In mid-September I mixed up a batch of Concord grape wine from concentrate that I mail-ordered from a farm in New York state. I diluted it to an original gravity of 1.092. The concentrate has no preservatives, no acids, nothing added to it.
At the time, I didn’t have the means to test the acidity of the must but I knew that northern climate grapes are usually high in acidity so I added no acid.
I intended to make a dry, fruity Concord wine of about 12 to 12.5% abv.
I had 5.25 gallons of must in a 6.5 gallon carboy, with appropriate amounts of pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. I used Premiere Classic (formerly called Montrachet) yeast and fermented in my basement which was around 62F at the time, and I had a (probably irrational) fear that it would have a hard time fermenting at that temperature, even though it’s rated for as low as 55F. I pitched two packets of yeast, re-hydrated, with no oxygenation of the must. I wrapped the carboy in a blanket.
After a day or so I had yeast gushing through the airlock. I cleaned everything up, sanitized the opening of the carboy and the airlock and this time left the carboy unwrapped.
The next day it puked more yeast. Cleaned up again and after that things settled down.
After a month and a half (Now it’s the beginning of November in Michigan’s U.P.) the fermentation was so slow I thought I’d rack to a five gallon secondary so I’d have no airspace in the carboy while it aged. I was surprised to find that it hadn’t fermented all the way out, it was at 1.006.
I figured it would slowly continue to ferment dry and decided to wait two months before checking it again.
I recently checked the gravity and it hadn’t budged at all, still 1.006. The temperature in the basement is now 58F. I had recently picked up an acid titration kit and checked the total acidity of the wine and found it to be .9%.
Montrachet wine yeast is supposed to be good down to 55F, so I thought I’d be okay there. Could the high acidity have inhibited the yeast? Or, maybe I lost too much yeast in the first two days when it was puking out through the airlock?
The aroma of this wine, to me, was exactly like Concord grape juice. Beautiful, fruity...I like it. The taste was very nice, too, even though it’s slightly sweet. I’m not a fan of sweet wines. I suppose it helps balance the acidity. There was a slight drying sensation, either from the acidity or tannins. Not off-putting, but there.
My first thought was I should just rack the wine, sorbate and K-metabisulfite it, and age it for a couple more months and then bottle.
Then I thought maybe I should bring it upstairs to warm it up a bit and maybe it would start to ferment again. If it fermented dry, then perhaps I could store it cold for a few weeks to drop out some of the tartaric acid.
If the fermentation problem was because of the temperature, would it restart if brought upstairs where it’s about 68F, or has it been too long?
Could the high acidity be the cause of the stalled ferment?
Any thoughts from the experts on this forum will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
At the time, I didn’t have the means to test the acidity of the must but I knew that northern climate grapes are usually high in acidity so I added no acid.
I intended to make a dry, fruity Concord wine of about 12 to 12.5% abv.
I had 5.25 gallons of must in a 6.5 gallon carboy, with appropriate amounts of pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. I used Premiere Classic (formerly called Montrachet) yeast and fermented in my basement which was around 62F at the time, and I had a (probably irrational) fear that it would have a hard time fermenting at that temperature, even though it’s rated for as low as 55F. I pitched two packets of yeast, re-hydrated, with no oxygenation of the must. I wrapped the carboy in a blanket.
After a day or so I had yeast gushing through the airlock. I cleaned everything up, sanitized the opening of the carboy and the airlock and this time left the carboy unwrapped.
The next day it puked more yeast. Cleaned up again and after that things settled down.
After a month and a half (Now it’s the beginning of November in Michigan’s U.P.) the fermentation was so slow I thought I’d rack to a five gallon secondary so I’d have no airspace in the carboy while it aged. I was surprised to find that it hadn’t fermented all the way out, it was at 1.006.
I figured it would slowly continue to ferment dry and decided to wait two months before checking it again.
I recently checked the gravity and it hadn’t budged at all, still 1.006. The temperature in the basement is now 58F. I had recently picked up an acid titration kit and checked the total acidity of the wine and found it to be .9%.
Montrachet wine yeast is supposed to be good down to 55F, so I thought I’d be okay there. Could the high acidity have inhibited the yeast? Or, maybe I lost too much yeast in the first two days when it was puking out through the airlock?
The aroma of this wine, to me, was exactly like Concord grape juice. Beautiful, fruity...I like it. The taste was very nice, too, even though it’s slightly sweet. I’m not a fan of sweet wines. I suppose it helps balance the acidity. There was a slight drying sensation, either from the acidity or tannins. Not off-putting, but there.
My first thought was I should just rack the wine, sorbate and K-metabisulfite it, and age it for a couple more months and then bottle.
Then I thought maybe I should bring it upstairs to warm it up a bit and maybe it would start to ferment again. If it fermented dry, then perhaps I could store it cold for a few weeks to drop out some of the tartaric acid.
If the fermentation problem was because of the temperature, would it restart if brought upstairs where it’s about 68F, or has it been too long?
Could the high acidity be the cause of the stalled ferment?
Any thoughts from the experts on this forum will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
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