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.

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

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

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

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?

"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?

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.

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.