ferment stuck solid...seeking advice suggestions
 

Hi all, thought I'd put this to the group....

23l apple wine from crushed fruit, champagne yeast, with nutrient at
startup. Went well in primary , transferred to secondary glass carboy
at ten days, only to stop bubbling. SG was rechecked, it was 1030. No
joy after two weeks (room temp 75 constant) so added yeast nutrient. No
joy after another two weeks so added new champagne yeast (stirred in,
no starter made). Bubbled feebly for about 24 hrs then quit. SG still
1030. I dont want to waste this much wine until I've tried everything
you guys' best suggestions would have me do, so can anyone advise me
what I should try next?

Thanks guys

Sean

ferment stuck solid...seeking advice suggestions
 

Sean,
Try a different yeast and make a starter. I would suggest Lalvin
K1V1116; it's a good all purpose yeast and is alcohol tolerant. I
think you might have left all of your initially viable yeast behind
when you racked and the second champagne yeast couldn't propagate in
the existing alcohol, but it's just a guess.

As to what next:

Hydrate yeast per the instructions.

Add to 8 ounces water + 3 tablespoons sugar.

Once it gets going well add that to 8 ounces of this apple must.

Add that to 1 pint of must, once it's going;

Add that to a quart of must, once it's going add that to the batch.

It sounds like a lot of messing around but I doubt this will take more
than a day or two to get through.

Do it now though, sooner is better. If you go out to buy yeast maybe
get some yeast nutrient or DAP and add it to the existing batch to see
if that gets it going while you build up the starter.

snpm wrote:
> Hi all, thought I'd put this to the group....
>
> 23l apple wine from crushed fruit, champagne yeast, with nutrient at
> startup. Went well in primary , transferred to secondary glass carboy
> at ten days, only to stop bubbling. SG was rechecked, it was 1030. No
> joy after two weeks (room temp 75 constant) so added yeast nutrient. No
> joy after another two weeks so added new champagne yeast (stirred in,
> no starter made). Bubbled feebly for about 24 hrs then quit. SG still
> 1030. I dont want to waste this much wine until I've tried everything
> you guys' best suggestions would have me do, so can anyone advise me
> what I should try next?
>
> Thanks guys
>
> Sean

ferment stuck solid...seeking advice suggestions
 

Same problem here. Started with water, apples, maple syrup and sugar.
SG was 1.080. After 2 weeks, SG was 1.050, I decided to transfer into a
carboy. After 2 other weeks, the SG was still at 1.050, and it really
tasted like juice. So I retransfered into bucket and added new yeast
(EC 1118), 2 days after, SG was still 1.050 and no bubbling. It started
to look and smell really wierd, so it finnally went down the drain.
Snif.
I thought maybe the maple syrup had something in it to prevent
fermentation? Or is it the yeast that cannot ferment maple sugar? I'll
try next year without the maple syrup. It doesn't cost anything since
the apples grow in my backyard.

Sorry I know that this doesn't help you, but our problems are alike and
I'll be glad if someone can help us.

On Nov 2, 7:01 am, "snpm" > wrote:
> Hi all, thought I'd put this to the group....
>
> 23l apple wine from crushed fruit, champagne yeast, with nutrient at
> startup. Went well in primary , transferred to secondary glass carboy
> at ten days, only to stop bubbling. SG was rechecked, it was 1030. No
> joy after two weeks (room temp 75 constant) so added yeast nutrient. No
> joy after another two weeks so added new champagne yeast (stirred in,
> no starter made). Bubbled feebly for about 24 hrs then quit. SG still
> 1030. I dont want to waste this much wine until I've tried everything
> you guys' best suggestions would have me do, so can anyone advise me
> what I should try next?
>
> Thanks guys
>
> Sean

ferment stuck solid...seeking advice suggestions
 

On Nov 2, 9:18 am, "Joe Sallustio" > wrote:
> Sean,
> Try a different yeast and make a starter. I would suggest Lalvin
> K1V1116; it's a good all purpose yeast and is alcohol tolerant. I
> think you might have left all of your initially viable yeast behind
> when you racked and the second champagne yeast couldn't propagate in
> the existing alcohol, but it's just a guess.
>
> As to what next:
>
> Hydrate yeast per the instructions.
>
> Add to 8 ounces water + 3 tablespoons sugar.
>
> Once it gets going well add that to 8 ounces of this apple must.
>
> Add that to 1 pint of must, once it's going;
>
> Add that to a quart of must, once it's going add that to the batch.
>
> It sounds like a lot of messing around but I doubt this will take more
> than a day or two to get through.
>
> Do it now though, sooner is better. If you go out to buy yeast maybe
> get some yeast nutrient or DAP and add it to the existing batch to see
> if that gets it going while you build up the starter.
>
>
>

Joe, when you do the doubling of the starter, do you have to keep
racking the remaining stuck must into smaller containers to prevent air
exposure or is it okay to leave the carboy untopped for the 1-2 days
this'll take? I haven't had to do this yet (knock on wood) but I've
always wondered about that part - having to protect the leftover would
be a pain.

Thx,

Pp

ferment stuck solid...seeking advice suggestions
 

To be honest it would be best to limit exposure to air or refrigerate
the remaining must. That's why I would do whatever i was going to do
immediately.

Joe

> when you do the doubling of the starter, do you have to keep
> racking the remaining stuck must into smaller containers to prevent air
> exposure or is it okay to leave the carboy untopped for the 1-2 days
> this'll take?

ferment stuck solid...seeking advice suggestions
 

To be honest it would be best to limit exposure to air or refrigerate
the remaining must. That's why I would do whatever i was going to do
immediately.

Joe

> when you do the doubling of the starter, do you have to keep
> racking the remaining stuck must into smaller containers to prevent air
> exposure or is it okay to leave the carboy untopped for the 1-2 days
> this'll take?

ferment stuck solid...seeking advice suggestions
 

Thank you, Sir



Joe Sallustio wrote:
> Sean,
> Try a different yeast and make a starter. I would suggest Lalvin
> K1V1116; it's a good all purpose yeast and is alcohol tolerant. I
> think you might have left all of your initially viable yeast behind
> when you racked and the second champagne yeast couldn't propagate in
> the existing alcohol, but it's just a guess.
>
> As to what next:
>
> Hydrate yeast per the instructions.
>
> Add to 8 ounces water + 3 tablespoons sugar.
>
> Once it gets going well add that to 8 ounces of this apple must.
>
> Add that to 1 pint of must, once it's going;
>
> Add that to a quart of must, once it's going add that to the batch.
>
> It sounds like a lot of messing around but I doubt this will take more
> than a day or two to get through.
>
> Do it now though, sooner is better. If you go out to buy yeast maybe
> get some yeast nutrient or DAP and add it to the existing batch to see
> if that gets it going while you build up the starter.
>
> snpm wrote:
> > Hi all, thought I'd put this to the group....
> >
> > 23l apple wine from crushed fruit, champagne yeast, with nutrient at
> > startup. Went well in primary , transferred to secondary glass carboy
> > at ten days, only to stop bubbling. SG was rechecked, it was 1030. No
> > joy after two weeks (room temp 75 constant) so added yeast nutrient. No
> > joy after another two weeks so added new champagne yeast (stirred in,
> > no starter made). Bubbled feebly for about 24 hrs then quit. SG still
> > 1030. I dont want to waste this much wine until I've tried everything
> > you guys' best suggestions would have me do, so can anyone advise me
> > what I should try next?
> >
> > Thanks guys
> >
> > Sean