Can I save my wine?

shopaholictiedtheknot

I made some rice and raisin wine and it was fermenting well in the bucket but once I put it in the demi-john it only bubbled for a couple of days and then stopped, it is still very cloudy and I don't know what I should do next? can I start fermentation again somehow or put something in to clear it?

Penelope_Penguin

We've managed to salvage HM wine by making up a fresh yeast solution and adding that. Have you tried measuring the specific gravity? Do your instructions indicate what it should be? Did you add more sugar before it went into the demijohns?

Hang on while I fetch my wine making book.

Penny. x

Seakay

Did you leave it in the same place once it was in the demi-john or did you move it somewhere cooler?

shopaholictiedtheknot

Seakay wrote: »

Did you leave it in the same place once it was in the demi-john or did you move it somewhere cooler?

I left it in the same place, have read somewhere the yeast could have been killed off if it had got too hot?

shopaholictiedtheknot

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

We've managed to salvage HM wine by making up a fresh yeast solution and adding that. Have you tried measuring the specific gravity? Do your instructions indicate what it should be? Did you add more sugar before it went into the demijohns?

Hang on while I fetch my wine making book.

Penny. x

I got the recipe online and it didnt mention gravity and no, I did not add any more sugar, it said it was ok to keep for 3 months as it was when complete and if you wanted to keep it for a year to add a camden tablet - I am wondering if it was a dodgy recipe as I thought wine was meant to improve with age?

Seakay

Usually fermentation stops if it gets too cold - it's theoretically possible that warmth would accelerate fermentation, but it seems unlikely to have reduced it to a couple of days, and if the wine is in the same place then it also seems unlikely that it has been hot enough to kill the yeast. Ideally the room should be between 16 and 25 C and not fluctuate too much.

As a first step I would pick up the demi-john and get the wine swirling around to reincorporate any yeast which has sunk to the bottom - this often gets it bubbling again.
The campden tablet you mentioned - have you already added it? Because usually you do that after fermentation has finished.

pol

Taste it, if it's dry it will have finished, if it tastes sweet, then the ferment is stuck. How long was it in the bucket? Sometimes a wine can be done in 7-10 days.
If it seems dry (it'll taste a bit rough yet) put in a campden and sorbate. If still sweet you need to get it going again with a little more yeast in a starter bottle.
Let us know how you go with it.

pol

Agapanthus

Have you added the camden tablet yet? That'll kill the yeast and after that you'll have trouble getting it started again. You usually do that to stop the fermentation if you want a sweet wine.

If you haven't added that yet and it still tastes sweet, then it should be possible to get it restarted. As other posters have said:

1 swirl it round. That often helps.

2. Check the temperature. It's more usual for fermentations to stop when too cold than too hot. Up to blood heat is fine, but if it's got too hot at some point then the yeast may have been killed permanently and you'll need to add more yeast (activated first with sugar solution) to get it going again. If it's too cold then you probably just need to move it somewhere warmer.

shopaholictiedtheknot

Thanks for all your replies, no, I haven't added the camden tablet yet so I will try swirling first, will keep you posted

shopaholictiedtheknot

Tried the swirling - no effect so added some more activated yeast and put it in a warmer place - still nothing! Should I add the camden tablet now?

whatatwit

Have you tasted it yet?

No idea on wine making...just nosy.