Wine taking too long to ferment?

[shoebiedoo]

I have a similar problem with 2 flextanks of Riesling from buckets. It appears to have stalled at 1.01sg. this product is very good dry and I don't like the slight Sweet flavor. Trying to decide if I should just let it fint it's own way or throw some ec118 and warm it up.

Thanks

 

[tacomaguy20]

Hey I thought I'd give an update. I did end up adding yeast nutrient and the wine took off fermenting again. However, it has developed a sulfur smell. From reading this article, There's A Sulfur Smell In My Wine! | E. C. Kraus Wine Making I think it may have been nutrient deficient and the yeast was working too hard to ferment and developed that smell. I just racked adding metabisulfite and causing lots of splashing per the article recommendation. The wine SG is .996 now. I'm going to let it sit in the secondary for a while and see if that helped. I did taste the wine and it doesn't taste bad, just has that smell. I hope it's not ruined. What do you think?

 

[CDrew]

Time to deal with that = ASAP.

Splash rack immediately(sounds like you did that). Maybe copper products like reduless. But it's a serious flaw that you need to correct or dump the wine.

Next year, pay more attention to yeast nutrition and use yeast incapable of producing H2S like Avante or Bravo. I am thinking this is the best option for home wine makers. Personally, I think all the old yeast recommendations are outdated and the no H2S yeasts are the future, both commercially and for home wine makers like us.

 

[tacomaguy20]

Time to deal with that = ASAP.

Splash rack immediately(sounds like you did that). Maybe copper products like reduless. But it's a serious flaw that you need to correct or dump the wine.

Next year, pay more attention to yeast nutrition and use yeast incapable of producing H2S like Avante or Bravo. I am thinking this is the best option for home wine makers. Personally, I think all the old yeast recommendations are outdated and the no H2S yeasts are the future, both commercially and for home wine makers like us.

Yeah I never used this yeast before. BM 4x4. I was told it was a nutrient hog but I thought I added enough in the beginning, apparently not. But I did splash rack and I took a sample and left it sit on the counter for a few hours today and the smell had dissipated while it sat so I think I might be alright. Never tried those yeasts before but I may need to now.

 

[winemaker81]

I had the same problem this year. I stirred the heck out of the wine, and that eliminated most of the smell. There was just a faint bit that we perceptible. I ordered Reduless and it appears to have taken care of the remainder.

The instructions on Reduless said 0.4 to 0.6 grams/gallon. I went middle ground, then hit it with kieselsol/chitosan to help precipitate the result.

WARNING: H2S is apparently flammable -- if you got it, ventilate well. I opened windows and blew a fan through my wine making area. In addition, this made breathing easier.

 

[tacomaguy20]

I had the same problem this year. I stirred the heck out of the wine, and that eliminated most of the smell. There was just a faint bit that we perceptible. I ordered Reduless and it appears to have taken care of the remainder.

The instructions on Reduless said 0.4 to 0.6 grams/gallon. I went middle ground, then hit it with kieselsol/chitosan to help precipitate the result.

WARNING: H2S is apparently flammable -- if you got it, ventilate well. I opened windows and blew a fan through my wine making area. In addition, this made breathing easier.

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know about Reduless. If the smell lingers, I'll get some.

 

[winemaker81]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know about Reduless. If the smell lingers, I'll get some.

Sniff the wine now. If you smell H2S, order the Reduless. H2S is not a static problem, it gets worse with time and needs to be eliminated immediately.

I had a customer bring in a sample that he'd noticed had H2S a couple of months previously. He thought it would go away, but it kept getting worse. By the time he brought a sample in (I owned a wine & beer making supply shop), the wine was not fixable. He tried racking over a new copper scrubbing pad, but it was a no-go.

Note: At that time, racking or pouring over copper was the only remedy. Today we recommend strongly against this practice, as wine + copper produces copper sulfate, which is highly poisonous. Products like Reduless enable us to measure the amount going into the wine so we control the situation, and the solids precipitate out.

I used a fining agent to help ensure the copper solids were gone.

 

[heatherd]

Okay, thank you. I was also told by another member that once I have it in my long term storage vessel I should rerack every 3 months and add S02. Is that what you do?

You don't need to rack every three months, but you do need to add kmeta to maintain your SO2 levels. I do that every three months.

 

[clusterbuster75]

i would not advise adding so2 to a fermenting wine. In my experiences, Some batches take longer to ferment than others, and in my experiences, that isn't a bad thing. I don't add so2 until a wine is done fermenting, then I hit it hard(approx 75 ppm). I check again and if needed, adjust before bottling. I've made a career out of it.