Newbie confusion on chemical order, possible blunder.

[Dylanger]

I started my first 1 gallon batch with the craft-a-brew fruit wine making kit. I followed the directions to start the must in my fermentation bucket. Adding the sugar, tannin, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutes to some water, then adding the fruit in a mesh bag, per included directions. I had read elsewhere about adding the campden tablets to must and waiting 24 hours before adding yeast, to kill bacteria and wild yeast, so I added that too. My question is, did I mess it all up by adding the tablet after all the other chemicals in the must together? Is it a fixable mistake? I'm super new to this and am having a hard time finding a straight answer to my problem, thanks in advance.

 

[winemaker81]

Welcome to WMT!

Your wine is fine. Nothing you added conflicts with anything else.

Follow the kit instructions -- they're designed for beginners with no experienced help to make a good wine on the first try.

 

[Dylanger]

Welcome to WMT!

Your wine is fine. Nothing you added conflicts with anything else.

Follow the kit instructions -- they're designed for beginners with no experienced help to make a good wine on the first try.

Thank you, that makes me feel much better.

 

[mikewatkins727]

Hey @Dylanger you came to the right place! Welcome aboard for a fun ride.

 

[winemaker81]

I wrote a post last year, describing the contents of typical kits. You may want to read this, as it will explain at a high level what each ingredient is.

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/whats-in-a-wine-kit/

 

[Jusatele]

You should be fine.
Campden is usually added to stop wild yeast from getting started
as you did add some campden with your pitched yeast, a good portion of it may be affected and there may be a slow start to the fermentation. If in doubt, pitch more yeast. if it is already started then you will be ok.

 

[Dylanger]

You should be fine.
Campden is usually added to stop wild yeast from getting started
as you did add some campden with your pitched yeast, a good portion of it may be affected and there may be a slow start to the fermentation. If in doubt, pitch more yeast. if it is already started then you will be ok.

Well i waited 24 hours before i pitched the yeast after the campden tablet, but it's been a week now, and per the directions, I've been opening and stirring the must daily, but I'm getting zero air lock activity. There's been a small amount of foam, and it smells like it's doing something, but Since I read your reply I thought maybe I should add a little yeast, so I added part of another pack 2 days ago, and still nothing on the air lock. Is it possible that part of the tablet is still in there killing the yeast, or is this "normal"?

 

[winemaker81]

Well i waited 24 hours before i pitched the yeast after the campden tablet, but it's been a week now, and per the directions, I've been opening and stirring the must daily, but I'm getting zero air lock activity. There's been a small amount of foam, and it smells like it's doing something, but Since I read your reply I thought maybe I should add a little yeast, so I added part of another pack 2 days ago, and still nothing on the air lock. Is it possible that part of the tablet is still in there killing the yeast, or is this "normal"?

Activity in the airlock tells you little of real usefulness. It may be fermentation, active degassing, changes in temperature/barometric pressure, or something else.

What is your SG? The hydrometer tells you if you have activity, e.g., if the SG is dropping, the yeast is eating-n-excreting.

A normal dosage of sulfite will not harm commercial yeast. And not all batches foam heavily -- it depends on the yeast strain and the amount of solids in the must.

 

[Dylanger]

Activity in the airlock tells you little of real usefulness. It may be fermentation, active degassing, changes in temperature/barometric pressure, or something else.

What is your SG? The hydrometer tells you if you have activity, e.g., if the SG is dropping, the yeast is eating-n-excreting.

A normal dosage of sulfite will not harm commercial yeast. And not all batches foam heavily -- it depends on the yeast strain and the amount of solids in the must.

I checked the hydrometer, I don't remember the exact decimal numbers, but it started at 12% potential and is at 0 now. I suppose I was just overly worried about seeing the bubble activity. I appreciate all of the help, stuff like this seems so obvious after hearing someone say it lol

 

[winemaker81]

I checked the hydrometer, I don't remember the exact decimal numbers, but it started at 12% potential and is at 0 now. I suppose I was just overly worried about seeing the bubble activity. I appreciate all of the help, stuff like this seems so obvious after hearing someone say it lol

Brix is a fine measurement when measuring a must pre-fermentation, but once it starts, use SG. It's finer grained and it's easier for folks to understand your situation and help. Always use 3 digits to the right of the decimal, as it avoids confusion. More than once we've had someone write "1.20" and it was unclear if they meant "1.020" or "1.002".

Winemaking is actually very easy to do. Assuming all goes according to plan. When it doesn't, understanding the details of the physics, biology, and chemistry make understanding the situation and determining corrections far simpler. This doesn't mean you need a PhD in all three sciences, but remembering high school science is often enough.

Most things make sense when someone explains it in clear language.

Be prepared to keep learning -- there's always more to learn.

 

[Jusatele]

I have had wines slowly ferment and with little air lock activity
there are a few reasons I can surmise, but if the SG keeps lowering I know fermentation is going on