Low pH in apple wine

[SeniorHobby]

Agreed.

The funny thing is, this wine is over a year old, thought the yeast was dead. Finishing the fermentation at this point and sablize and sweeten might just start the ferment again???

 

[winemaker81]

The funny thing is, this wine is over a year old, thought the yeast was dead. Finishing the fermentation at this point and sablize and sweeten might just start the ferment again???

I had a wine 13+ months old restart fermentation after backsweetening. I have no explanation.

 

[SeniorHobby]

I had a wine 13+ months old restart fermentation after backsweetening. I have no explanation.

You opened the bottles, let it referment, then resweetened and it worked after that to bottle?

 

[Raptor99]

I had a wine 13+ months old restart fermentation after backsweetening. I have no explanation.

Yeast can become dormant for a long time. It is difficult to predict the exact conditions under which it will or will not reactivate. So like @winemaker81 said in another thread, I always add P. Sorbate when I backsweeten.

 

[SeniorHobby]

Yeast can become dormant for a long time. It is difficult to predict the exact conditions under which it will or will not reactivate. So like @winemaker81 said in another thread, I always add P. Sorbate when I backsweeten.

I did that already, assuming that I followed recommended guidelines, off hand I can't remember what amount I added.

 

[winemaker81]

You opened the bottles, let it referment, then resweetened and it worked after that to bottle?

I bottled most of a batch of Elderberry from concentrate at about 7 months, lightly backsweetening and adding sorbate + K-meta. I reserved 4 liters which was bottled at 13+ months, backsweetening but without sorbate (K-meta was added).

About 4 months later I opened a bottle and it was lightly carbonated and bone dry. The remaining 4 bottles are not pushing corks, so I've done nothing with them so far. My version of backsweetening is much lighter than most, so I'm not getting a lot of pressure. If the corks were pushing out, I would have unbottled them already.

Sorbate will not stop an active fermentation, although I've had it prevent a renewed fermentation when the ferment was very slow. I don't know what the dividing line is between "active" and "slow", so I recommend ensuring the ferment is complete before backsweetening.

 

[SeniorHobby]

I bottled most of a batch of Elderberry from concentrate at about 7 months, lightly backsweetening and adding sorbate + K-meta. I reserved 4 liters which was bottled at 13+ months, backsweetening but without sorbate (K-meta was added).

About 4 months later I opened a bottle and it was lightly carbonated and bone dry. The remaining 4 bottles are not pushing corks, so I've done nothing with them so far. My version of backsweetening is much lighter than most, so I'm not getting a lot of pressure. If the corks were pushing out, I would have unbottled them already.

Sorbate will not stop an active fermentation, although I've had it prevent a renewed fermentation when the ferment was very slow. I don't know what the dividing line is between "active" and "slow", so I recommend ensuring the ferment is complete before backsweetening.

I had no active fermentation for months before I bottled. Must be some wild and crazy wine!!

 

[winemaker81]

I had no active fermentation for months before I bottled. Must be some wild and crazy wine!!

I had none for 12 months before I backsweetened and bottled. @Raptor99's point about yeast going dormant appears spot on.

 

[ChuckD]

I had none for 12 months before I backsweetened and bottled. @Raptor99's point about yeast going dormant appears spot on.

The purple volcano epics was from a wine in bulk for 11 months. I did the same thing before and had it work out

 

[SeniorHobby]

The purple volcano epics was from a wine in bulk for 11 months. I did the same thing before and had it work out

Can I ask what is the typical amount of potassium sorbate to add after back sweetening? Also, it isn't dependent on the amount of sugar added, is it?

 

[winemaker81]

Can I ask what is the typical amount of potassium sorbate to add after back sweetening? Also, it isn't dependent on the amount of sugar added, is it?

The package available at my LHBS says 1/2 tsp per 1 US gallon. Since it's birth control for yeast, the amount of sugar does not matter.

 

[SeniorHobby]

The package available at my LHBS says 1/2 tsp per 1 US gallon. Since it's birth control for yeast, the amount of sugar does not matter.

I found the chart I used, it recommended .13 g/L, it was alcohol % based, I didn't know exactly what my alcohol % was, but I used a 12% figure to come up with this amount. Funny that a 13% amount of alcohol called for .10 g/L. I thought I was covered with that amount.

 

[eddie sanders]

Can I ask what is the typical amount of potassium sorbate to add after back sweetening? Also, it isn't dependent on the amount of sugar added, is it?

1/2 teaspoon per gallon of wine no it doesn't change with sugar added.