WineXpert WE Chocolate Raspberry port- stuck fermentation.

[flapbreaker]

I have had this wine in the secondary for about 10 days. The SG has been stuck at 1.020 for over 10 days. Is it safe to say that it's done fermenting? I'm not suppose to stabilize until it's under 1.010 but I have my doubts that it will get there. Should I just proceed and hope it turns out ok? Seems this kit has trouble after chaptalisation.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I am not a kit wine maker but if you are stuck at 1.020 and you added sugar by chaptalisation, it is probably done....thats what chaptalation is...
you kill the yeast by over power it with sugar..
would like to see some others input in this..

 

[bakervinyard]

I made the Chocolate Raspberry Port a little over a year ago. Same thing happened to me, got stuck at 1.020. I tried to restart fermentation and was unsuccessful. I went ahead and stabilized, fortified, cleared, and bulk aged it. Bottled it and enjoyed it for Thanksgiving. It was really good. Bakervinyard

 

[flapbreaker]

I am not a kit wine maker but if you are stuck at 1.020 and you added sugar by chaptalisation, it is probably done....thats what chaptalation is...
you kill the yeast by over power it with sugar..
would like to see some others input in this..

That's very interesting. This is the first kit I've made that's called for chaptalation. The instructions suggest that th sg should continue to drop after this but by your account that would not be typical. I guess I'll just continue on then. Thanks for the input.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I am an avid port maker/drinker.
fortifying a wine is easy.. you find a happy medium of sugar and slug it with brandy.
chaptalation is harder...becuase of the yeast you use.
not enough sugar , it will not stop
too much sugar it will stop and maybe start again if all the yeast did not die from over consumption.
keep us posted as to what is happening.

 

[buckhorn]

I made this kit a couple months ago. Upon the suggestion of someone (I think on this site) to avoid the stuck fermentation, I split my Chap. pack in 2 parts - adding when SG reached 1.050-1.040
My fermentation continued with my final SG at .994 -- my ABV is 19%

After stabilizing and adding my flavor pack, the taste was very strong on alcohol, bitter and not much else. After letting it sit in the carboy about 3 weeks - I tasted again and it had a strong chocolate flavor, but the raspberry had not come out yet. I am hoping more age will bring the raspberry flavor forward more, but it is good as a chocolate at this point.

The hints I followed that were not in the directions were:
1. split the Chapt. pack into multiple additions to the wine
2. While it is fermenting in primary, stir the must up daily so the yeast does not get trapped under the heavy sediment that seems to form in this kit and to introduce O2.

If you haven't been stirring your sediment up - I would try that and see if that perks the little yeasties up any...

 

[sour_grapes]

Flapbreaker, I'm more curious than anything, but what was your starting SG and what yeast did they have you use?

 

[flapbreaker]

I think my starting sg was 1.13 I don't recall the yeast type. I think it was made by red star which I was only familiar with as a baking brand.

 

[jamesngalveston]

red star is one of the three oldest wine yeast makers, they make about 20 different yeast strains.

 

[Geronimo]

Like many have said, this kit typically stops between 1.010 and 1.020. Those that have gotten it to go lower have had more complaints than those that had it stop with sugars remaining.

In my experience, the key isn't necessarily feeding the yeast sugar in steps (certainly not a bad thing to do) but adding yeast nutrient (dried spent yeast hulls) and energizer (diamonium phosphate) approximately half way through the fermentation. It's best to keep the temp warm (75-80 degrees) and agitate the settled yeast from the bottom daily.

 

[Simpsini]

I made a WE Chocolate Orange Port last year and couldn’t get the SG down to what the chart had on the instructions before stabilizing. When I started I followed the directions & racked into the secondary when SG was 1.016. After 3 weeks in secondary I thought the SG was stuck because the SG was only down to 1.014. I called the WE people & say suggested to proceed with stabilizing & clearing (Chart said to wait until SG was 1.010). During the next few racks I added 2 cups of brandy. I’ve tried a bottle recently & it is good. Will let it sit for another year before really enjoying.
It seems Buckhorn has some good suggestions that I’ll try next time.

 

[eblasmn9]

I've done this kit two times. The first time it would go no lower than 1.013 before f-pac addition. I stabilized, cleared and bottled. I have 6 bottles left at two years old and it is the smoothest fantastic port. This last one I haven't bottled yet, got stuck at 1.022 at 74 degrees. I read somewhere to make sure it is at the higher end of the heat range (75-80), so I bumped it up to 80 degrees F. and it took off again and stopped at 1.014. So this kit really is sensitive to fermentation temperature.

 

[Geronimo]

I read somewhere to make sure it is at the higher end of the heat range (75-80)

Yep, it's the yeast really. When you get close to the max tolerance for ABV (18%) you really need the yeast to be at their peak performance to get anything else done.

 

[buckhorn]

According to my notes -- the yeast that was in my kit was Red Star Premier Cuvee.

 

[Geronimo]

Red Star Premier Cuvee is nearly identical to Lalvin EC-1118 in my opinion. Very neutral, clean, and tolerant to 18% ABV.

 

[WAG]

I've made this kit 3 times the first time it stuck, but tasted ok. Really sweet, but I like that. The 2nd one went smoothly! It's nestled in bottles maturing. The 3rd one went like the first. At that point I didn't care what I did, so I tried yeast nutrient, energizer, and EC-1118. Nothing. WE sent me a replacement , so it fermented ok, and I combined them and its in carbon now. Bottles in a month.
I just bottled a RJS Black Forest kit that went so smoothly! It just got bottled and tastes AWESOME! I even added dextrose to it(didn't come with any) and E&S brandy, unflavored. I now have two more of these waiting to be started. After about 12 kits of various types, I will only use RJS, and Cellar Craft. To me they ferment very very good. My .02 worth.

 

[Geronimo]

After about 12 kits of various types, I will only use RJS, and Cellar Craft. To me they ferment very very good. My .02 worth.

You aren't alone in that sentiment. I'd add MM to that list.