Cellar Craft Cellar Craft Cab/Shiraz - Too Much Liquid
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Did you leave a belt on it while you were gone?
Keep it warm 70-74 degrees.
It could take as much as 24 hours for fermentation to pick up again.
Hopefully you still have some active yeast.
Stuck fermentations can be hard to restart.
Keep it warm 70-74 degrees.
It could take as much as 24 hours for fermentation to pick up again.
Hopefully you still have some active yeast.
Stuck fermentations can be hard to restart.
Mike,
Yes, the belt was on the fermentor, but the room was very cold. With the belt on, the fermentor was at 64 degrees.
When we go off for several days, we have a friend stay in the house to take care of our dog (he charges the same as the local kennel charges, not to mention the house is occupied, too, so...).
I normally keep my fermentor in the basement room he was to occupy, so I had to move it while he was there. The temporary room got colder than I thought, much colder. I'll come up with a better plan next time.
I was reading "Ask The Alchemist" where a question was asked about restarting a fermentation that had stopped very late. He mentoned restarting with UVAFERM43, saying it worked well when the alcohol level was already too high for a typical yeast to start well. I assume the question concerned fresh grapes and not a kit. I don't know if it would work for a kit.
Am I right in thinking the wine be a little sweet, if left at SG 1.000?
Yes, the belt was on the fermentor, but the room was very cold. With the belt on, the fermentor was at 64 degrees.
When we go off for several days, we have a friend stay in the house to take care of our dog (he charges the same as the local kennel charges, not to mention the house is occupied, too, so...).
I normally keep my fermentor in the basement room he was to occupy, so I had to move it while he was there. The temporary room got colder than I thought, much colder. I'll come up with a better plan next time.
I was reading "Ask The Alchemist" where a question was asked about restarting a fermentation that had stopped very late. He mentoned restarting with UVAFERM43, saying it worked well when the alcohol level was already too high for a typical yeast to start well. I assume the question concerned fresh grapes and not a kit. I don't know if it would work for a kit.
Am I right in thinking the wine be a little sweet, if left at SG 1.000?
My winery is about 55 right now and a brewbelt will still keep my primary or secondary at ~72 degrees. How cold do you think it got in there!
I wouldn't panic. Keep it warm, give it 24 hours and see it it comes back to life.
Do a little taste test 1.00 is pretty close to dry so you may not be able to detect much if any sweetness.
I would give George a call and pick his brain as well about attempting a restart at some point.
I wouldn't panic. Keep it warm, give it 24 hours and see it it comes back to life.
Do a little taste test 1.00 is pretty close to dry so you may not be able to detect much if any sweetness.
I would give George a call and pick his brain as well about attempting a restart at some point.
Mike,
I don't know exactly how cold it got in that room, but we had a colder than normal weekend. I figure it got to about 50 degrees and that's pretty cold. I have no reason to attribute this problem to anything other than the cold; at least not yet.
I tasted the wine this morning, but to tell the truth, I have trouble tasting anything in green wine, other than the tartness. I still don't have much experience at dealing with green wine. I surely don't remember it being sweet, though.
I am not panicked, yet, just trying to have a plan, in case fermentation doesn't restart. If it is going to restart, I figure it will in about 24 hours. I am expecting it to get going again on its own. If not, I'll give George a shout.
Might be a good idea to have on hand a small supply of either the ProRestart or the UVAFerm 43, just in case.
Thanks for everyone's input.
I don't know exactly how cold it got in that room, but we had a colder than normal weekend. I figure it got to about 50 degrees and that's pretty cold. I have no reason to attribute this problem to anything other than the cold; at least not yet.
I tasted the wine this morning, but to tell the truth, I have trouble tasting anything in green wine, other than the tartness. I still don't have much experience at dealing with green wine. I surely don't remember it being sweet, though.
I am not panicked, yet, just trying to have a plan, in case fermentation doesn't restart. If it is going to restart, I figure it will in about 24 hours. I am expecting it to get going again on its own. If not, I'll give George a shout.
Might be a good idea to have on hand a small supply of either the ProRestart or the UVAFerm 43, just in case.
Thanks for everyone's input.
Still no activity this morning.. but it is clearing nicely
I gave it a good stir this morning and put the air lock back on.
Yesterday I bought another hydrometer to use as a comparison to my original one. Tonight I will test them both in 60 degree water, just to make sure of my readings.
I'll give George a call today.
I gave it a good stir this morning and put the air lock back on.
Yesterday I bought another hydrometer to use as a comparison to my original one. Tonight I will test them both in 60 degree water, just to make sure of my readings.
I'll give George a call today.
Don't sweat the temp as its not that much of a difference.
Give George a call or Joseph who is equally knowledgeable and see what they recommend.
Give George a call or Joseph who is equally knowledgeable and see what they recommend.
I called George. He said that it is next to impossible to restart a kit that has stopped less than or equal to 1.001.
He recommended that I check my hydrometer. I have already purchased a second one (yesterday), but haven't checked/compared them, yet. Will do tonight.
I guess that is that!
He said to taste it for sweetness. He doubts it will taste sweet and so do I. I surely would not like a sweet cab/shiraz, though.
He recommended that I check my hydrometer. I have already purchased a second one (yesterday), but haven't checked/compared them, yet. Will do tonight.
I guess that is that!
He said to taste it for sweetness. He doubts it will taste sweet and so do I. I surely would not like a sweet cab/shiraz, though.
Keep it warm and let it sit for a while, perhaps it might drop a small amount....
What day are you on exactly?
What day are you on exactly?
Mike,
I'm on day 15, as of 8 PM tonight.
