What The Heck?
 

I made some Orange wine according to a recipe on the net. It was bubbling
and boiling away merrily for three days and then just stopped. I took a
hydrometer reading and it showed nothing at all. The thing sank all the way
to 0.09 or whatever the last reading was.

I tried to get on the winepress.us net but it won't let me post for some
reason. And the administrator won't answer either.

What The Heck?
 

On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 14:13:08 -0800, "Tom Kunich"
> wrote:

>I made some Orange wine according to a recipe on the net. It was bubbling
>and boiling away merrily for three days and then just stopped. I took a
>hydrometer reading and it showed nothing at all. The thing sank all the way
>to 0.09 or whatever the last reading was.
>
>I tried to get on the winepress.us net but it won't let me post for some
>reason. And the administrator won't answer either.


Well I'd say your wine has finished fermenting . If you took a
hydrometer reading before you pitched the yeast[an IG - Initial
Gravity] then you should be able to work out what % of alcohol
you have in your wine.

If it's very low you may be able to add more sugar and it'll probably
start bubbling again.

Charlie

What The Heck?
 

On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 14:13:08 -0800, "Tom Kunich"
> wrote:

>I made some Orange wine according to a recipe on the net. It was bubbling
>and boiling away merrily for three days and then just stopped. I took a
>hydrometer reading and it showed nothing at all. The thing sank all the way
>to 0.09 or whatever the last reading was.
>
>I tried to get on the winepress.us net but it won't let me post for some
>reason. And the administrator won't answer either.

As already said, it sounds like it is finished fermenting. But you
need to learn to read a hydrometer. SG readings are usually quoted as
3 decimal places and 0.09 is an impossible reading. Perhaps .990.
If you wish to calulate your alcohol %age at some point, reasonably
accurate readings are essential.

Steve

What The Heck?
 

My typing is all messed up since I got a head injury last year. Yes, I meant
0.990. But since the fermentation is still bubbling away do I simply halt it
with Potasium MetaBisulfate?


"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 14:13:08 -0800, "Tom Kunich"
> > wrote:
>
>>I made some Orange wine according to a recipe on the net. It was bubbling
>>and boiling away merrily for three days and then just stopped. I took a
>>hydrometer reading and it showed nothing at all. The thing sank all the
>>way
>>to 0.09 or whatever the last reading was.
>>
>>I tried to get on the winepress.us net but it won't let me post for some
>>reason. And the administrator won't answer either.
>
> As already said, it sounds like it is finished fermenting. But you
> need to learn to read a hydrometer. SG readings are usually quoted as
> 3 decimal places and 0.09 is an impossible reading. Perhaps .990.
> If you wish to calulate your alcohol %age at some point, reasonably
> accurate readings are essential.
>
> Steve

What The Heck?
 

In article >, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
>My typing is all messed up since I got a head injury last year. Yes, I meant
>0.990. But since the fermentation is still bubbling away do I simply halt it
>with Potasium MetaBisulfate?

NO!

Why would you want to halt it, anyway?

What The Heck?
 

"Doug Miller" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, "Tom Kunich"
> > wrote:
>>My typing is all messed up since I got a head injury last year. Yes, I
>>meant
>>0.990. But since the fermentation is still bubbling away do I simply halt
>>it
>>with Potasium MetaBisulfate?
>
> NO!
>
> Why would you want to halt it, anyway?

So what you're saying is that you allow it to keep fermenting until it halts
of it's own?

What The Heck?
 

Tom Kunich wrote:
> "Doug Miller" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In article >, "Tom Kunich"
>> > wrote:
>>> My typing is all messed up since I got a head injury last year. Yes, I
>>> meant
>>> 0.990. But since the fermentation is still bubbling away do I simply halt
>>> it
>>> with Potasium MetaBisulfate?
>> NO!
>>
>> Why would you want to halt it, anyway?
>
> So what you're saying is that you allow it to keep fermenting until it halts
> of it's own?
>
>

Yep. Keep feeding sugar and the happy content (alcohol) will increase.

We experimented years ago with the Lalvin EC-118 and kept feeding sugar
until the alcohol hit 18% IIRC at which point the alcohol killed the
yeast. The stuff always had a sharp boozy taste even after years of
mellowing, and we finally relegated it to cooking.

What The Heck?
 

In article > , "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
>"Doug Miller" > wrote in message
...
>> In article >, "Tom Kunich"
>> > wrote:
>>>My typing is all messed up since I got a head injury last year. Yes, I
>>>meant
>>>0.990. But since the fermentation is still bubbling away do I simply halt
>>>it
>>>with Potasium MetaBisulfate?
>>
>> NO!
>>
>> Why would you want to halt it, anyway?
>
>So what you're saying is that you allow it to keep fermenting until it halts
>of it's own?

Yes. Once the yeast have run out of sugar to eat, the fermentation will stop
all by itself -- there's nothing left to ferment. If you want a sweet wine,
then add potassium *sorbate* (not metabisulfite) to prevent the fermentation
from starting again, then sweeten it. Stopping the fermentation early leaves
you with a low-alcohol wine, which rather defeats the purpose of making wine
in the first place.