Ferment stopped but SG not below 1.0

[DragonTail]

Can a wine be finished even if the SG is not below 1.0?

Cranberry wine, start SG around 1.08 or so. Took a long time to get to 1.016. 2 weeks later only at 1.014. I see no activity. I assume it is done.

Is it ok to bottle at this after clearing and just not back sweeten? Assuming I am just going to be stabilizing and bottling. Wine has a good flavor and seems about right for the alcohol content.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* is it OK to bottle? I ask how long? ,,. My normal guideline is that a wine which is nine months old has most yeast settled out / or died of old age and should be stable.
* what pH? wine is a multi variable preservative system. This means one factor combined with another builds a higher fence to keep infection out. In a cranberry a pH under 2.8 is a major stress on yeast, combined with 10% alcohol it can produce a stable system. Combined with no oxygen aerobic mold and mat forming bacteria can be excluded.

OK conclusion I’m my winery is if it has been six months I would bottle, with a low pH rhurbarb that was still at 1.015 at two months I was patient. Knowing other numbers like pH and needing the space, I might bottle,, and with sorbate wouldn’t have concerns about refermenting.

 

[DragonTail]

Wine is still clearing. So was not going to bottle for a while, but was confused that yeast would still be working. Everything I did up until this cranberry was done in 2-3 weeks with semi vigorous ferments.

PH of the wine is 3.23. I adjusted it before I added yeast. Was setting around 2.8 which was too low.

 

[winemaker81]

Can a wine be finished even if the SG is not below 1.0?

I've had a few regular wines finish just above 1.000. Keep in mind that SG is relative density compared to distilled water. Higher alcohol will lower the SG, while lots of "stuff" in the wine (particles) will increase it.

By "regular wine" I mean from natural fruit. I made a batch from bottled commercial juice that finished around 1.015, and in hindsight that's not a surprise as commercial drinking juice has been processed. I suspect some of the sugar was not a fermentable type.

Try making an overnight starter with EC-1118 and see if that does anything.