Hi:

I have 5 gallons of blueberry wine that was made last July, uh 2004.

Used Priemer Cuvee, and it never went dry, SG 1.03 when it quit.
Thought it might be all it was gonna do, so intended to stabilize and
bottle this past summer. But fermentation started back up so I left
it.

Right now I''m moving jugs from the house to the garage for winter,
and the blueberry is vigourously fermenting, the garage is <55deg F!

Smells fine, no yuk that I can see in the jug, or floating on top. I
don't unerstand. What else might be going on here, any ideas
appreciated!

Steve noobie
Oregon

I just bottled a batch of blueberry. It was a struggle, but well worth
it, as it turned out to be a very nice dry red wine. Here's what I went
through to get it:

8/23/03 Pitched Premier Cuvee into my 1.099 gravity must.

8/31/03 Removed pulp, still fermenting.

9/9/03 Racked, fermentation is very slow.

10/15/03 A few tiny bubbles, but no airlock activity. Thick, almost
"slushy" with lots of fine pulp.

1/7/04 Ok, it's stuck. SG = 1.054. Stratified with a 2" layer of pulp
at the bottom of the jug.

1/25/04 Made a new starter, racked to an open fermenter, and moved from
basement to (warmer) upstairs closet.

1/30/04 It's fermenting, but very slowly. No real cap, just small
clumps of froth. Stirred and racked to a jug with an airlock.

2/28/04 No airlock activity, but a small ring of bubbles.

5/11/04 SG = 1.044. Added nutrient and racked.

5/20/04 Active fermentation, some of the wine was pushed into the
airlock.

9/16/04 Success! SG = 0.995.

4/14/05 Racked.

12/17/05 Bottled, SG = 0.992.

Though I added nutrient to the initial must, I believe my problem was a
nutrient deficiency. It may be that blueberry wine requires higher than
normal amounts of yeast nutrient.

Erroll

That is a long time to be still vigorously fermenting. There can't be that
much sugar in it if it was down to 1.03 last year. Check the SG to see
where it is now. Could be an MLF.

Ray

"spud" > wrote in message
...
> Hi:
>
> I have 5 gallons of blueberry wine that was made last July, uh 2004.
>
> Used Priemer Cuvee, and it never went dry, SG 1.03 when it quit.
> Thought it might be all it was gonna do, so intended to stabilize and
> bottle this past summer. But fermentation started back up so I left
> it.
>
> Right now I''m moving jugs from the house to the garage for winter,
> and the blueberry is vigourously fermenting, the garage is <55deg F!
>
> Smells fine, no yuk that I can see in the jug, or floating on top. I
> don't unerstand. What else might be going on here, any ideas
> appreciated!
>
> Steve noobie
> Oregon
>

Erroll:

Thanks for the blueberry log it gives me hope. I agree the wine
smells and tastes good, so it whould make a good wine when it
finishes.

Steve noobie
Oregon



"Erroll Ozgencil" > wrote:

>I just bottled a batch of blueberry. It was a struggle, but well worth
>it...
snip
>8/23/03 Pitched Premier Cuvee into my 1.099 gravity must.
>
snip
>
>12/17/05 Bottled, SG = 0.992.
>Erroll

Hi:

Oh you're right, it's not /vigorous/.

Bubbles are constantly coming up to the neck and are forming a ring
~ 1/2" wide around the neck. The SG is 1.00 right now, so it's not
dry yet.

According to Kellers site Blueberry's acid is largely citric, however
I would suppose that doesn't preclude malic. Right now I have jugs of
Cab and Merlot doing MLF in the house. We heat the house by wood
stove, the difference between daytime temps and early morning is
enough to noticaby suppress MLF in these carboys. I tend to think the
garage is too cold right now for MLF.

Incidently I racked some Sauvignon Blanc and Gamay today that were in
the house and now out in the garage. Both deposited crystals on the
bottom, tartrate?

Thanks

Steve noobie
Oregon



> "Ray Calvert" > wrote:

>That is a long time to be still vigorously fermenting. There can't be that
>much sugar in it if it was down to 1.03 last year. Check the SG to see
>where it is now. Could be an MLF.
>
>Ray

"spud" > wrote in message
...
> Hi:
>
> I have 5 gallons of blueberry wine that was made last July, uh 2004.
>
> Used Priemer Cuvee, and it never went dry, SG 1.03 when it quit.
> Thought it might be all it was gonna do, so intended to stabilize and
> bottle this past summer. But fermentation started back up so I left
> it.
>
> Right now I''m moving jugs from the house to the garage for winter,
> and the blueberry is vigourously fermenting, the garage is <55deg F!
>
> Smells fine, no yuk that I can see in the jug, or floating on top. I
> don't unerstand. What else might be going on here, any ideas
> appreciated!

Although I don't make country wines, I've heard that blueberry is difficult
to ferment. I guess that's what you're seeing.

Tom S
www.chateauburbank.com

blueberries do have benzoate in them which can make them hard to
ferment.

I generally make meads with blueberries (over wine) and I add them to
secondary....for wine, I would look into using a starter.