Slow to finish is that normal?

[koolaide187]

Alright have some wine going and it's been about a month and 1 week going right now. I measured the SG and it's sitting at 1.010 but still bubbling very slowly. Should I add a yeast energizer to help it speed up or just chill and let it do it's thing for a while longer? If I should wait how long should I give it? P.S. this is probably the best batch I have ever made. It's given me no problems and it's smelling great already. I just don't want to get hasty and screw things up. That's why I ask you guys. Because y'all are awesome and know what you're doing.

 

[Zwetschgen]

It's only been 5 weeks, give it some time. I am sure you racked it from primary, now it's probably still in secondary. If you've got a fair amount of lees you may want to try racking it again, but truth be told, you might as well just leave it for a few more weeks/months before doing anything with it. It won't hurt it any to sit and bulk age. Just keep the airlock filled.

 

[koolaide187]

K thanks... that's all I needed to know. I know it was kind of a wasted post but I am kinda excited about this wine cause it's the best i've had so far. It hasn't given me any problems and it's smelling great. I am sure it will taste great too. So I'd rather be safe than sorry. Also to safe from posting again with another question... What if the fermentation stops and it's still not below 1.000?... what are your suggestions? It is suppose to only be about 12% so I guess It would be possible to add more yeast maybe a champagne yeast or something.

 

[Luc]

Never chill. Chilling slows the yeast even more down......

Just sit it out. Fermentation might take from a few days to as long as a year. I had an apple batch
made from pure juice finishing in just 4 days!!!! and i had an apple batch made from fresh apples
that took a year.

Whats the rush.
Patience my friend and your best batch will even be better.
Patience makes the best wines.

Luc

 

[koolaide187]

lol when I said chill I mean sit back and relax.

 

[mmadmikes1]

Luc is having an American English moments Bubbles to not equal fermentation at end. Check for fermentation with hydrometer. It could be degassing and that is why you have bubbles. If it sticks at 1.0 odds are you will not get it restarted by adding a new starter. At that point you would call it finish and go from there

 

[koolaide187]

Even though it's stuck at 1.010 call it done? I am hoping it's still going but i'll continue to check the hydrometer SG reading.

 

[Sammyk]

I have some skeeter pee that is stuck at 1.012 I poured it back into the primary pail and that got rid of the co2. I dehydrated some yeast 3 days ago and added that and it is still stuck at 1.012.

I am going to rack to carboys and add k-meta, sorbate and bentonite and call it done. OG was 1.070. If my calculations are correct the abv is 7.71. I will probably just add ever clear or vodka to raise the abv when I back flavor with simmered down juice concentrates.

This was my 4th batch and I have no idea why it did not finish like previous batches.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

My suggestion is keeping some lalvin 1116 on hand for restarting stuck fermentations. If that yeast won't go, your officially stuck.

I had a stuck cranberry wine, probably due to cool temps in the sun room in December a few years ago and even when it got down to sub 60F temps, the 1116 took off. 100 year old houses that haven't been properly insulated can get cold! All better now, though.

 

[jswordy]

Let's not forget that at the end where your wine gets "stuck" at (actually I prefer to say where it finishes) depends on the yeast variety and also on the starting specific gravity (as well as temps to a lesser degree).

Folks worry their wine did not finish at 1.00 or under. IMO it is best not to obsesses about that and instead focus on whether the process is normal, because a 12% alcohol yeast started at say 1.100 may finish above what an 18% abv yeast would at the same start point. A 12% started at 1.080 will likely finish at lower SG, too.

A higher finish means there is some residual sugar left in the wine the yeast did not eat because they got poisoned out earlier. As long as I am focused on whether the process is continuing optimally, the wine will turn out.

Contrast that with stuck or slow fermentations, where there is a process problem that is evident well before this stage of things. That's the time to obsess.

So I'd say don't worry so much about the end but concentrate on the beginning, making sure the initial SG is proper to the wine being made and that things get off to a good start and proceed nicely. You almost cannot go wrong from there, I think.

 

[mmadmikes1]

Let's not forget that at the end where your wine gets "stuck" at (actually I prefer to say where it finishes) depends on the yeast variety and also on the starting specific gravity (as well as temps to a lesser degree).

Folks worry their wine did not finish at 1.00 or under. IMO it is best not to obsesses about that and instead focus on whether the process is normal, because a 12% alcohol yeast started at say 1.100 may finish above what an 18% abv yeast would at the same start point. A 12% started at 1.080 will likely finish at lower SG, too.

A higher finish means there is some residual sugar left in the wine the yeast did not eat because they got poisoned out earlier. As long as I am focused on whether the process is continuing optimally, the wine will turn out.

Contrast that with stuck or slow fermentations, where there is a process problem that is evident well before this stage of things. That's the time to obsess.

So I'd say don't worry so much about the end but concentrate on the beginning, making sure the initial SG is proper to the wine being made and that things get off to a good start and proceed nicely. You almost cannot go wrong from there, I think.

Hear hear. Some wine does not go below 1.0. If i9t clears, finishes and taste good. Everything is ok.. I did get a 1.1 unstuck once and the wine ended up sucking and tasting like alcohol. I should have left well enough alone and not worried about ABV and just tasted it