Yeast not working?

[JBEE]

I'm trying to make my first gallon of strawberry wine made with ripe strawberries and I went by the recipe and it seems the yeast ain't working.

1. Mashed fruit in straining bag into the primary
2. Put water, 2lbs. of sugar, 1 tsp. Acid blend, 1/4 tsp. Tannin, 1/2 tsp. Pectic Enzyme, 1 tsp. Nutrient, and 1 Campden (crushed) all into primary.
3. After 24 hours I added the yeast which the water was 70 degrees and covered.

I checked it 24 hours later and seems to be not working. Could it be that the yeast was bad (didn't hydrate it) or did I do something else wrong. The S.G. 1.100 yesterday and still is 1.100. What can I do to save it or am I being to impatient? Any help would be grateful. Thanks

 

[rawlus]

what kind of yeast? strain? age? a little more temp might not hurt too. 75-85 is thr sweet spot for most wine yeasts.

 

[1st Timer]

I am not an expert on the subject but I would say give it some time. I have had it take up to three days before showing any progress, especially in cooler temperatures.

Patience is not one of my strong points but in winemaking it is a must! No pun intended.....

Good Luck!

 

[JBEE]

Red Star

what kind of yeast? strain? age? a little more temp might not hurt too. 75-85 is thr sweet spot for most wine yeasts.

I'm using Red Star Montrachet dry yeast...

 

[WaWa]

Hi
I'm a newbee too and I found the same when I started. I'm used to the way bread yeast works so fast and agressively. Now I always make a yeast starter a day out to be sure. If you listen closely to the bucket when you lift the lid you should hear it fizzing, that's how I reassure myself all is working as it should. You probably wouldn't get much change on the SG in one day , or so I've found
Hope it helps
good luck

 

[Midwest Vintner]

^i agree. 24 hrs may not show much in signs of really working. make sure to stir (remember to sanitize stirring utensil) often in the begining as the yeast needs oxygen. a starter is never a bad idea. 70F should be fine for yeast, but it will work more slowly. not always a bad thing. i'd rather the yeast work a slow steady pace taking 3 weeks to fully go dry. that's in a perfect world

 

[Malkore]

visible signs of fermentation can take up to 72 hours to begin.

 

[mmadmikes1]

in the future do a starter, if only to know if yeast is good, also will start soon and impatience is lessened

 

[Wade E]

Yep, to early! I also like to dd my yeast when the must is in the high 70's as it gets it going faster if I am sprinkling but a starter is a better way to go. You should have fermentation going in the next 24-48 hours, first signs will be a sizzling sond if you put your ear in there, sort of like a soda pop!

 

[JBEE]

Sizzling

Thanks for the replies and I have a sizzling sound in my primary..

 

[Wade E]

Just keep the temps up and all will be good!

 

[JBEE]

Thanks

Just keep the temps up and all will be good!

Thanks Wade

 

[gawine]

Just use a brew belt to avoid any questions/issues about temperature. I just bought one so i don't have to have any worries about it being to cool in my basement. it's been 24 hours and i see a little bit of action already on my first batch. pretty cool. the lid is covered with droplets of water.. i guess that may be a result of bubbling.

 

[Hillbilly Bill]

I'm trying to make my first gallon of strawberry wine made with ripe strawberries and I went by the recipe and it seems the yeast ain't working.

1. Mashed fruit in straining bag into the primary
2. Put water, 2lbs. of sugar, 1 tsp. Acid blend, 1/4 tsp. Tannin, 1/2 tsp. Pectic Enzyme, 1 tsp. Nutrient, and 1 Campden (crushed) all into primary.
3. After 24 hours I added the yeast which the water was 70 degrees and covered.

