Starting specific gravity

[Rotawine]

Hi, I have a wine kit and my starting specific gravity is 1.104. It came with EC-1118 yeast. Will fermentation start with this?

 

[Jim Welch]

Relatively new winemaker here, I believe that is on the high end but not necessarily too high. Are you certain you added the correct amount of water?
If you meant EC-1118 yeast it will chew it up like a dog would a raw chicken wing, bones and all. Stay tuned, more experienced folks should chime in soon

 

[Chuck E]

What Jim said... EC-1118 will ferment damn near anything.

 

[sour_grapes]

What kind of kit is this? (I.e., red, white, what varietal.) For a big red wine, that starting SG would not concern me a bit. And I concur with @Jim Welch 's colorful description!

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

 

[sour_grapes]

 

[Jim Welch]

@FlamingoEmporium That doesn't look raw! Chicken bones must be raw or they're a hazard to a dog.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

@FlamingoEmporium That doesn't look raw! Chicken bones must be raw or they're a hazard to a dog.

I’m writing to whatever government organization controls emojis and requesting a raw chicken emoji.

 

[salcoco]

stir the must. it can stratify and give erroneous sg reading.

 

[Rotawine]

Relatively new winemaker here, I believe that is on the high end but not necessarily too high. Are you certain you added the correct amount of water?
If you meant EC-1118 yeast it will chew it up like a dog would a raw chicken wing, bones and all. Stay tuned, more experienced folks should chime in soon

Thanks for the comment I'm thinking the markings on my bucket may be off. They are also imperial gals. This was my first batch and I didn't verify the markings.

 

[mikewatkins727]

An imperial gallon is 160 fluid ounces. A U.S. gallon is 128 fluid ounces. Difference is significant.

 

[Rotawine]

An imperial gallon is 160 fluid ounces. A U.S. gallon is 128 fluid ounces. Difference is significant.

Yes, with a 6 gal wine kit I only filled the bucket to the 5 imperial gal mark. I'm thinking their marks might be off.

 

[winemaker81]

An imperial gallon is 160 fluid ounces. A U.S. gallon is 128 fluid ounces. Difference is significant.

An Imperial gallon is 160 Imperial ounces -- it's 153.7 US ounces. This is why I try to always specify units, as it's so darned easy to frog things up.

When I was in 7th grade, our science teacher told us the USA would be moving to metric. I REALLY wish we had, as it makes life sooooo much simpler! It's taking effort, but I'm training myself to think in metric for winemaking purposes.

Yes, with a 6 gal wine kit I only filled the bucket to the 5 imperial gal mark. I'm thinking their marks might be off.

Nope -- the marks are correct. 6 US gallons = 5 Imperial gallons.

 

[mikewatkins727]

An Imperial gallon is 160 Imperial ounces -- it's 153.7 US ounces. This is why I try to always specify units, as it's so darned easy to frog things up.

When I was in 7th grade, our science teacher told us the USA would be moving to metric. I REALLY wish we had, as it makes life sooooo much simpler! It's taking effort, but I'm training myself to think in metric for winemaking purposes.


Nope -- the marks are correct. 6 US gallons = 5 Imperial gallons.

One again the master corrects the student. Thanks, Bryan.

 

[winemaker81]

One again the master corrects the student. Thanks, Bryan.

Sho'nuff!

Naw, it's an easy mistake to make. Imperial units are rarely used in the USA, so folks will realize the gallons are different, but the not that the ounces are as well. This bit someone else a few years ago, and it stuck in my mind.

 

[Mike Parisi]

I only do red wine kits and my starting SG has ranged from 1.095 to 1.110. EC-1118 yeast has been included in all of the kits and it ferments them nice and dry.

 

[winemaker81]

As has been noted, EC-1118 is the preferred workhorse, as it will ferment a rock (although the wine is on the thin side), and it has a stated alcohol tolerance of 18%. Excepting FWK, all the kit vendors I'm familiar with include EC-1118 as it helps guarantee a successful result.

There are numerous tables on the net -- this is a good one that describes the attributes of common yeast strains:

https://winemakermag.com/resource/yeast-strains-chart

 

[ratflinger]

EC1118 is my go to for a stuck fermentation, it always starts. However, I really like the RC212 that FWK uses. I have experimented with other yeasts and there is a difference in final product, but it's hard to quantify, but I've never had bad results with EC1118

 

[winemanden]

An Imperial gallon is 160 Imperial ounces -- it's 153.7 US ounces. This is why I try to always specify units, as it's so darned easy to frog things up.

When I was in 7th grade, our science teacher told us the USA would be moving to metric. I REALLY wish we had, as it makes life sooooo much simpler! It's taking effort, but I'm training myself to think in metric for winemaking purposes.


Nope -- the marks are correct. 6 US gallons = 5 Imperial gallons.

Here in the UK lots of people (probably golden oldies like me), still think in Gallons, Pints, Pounds and ounces, even though we officially use the Metric system now.
It's illegal for business to use Imperial measures.
For us amateur winemakers, it doesn't really matter which standard we use as long as we don't mix them. Metric is definitely easier though.

 

[winemaker81]

For us amateur winemakers, it doesn't really matter which standard we use as long as we don't mix them.

YUP!!! The Mars Climate Orbiter was destroyed because units were not converted correctly!