It was still in the primary Monday morning (day 12.5). I stirred it up good, wanting to be sure to take some yeast along, since fermentation seemed stopped, then racked it immediately to a carboy. Added brew belt and a warmer room temperature. Gross Lees are gone, of course. I was concerned, so I didn't even transfer the oak shavings.
Yeah, I figure I'll let it set at 74 degrees for another 3 or 4 days (to this weekend, nothing to loose), then rack back to primary, degas and rack for long term carboy aging. This morning it was already starting to clear. I think my yeasties have gone on to that happy place where little yeasties all must ultimately go.
George agreed with me that moving the primary out of a warm room and letting the room temperature dive, along with the low SG at the time, probably shocked the yeast. Even with the brew belt on, the must temperature dropped 12 degrees!!! The low must temperature (64 degrees) wasn't the problem; it was likely the sudden change.
I'll not do that again!!!
Unlike the MM instructions, the RJS instructions for carboy aging did NOT say to hold off on adding the sorbate and clearing agents until closer to bottling. Seems logical to hold off adding them. What do you think?
I'm on day 15, as of 8 PM tonight.
It was still in the primary Monday morning (day 12.5). I stirred it up good, wanting to be sure to take some yeast along, since fermentation seemed stopped, then racked it immediately to a carboy. Added brew belt and a warmer room temperature. Gross Lees are gone, of course. I was concerned, so I didn't even transfer the oak shavings.
Yeah, I figure I'll let it set at 74 degrees for another 3 or 4 days (to this weekend, nothing to loose), then rack back to primary, degas and rack for long term carboy aging. This morning it was already starting to clear. I think my yeasties have gone on to that happy place where little yeasties all must ultimately go.
George agreed with me that moving the primary out of a warm room and letting the room temperature dive, along with the low SG at the time, probably shocked the yeast. Even with the brew belt on, the must temperature dropped 12 degrees!!! The low must temperature (64 degrees) wasn't the problem; it was likely the sudden change.
I'll not do that again!!!
Unlike the MM instructions, the RJS instructions for carboy aging did NOT say to hold off on adding the sorbate and clearing agents until closer to bottling. Seems logical to hold off adding them. What do you think?
I add the K-Meta, clarifying agents, and degas all at the same time ( ~ day 20). Then bulk age in increments of 3 months and add a dose of K-Meta every three months there after. I add the Sorbate just before bottling but it won't hurt if you add it with the K-Meta and clarifying agents.
Dean
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1.001 is normal for kits with grape packs. Remember that the TDS (Total dissolved solids) increase quite a bit in grape pack kits, and usually 0.998 is as low as they can possibly go, but frequently end from 1.005 to 1.000.
Leave the whole thing in the carboy until day 20 or even day 30 or so. As long as it is under airlock, you are still good up to about day 90 as fermentation also creates sulphites. I wouldn't push it beyond day 90 without the addition of more k-meta though.
Leave the whole thing in the carboy until day 20 or even day 30 or so. As long as it is under airlock, you are still good up to about day 90 as fermentation also creates sulphites. I wouldn't push it beyond day 90 without the addition of more k-meta though.
Just to be safe, I purchased an extra hydrometer to use as a comparison to my existing one.
Last night I checked them against each other in plain tap water in the supplied test tube. I used tap water because I didn't have any distilled water. The tap water in Colorado Springs is pretty good and at least doesn't seem to be too minerally. I got rid of as many bubbles as I could by tapping the test tube several times.
Both hydrometers are made referenced to 60 degrees. The water temperature was 70, which calls for a +1 (.001) adjustment. I verified the temperature several times.
To get rid of bubbles, I gave each hydrometer a good spin as I placed it in the water. Both hydrometers read 1.002 at the miniscus. (One might have been considered 1.0025...) If I add the temperature adjustment of +.001, both hydrometers indicate the SG of the tap water was 1.003.
That seems a bit high, but both hydrometers read the same thing, which makes me wonder about my tap water. On the other hand, I used about 2 gallons of THIS SAME tap water to make up 1/3 of the kit's volume. This might mean I am starting out with a .003 overage that I can't do much about. I guess I can use the filtered and reverse osmosis water from Wal-mart next time.
If I can trust this test, my wine, which the hydrometer says is at SG 1.000 is actually more like at an SG of .997.
I would appreciate any comments.
(Maybe the resolution of this issue should be moved to the Testing or How-To category, as I doubt I am the only person who has ever had to deal with this issue.)
Last night I checked them against each other in plain tap water in the supplied test tube. I used tap water because I didn't have any distilled water. The tap water in Colorado Springs is pretty good and at least doesn't seem to be too minerally. I got rid of as many bubbles as I could by tapping the test tube several times.
Both hydrometers are made referenced to 60 degrees. The water temperature was 70, which calls for a +1 (.001) adjustment. I verified the temperature several times.
To get rid of bubbles, I gave each hydrometer a good spin as I placed it in the water. Both hydrometers read 1.002 at the miniscus. (One might have been considered 1.0025...) If I add the temperature adjustment of +.001, both hydrometers indicate the SG of the tap water was 1.003.
That seems a bit high, but both hydrometers read the same thing, which makes me wonder about my tap water. On the other hand, I used about 2 gallons of THIS SAME tap water to make up 1/3 of the kit's volume. This might mean I am starting out with a .003 overage that I can't do much about. I guess I can use the filtered and reverse osmosis water from Wal-mart next time.
If I can trust this test, my wine, which the hydrometer says is at SG 1.000 is actually more like at an SG of .997.
I would appreciate any comments.
(Maybe the resolution of this issue should be moved to the Testing or How-To category, as I doubt I am the only person who has ever had to deal with this issue.)
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