast are you using ,how many lbs of fruit per gal, how much water did you add? My 1st thought is the PH may be a little low and you may need to make an adjustment. Watering it down some and then try making a healthy yeast starter.
Scooter68
Fruit "Wine" Maker
Agree with above - check the pH. It's likely to be skewed now because of some fermentation but still good to check on it. Blueberries often run pretty acidic so that can cause fermentation issues. If the pH is significantly below 3.00 that may well be the issue. I've seen a pH in blueberry wine as low as 2.98 but that was during the ferment. Adjusting the pH a bit might help it restart alone with raising the temp up to the upper 70s. Another yeast starter, as suggested is a good way to go too in case the original yeast has died.
* did you add an organic YAN or DAP? Chemical nitrogen is like candy for yeast and they can crash after using it up.
* pH on retail blue berry can be all over the place. ex 2018= 2.83/ 2020= 3.11/ 2021= 3.44. A book recipe is likely to add acid just in case of a high pH pushing the must with generated CO2 into a toxic zone. ,,, (that 2.83 pH had TA of 1.31% so the acid needed to be cut by half)
* temperature is good, yeast are exothermic so the carboy might be two degrees warmer than air temp. ,,,, To the extent I can I try to preserve fruit aroma and would run 65+/-
* since this is a book recipe what metabisulphite per gallon did you do? Wine is a preservative system so if several barriers are high it can knock off the good microbes too.
* not related to stuck fermentations but curious why you would wash frozen fruit? Any industrial frozen blueberry you have eaten comes in a fourty pound block which gets dumped into a batching kettle without checking for bugs or dirt. Washing causes thawing and loss of juice.
As @Scooter68 and Boss noted a starter in warm water with yeast nutrient is the normal direction. Lallemand did a good YouTube on yeast.
* pH on retail blue berry can be all over the place. ex 2018= 2.83/ 2020= 3.11/ 2021= 3.44. A book recipe is likely to add acid just in case of a high pH pushing the must with generated CO2 into a toxic zone. ,,, (that 2.83 pH had TA of 1.31% so the acid needed to be cut by half)
* temperature is good, yeast are exothermic so the carboy might be two degrees warmer than air temp. ,,,, To the extent I can I try to preserve fruit aroma and would run 65+/-
* since this is a book recipe what metabisulphite per gallon did you do? Wine is a preservative system so if several barriers are high it can knock off the good microbes too.
* not related to stuck fermentations but curious why you would wash frozen fruit? Any industrial frozen blueberry you have eaten comes in a fourty pound block which gets dumped into a batching kettle without checking for bugs or dirt. Washing causes thawing and loss of juice.
As @Scooter68 and Boss noted a starter in warm water with yeast nutrient is the normal direction. Lallemand did a good YouTube on yeast.
Thanks all for the info and guidance! This forum is great. The pH seems to be the running theme, so I'm going to assume that's a part of the problem. I don't currently have a pH meter, but now I plan to invest in one. I'm going to try adding some water and a yeast starter. It's a 1-gallon batch. After I posted the initial question, I removed the fruit from the primary and did notice some thin froth form on the top by the end of the day. But, not enough to consider it very active. This was the recipe, btw:
2 lb blueberry (fresh or frozen)
7 pts water
1 3/4 lb sugar
(I ended up adding another 1 cup to get to a good starting SG)
1 1/2 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp energizer
1 campden tablet crushed
1 pkg yeast
1/2 pt red grape conc. to be used later in the process
Mixed everything (except the conc.) but the yeast in the primary, then added the yeast after about 24 hrs. I was curious that it didn't require the nutrient.
2 lb blueberry (fresh or frozen)
7 pts water
1 3/4 lb sugar
(I ended up adding another 1 cup to get to a good starting SG)
1 1/2 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp energizer
1 campden tablet crushed
1 pkg yeast
1/2 pt red grape conc. to be used later in the process
Mixed everything (except the conc.) but the yeast in the primary, then added the yeast after about 24 hrs. I was curious that it didn't require the nutrient.
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Yeah, I ended up adding the nutrient (1 tsp) and it's been a couple hours and there already seems to be a little activity, but I'll check the SG tomorrow. Maybe the batch was saved. I really hope so - I hate wasting fruit. Strange the recipe didn't include the nutrient. Maybe an oversight.
It's good to double-check all recipes to ensure they cover the basics. A lot of older recipes, from times when now-common items were not readily available, need to be adjusted.
Scooter68
Fruit "Wine" Maker
When making a new wine variety for the first time - it's wise to check a recipe out with more than one source when possible and ALWAYS take measurements for for the SG and pH BEFORE making additions. Undoing additions to wine batches is not a fun process.
You are not the first to have a problem with blueberry wine and more times than not it comes down to a pH issue.
You are not the first to have a problem with blueberry wine and more times than not it comes down to a pH issue.
I'm new at this but I'll add my 2 cents - which in today's money is pretty much zero.
I've been a canner for a long time and depending on what I'm doing I will freeze the fruit or vegetable because it breaks down the produce, releases juice, speeds up processing. I would never wash thawed produce.
From the recipes I've seen I thought 3 - 4 pounds fruit per gallon was the rule of thumb. More for flavor rather than affecting fermentation.
I'm having my own issues with blueberry. Two identical 1 gallon batches started in November. One took off like gangbusters the other didn't. I recently posted questions about it in another thread and all I can say is there are some VERY knowledgeable and generous wine makers here.
I've been a canner for a long time and depending on what I'm doing I will freeze the fruit or vegetable because it breaks down the produce, releases juice, speeds up processing. I would never wash thawed produce.
From the recipes I've seen I thought 3 - 4 pounds fruit per gallon was the rule of thumb. More for flavor rather than affecting fermentation.
I'm having my own issues with blueberry. Two identical 1 gallon batches started in November. One took off like gangbusters the other didn't. I recently posted questions about it in another thread and all I can say is there are some VERY knowledgeable and generous wine makers here.
The couple other fruit batches I've done also called for 3-4 lb fruit as opposed to the 2lbs called for in this blueberry one. But, I guess this is the fun of it all; start with one recipe then troubleshoot issues, and modify the recipe.
Also, good to hear the tip on checking the SG and pH before any additions!
Also, good to hear the tip on checking the SG and pH before any additions!
Scooter68
Fruit "Wine" Maker
I've never gone that low in fruit per gallon. ( 2, 3, or 4 lbs/gal) Some folks prefer a lighter flavor but most folks on here that do a lot of fruit wines tend to go with as little water addition as possible with most fruits gettign all the liquid from the fruit itself with a very small amount from the simple syrup. For Blueberries I stop at about 6 lbs per gallon. The only fruit I heard where people use such small amounts is Elderberry and there I have heard folks talk about 3 lbs but never less than that.
