champagne yeast

[BigBrew]

Just started to make my strawberry wine (fizzy). I pitch the yeast at 17:30 today, just checked it and no bubbles / froth, is this normal for champagne yeast... I have only brewed beer before so not sure if this normal

[Richard S]

Yes this is normal, the yeast needs time to get working. 24 - 36 hrs is often the norm. Am I right in assuming that you have just started the wine off and want to produce a fizzy wine as the end result?

[BigBrew]

yeah... produce the fizz at the end?

Cheers

[Richard S]

Once your wine has finished fermenting, usualy dry at 0.990 - 0.996, the next stages would be to stabalise and de-gas (get rid of the Co2). If you don't do this then your wine will not clear properly and could make corks pop or bottles explode. Making fizzy wine is something that I have not tried yet, good luck!

[Rich]

Hi BigBrew, welcome to the forum.

Having read your last few posts, I gather that your making some strawberry wine from tinned strawberries, and then going to dispense from a beer barrel to make it fizzy?

If you could expand a little on your recipe, and what you intend to do, that should make it easier for people to assist you.

Nothing wrong with dispensing it from the barrel I think, not sure if it'd be as fizzy as a secondary ferment in champagne type bottles though.

Rich

[BigBrew]

My plan is / was....

11 - 400g tins of strawberries in grape juice.
4.5 KG of sugar
1ltr grape juice
1 tin grape extract
Tannin / citric acid / Pectolase / yeast energiser.
Champagne yeast.
Top up to 5 gallon

Place all ingredients in fermenting bucket, lid fitted. Pitch yeast.
Starting SG 1092
Once SG gets to 1050, filter into closed fermenting barrel with air lock.
Once fermenting has stopped, syphon and filter in to pressure barrel, adding about 70g of sugar.
Pressurise with Co2.... leave for 4-6 months, maybe filter 2-3 times.. chilling after 2-3 weeks.

This may change, I'm new to wine brewing.. so it's a bit trial and error

[Her Lushness]

I've not tried fizzy wine yet either, but would love to do some, and with this in mind I plan to have another gallon of (fresh) Strawberry on the go before long.

Does anyone have any advice before I start with this one, which may save me some costly/embarassing mistakes?

My plan (such as it is) is to ferment the wine to about 990, de gas it, and then prime it in some champagne bottles that I have been given, wire on the corks etc and sit back and wait for it to clear etc etc...

...or am I being overly simplistic here?

[Duffbeer]

Well fancy that eh, a whole tutorial on sparkling wine

[Rich]

Place all ingredients in fermenting bucket, lid fitted. Pitch yeast.
Starting SG 1092
Once SG gets to 1050, filter into closed fermenting barrel with air lock.
Once fermenting has stopped, syphon and filter in to pressure barrel, adding about 70g of sugar.
Pressurise with Co2.... leave for 4-6 months, maybe filter 2-3 times.. chilling after 2-3 weeks.

This may change, I'm new to wine brewing.. so it's a bit trial and error

Filtering at 1.050 and maybe even again into a pressure barrel could well stop the fermentation if it takes all or most of the yeast out. Just racking off the thick sediment should be sufficient.

Taking it out the barrel to filter 2-3 times would also lose any trapped co2 in the wine, making it flat again.

Starting SG at 1.092 is way too high IMO, and it'll take a while for this wine to age so it isn't hot, especially after you've fed it a bit more to make the fizz.

[Her Lushness]

Well fancy that eh, a whole tutorial on sparkling wine

DOH! Forgot to look to see if there was one there already.... thanks, I'm obviously going to have a blonde day now...

[smoggy]

Do you have to put into champagne bottles with cork and wire or would PET bottles do the job?

[Duffbeer]

This should help

[Hippie]

Rich hit on a good point.

The fizz will amplify any hot, bitter, other off flavors, but will also highlight the good ones.

[BigBrew]

still dosn't seem to be fermenting?