HELP! First time apple wine not fermenting AT ALL

[CAKEJUMPER]

Still in the primary with the lid on - everything I have read says to wait until it reaches 0.990-1.000 then decant into demijohns with airlocks - or should I do this before? Sorry for being such a needy information leech!

 

[jamesngalveston]

take the lid off, and cover with some kind of cloth..
depending on the ferment, some need more oxygen then others.
I all ways ferment in a bucket, with a cloth to cover..
Move into secondary when it reaches .990, and add your air lock.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Move it now. 1.003 is almost done. The difference between 1.000 and 1.003 is a simple error reading the hydrometer.

Get it under air lock ASAP.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I move to secondary when it has reached .990
I always ferment to dry in the primary

 

[DoctorCAD]

I move to secondary when it has reached .990
I always ferment to dry in the primary

You would be in the minority by doing that.

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi Cakejumper. You say you added 8 kg of sugar in about 5 gallons (imperial?) That would give you about 1.5Kg of sugar /gallon and that would give you an initial specific gravity of about 1.100 (about 0.040 per lb of sugar per US gallon) excluding any sugar from the apples or fruit juice or from the raisins. You say the reading you got was 1.003. If that reading is accurate and if my estimation is more or less accurate, then yes, your apple wine has been very busy fermenting behind your back and your fear that nothing was happening was misplaced. Like many of the others in this forum my suggestion would be that you rack the wine into a carboy and seal it with an airlock after adding campden tablets (K-meta) or a solution of K-meta according to directions. I would add the K-meta to add SO2 to the wine to help preserve it and then add a similar amount of K-meta to the wine every two or three months you bulk age it.

 

[jamesngalveston]

DoctorCad.
I have made quite a few batches of identical wines at the same time.
One ferment in primary to dry
One ferment in secondary after it hit .1000
My taste buds and nose, can not tell one hint of difference.
If there was positive proof that moving to secondary would produce a better wine, I would certainly do it.
Lets see..ferment in primary 8 days
move to secondary at 1.000 on 5 the day, finish secondary on 9
1 day different in ferment to .990