I checked it 24 hours later and seems to be not working. Could it be that the yeast was bad (didn't hydrate it) or did I do something else wrong. The S.G. 1.100 yesterday and still is 1.100. What can I do to save it or am I being to impatient? Any help would be grateful. Thanks

Did you put the sugar directly into the fermenter, or did you dissolve it in hot water and then add it to the primary? If you added cane sugar directly to the fermenter then you are asking the yeast to break down a complex sugar, which they can do but they use much more energy doing it and fermentation will be much slower, whereas if you boil the sugar in water before adding it to the primary you will be inverting the complex cane sugar (polysaccharides) into simple sugars (monosaccharides) and the yeast will readily ferment the inverted sugar into alcohol.

 

[upper]

Just a heads up bill.Somebody is posting off of your handle......Upper

 

[Hillbilly Bill]

Just a heads up bill.Somebody is posting off of your handle......Upper

Show me where it is... are you sure it isn't me?

 

[Berks Liberty]

I started my first batch of Vinters Harvest Raspberry and it doesn't seem to be going the way it should. 70 degree temp, I used the kit instructions but the yeast didn't seem to get going so I took the air lock off and loosened the lid and added some Yeast energizer to the five gallons because when I mixed the yeast in warm water which the yeast packet stated I figured I did something to the yeast. The S.G. was 1.100 on the 4th of Jan. It seems like something is happening because the bag of fruit has a coating over it but the juice is clear. Today the S.G. reading is 1.200, what's going on and how do I get the S.G. to lower? Is the yeast working? Or is there something else going on? Can you tell I'm new to this!

 

[rawlus]

I started my first batch of Vinters Harvest Raspberry and it doesn't seem to be going the way it should. 70 degree temp, I used the kit instructions but the yeast didn't seem to get going so I took the air lock off and loosened the lid and added some Yeast energizer to the five gallons because when I mixed the yeast in warm water which the yeast packet stated I figured I did something to the yeast. The S.G. was 1.100 on the 4th of Jan. It seems like something is happening because the bag of fruit has a coating over it but the juice is clear. Today the S.G. reading is 1.200, what's going on and how do I get the S.G. to lower? Is the yeast working? Or is there something else going on? Can you tell I'm new to this!

what makes you think you did something to the yeast when you hydrated it?
your SG readings dont seem right, the SG should not go up unless youve added something to the mixture. were both readings taken at the same temp? temp can affect SG readings a bit so it's a good idea to get in the habit of either temp-correcting your reading (most hydrometers are calibrated to read accurately at 60*F) or provide the SG reading & the temp of the must (ie SG 1100 @ 72*F)

yeast is sort of delicate when first started, the starter temp is critical, then you should cool it down to must temp before introducing it into the pail so it does not get shocked. no activity for 48 hours is unusual if you used a starter... although it can take that long to get going if you just pitched the dry yeast onto the must directly.

when the yeast first starts you can often hear it if you listen carefully. sort of a sizzle/fizzle. visual signs of fermentation are often unreliable. but your grav readings are off so maybe retake them, mix the must up good first, maybe it stratified or wasnt mixed well to begin with.

do you have more yeast on hand? do you have a second bucket? you can always make the starter and put in second bucket and then reintroduce must into that bucket a little at a time to keep the ferment going.

 

[Berks Liberty]

I mis read the SG reading it is 1.120 not 1.200. I do have a packet of Red Star Montrachet yeast on hand would I be able to use that? I do have a second bucket.

 

[rawlus]

if your starting was 1100 and your latest was 1120 then i would hazard a guess to say the difference is in a reading error and there's been no fermentation (since your second reading is still higher than your first by 0.020)

follow the directions on the packet for getting a new starter going, be mindful of temp shock to the yeast, use water to start the yeast, not wine... once you have the starter going, slowly add wine to it, a little bit every few hours... and if the ferment keeps going double those amounts until all the wine is refermenting.
if you search "stuck fermentation" here you will likely find more detailed and knowledgable step-by-step instructions but that's the gist of it.

the red star montrachet should be fine to use provided its fresh.