Ginger Wine - no fermentation - why?

[arcticsid]

Raisins can add alot of body and dimension to a wine, but at the same time it is known to be notorious for a stuck fermentatin due to the preservatives used in their processing. Sorry, I didnt look up any specific posts regarding raisins, but a quick search on this site may bring up more info about raisins. They can easiy prevent a fermentation from starting and even prevent it all together.

Bensoate is a natural preervative and is prevelant in cranberries and makes for a real tough ferment unless you use a starter. Raisins can be real tough for the same reason. Although I live where I can pick hundreds of gallons of cranberries fighting off the bears and this fermentation issue isnt worth it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_benzoate

This arcticle is my no means a definitive answer but it may explain a little to you about preservatives and how they can affect a fermetation.


Glad to hear you have bubbles fizzing away. Fizz is our friend! LOL

I hope someone else can chime in and explain more about using raisins in wine.

All the best to you, all the time.

 

[cocroach]

Thanks for the post on this.

I might have lucked out with the ginger wine I made, I did use raisins and didn't seems to have any issues with getting it to ferment and the wine turned out really nice. I did also give the raisins a good rinse though prior to adding them into the primary; I had heard that doing this can help to remove some of the preservatives.

Since then, I have come across a lot of information related to problems with fermentation as a result of raisins. For anyone using raisins, it's probably worth going the extra mile to know what kind of raisins you're using.