Stalled Fermentation

[Basilhaydens]

Hello all. I have a batch that i think has stalled out. Started 6 gallons of welches concentrate. Had an uh oh moment when i added sugar and added to much and started with a SG of 1.122. About half way through i stirred it really good and it overflowed out of my bucket like a volcano. Now about 3 weeks later its stuck at 1.025ish. So since it is about 12% now i would be ok with keeping it at that, or should i repitch some yeast and let it go down below 1.00?

 

[Rice_Guy]

Wine, ,, all foods are hedonic. If it is acid balanced it can taste excellent at 1.025ish .
ex I looked at a rhubarb from the vinters club at 1.020 with a TA of 0.8% and it was good (to my taste buds) and a commercial rhubarb from Tennessee with a 1.046; TA 2% and pH of 2.94 and it seems balanced, but sweeter than I would make.

I would sample a glass and try it with a few grains of acid blend (as if judging wine) to see if it is improved. My bias is high fruit so I would also try it at a few drops of Real Lemon and northern hybrid grape. ,,,,, if acid blend is what balances then at bottle time I would do an official bench trial ,,,,, if fruit is better tasting I would add enough to drop the alcohol about 1% (ie finished wine at 11% ABV) at racking time and let the solids drop making a clear wine.

Yes you could add 1118 or Pasteur Champagne, the bias would be that you want ONLY dry wine in your house, and your friends ONLY drink dry wine.

 

[winemaker81]

I agree with @Rice_Guy, do you like the wine as it is now? If you do, stabilize with sorbate and K-meta, and proceed with clearing.

If it's too sweet, you can add a bit of tartaric acid, going VERY carefully. Any time you're adding anything, do it in small increments, stir well, and taste. If you think it needs just a bit more, stop! Taking out the acid is far more difficult than putting it in.

Otherwise, pitch EC-1118 and let it ferment as far as it will go. You can backsweeten afterward.

However, keep in mind that if it ferments out, you'll get ~16% ABV. If you don't want that much alcohol, stabilizing as-is may be a better choice.

 

[Basilhaydens]

I agree with @Rice_Guy, do you like the wine as it is now? If you do, stabilize with sorbate and K-meta, and proceed with clearing.

I'm fine with the way it tastes now. So can I add the sorbate and K-meta, stir really good then add my super kleer or should I wait a few days before i add the kleer. I want to clear this quickly to drink now so I don't want to age this one. I have some dragon blood that's aging.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Clearing reduces population that needs to be immobilized with sorbate. Clear first. Then Treat with meta and sorbate and finally bottle.
Down the road if you have a wine that is back sweetened let the sorbate act on the yeast two days, then sweeten and bottle.

 

[winemaker81]

Clearing reduces population that needs to be immobilized with sorbate. Clear first. Then Treat with meta and sorbate and finally bottle.

At first I agreed with you, but then I considered that the agitation might kick off the fermentation again. It probably won't, but I'm sure there a corollary to Murphy's Law regarding fermentation restarting when not wanted. For that reason I'd add the sorbate/K-meta, degas, then add the fining agents in the course of an hour (allowing hour between kieselsol & chitosan).

@Basilhaydens, there's no real problem if the fermentation starts from manual agitation, it just changes the outcome. IMO both outcomes will be a positive result for you, so you can't lose.