campden?

[david1]

Hello, my name is david and my sister and i started apple wine in november (first batch ever), we are nervous, it seems that the ferment went well started at 1.085sg. the first rack was a little late do to a hunting trip,(1.030). But, it also seems everything is ok, the wine cleared very nice in about 1.5 months. I racked three times in that period. no campden added at racking but, 5 tabs before yeast. the ferment seemed to slow greatly, so, i brought it into the house basement 65deg. 5 deg. warmer than in the shop. ferment picked up a little, then stopped. I racked onto 5 crushed campden tabs in a clean carboy and the wine immeadiatly clouded and won't go away is this normal?

 

[cpfan]

Do you have a current sg?

Steve

 

[Wade E]

A little hard to understand this post. Did this finish fermenting? Like cpfan said, what is the sg right now. If it is done fermenting then what have you added as a fining agent if any and what is the temp of theis wie? Have you degassed this wine?

 

[david1]

thanks for the help all, the ferment stopped at 60deg. i warmed it 5 more deg. to 65 deg. it stopped again after 5days or so. now sg is 1.010 i have not used a fining agent, as said the wine is 65 deg. i am new to this so forgive the ignorance. but i dont know what degassing is, have i missed somthing in first steps to winemaking?

 

[cpfan]

OK David, do you know the initial sg? 60-65F is a bit cool. Can you bring it up more to 70F? Give it a stir to see if you can wake up some dormant yeast from the bottom. Maybe the fermentation will re-start and the sg will drop down some more.

Steve

 

[Wade E]

Like CP asked we need to know the initial SG and what type of yeast you used. It could be still stuck or it could have over taken the yeasts abv tolerence. Also like cp said those are not very good temps for making wine especially for a beginner. Warm it up to 70 deg. or a tad more. Also, did you add any yeast nutrient or energizer to this batch.

As for degassing, this is done once you have stabilized your stable wine. Its is done in many ways, wether it be with a big spoon which is very tiresome and usually doesnt get it all out, by bulk aging for about a year which I also believe doesnt get it all out unless you are splash very vigorously, with a drill mounted mix stirrer which does an OK job but be careful and start out slow or youll end up with the dreaded wine volcano like the picture Ill post below all text. Then we move onto vacuum degassing in which you can use a winesaver vacuum which is designed to pull the air out of a bottle of wine for longer storage before your wine goes bad, then there is a Mityvac Brake bleeder which is designed with a pull lever and gauge to pull air out of your cars brake line. last and best IMO s this is what I know have, an electric vacuum pump which does what the other vacuum tools do but with much less effort and in about 3 minutes. You can also rack your wine with this pump, you can filter with this pump and yu can bottle with this pump. Youll never have to lift a full carboy or demijohn again. Heres a pic of the pump racking my Peach Ice wine below the volcano.

 

[Racer]

Just wanting to make sure of where your wine is at right now.
You and your sister started an apple wine with an sg. of 1.085. After a month and a half and 3 rackings later its at 1.010. Now on your 4th racking into a carboy with 5 campden tablets your wine has gone cloudy and hasn't cleared up after that? Do I have it right there?

Oh, sorry should have started with welcome to the forum! I've got a bad habit of doing things backwards some times.

 

[david1]

initial sg was 1.085 montrge (excuse spelling) yeast was used thanks everyone for the advice. racer, you are correct with the info you you have is this as simple as de gassing or just being patient and letting it go ? i have already moved it to a 72 deg. area in my basement. the initial ferment and all subsequent rackings have taken place at between 62 and 65 deg.f abv tolerance ? wade it looks as if you were using a bottle brush for the degassing. if done carefully is this a good method?

 

[Wade E]

That device on my drill is called a Mix Stir and made to get C02 out of wine. Im guessing that yeast was Montrachet? With that starting SG you must have a stuck fermentation and it should easily get below 1.000. Get it warmed up to around 74 degrees and give it a stir and some yeast nutrient.

 

[Racer]

I'd let it settle for a few days and see what happens with it. As far as de-gassing goes you can get a wine whip like wade has or you can let your wine age in the carboy alot longer and it will eventually de-gas on it's own(about a year).

 

[Racer]

Wade since 5 campden tabs have been added to the wine now wont he need to splash rack the wine to get so2 down and try to restart with new yeast?