Damson stopped early

[TStarr]

Yes, I know, another case of ignoring the old hydrometer at ones peril - I made 3 steam juiced wines with Elderberry and Damsons - the Elder and mixed version both finished at .99, & at same time - the pure Damson continued, slowly, and after further 2 weeks I was just glad it had stopped and never checked - sure enough 2 rackings along, it tastes fine, but a little sweet - probably due to the sg being 1.012

So, what do I do - I am happy keeping it at that, as was going to sweeten anyway - but do I need to ensure it doesn't restart with sorbate, or will a further 4 months or so of ageing, and no activity mean it is safe to bottle?

(All of the wines used the same Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast, but I split a packet over the 3, using a starter for each - starting sg was 1.09 and added further 8ozs, mainly because volcanoed on me, and had to top up - same quantities really on all 3, so bit of a shock to find Damson hadn't bottomed out)

[lockwood1956]

I would let it stand for the 4 months and see what happens...


if you are intending to bottle it you will most certainly need to stabilise it.

Campden & Sorbate (dont use sorbate on its own)


regards
bob

ps for clarity it is best to always express Sg readings to 3 decimal points i.e. 0.990

[Cellar_Rat]

Is there a connection between steamers and stuck fermentations ?

[TStarr]

Is there a connection between steamers and stuck fermentations ?

I am hoping that it is my poor sugar control that has caused my stuck attempts so far, and next year I will be starting around 1.085 and adding more later - whereas I have been starting nearer 1.120 with some this year.

However, some have worked fine, others not. All my pulp ones came out at 1.099 - but all these started in a fermentation bucket.

The juiced versions, I went straight to dj plus airlock (one of the huge attractions of the steamer being to avoid the crushing, straining etc) - and most foamed over - so on the one hand sounding like they had plenty of yeast & ooomph, but on the other hand, didn't have the better oxygen start from a bucket.

A possible alternative problem, is that I was flying by seat of pants on steamed recipes, as I wasn't sure what volume of fruit or resultant juice to throw into the must. The pulp ones I used 3-4lbs and had recipes to at least be close to. The steamed juices I ended up using 3 - 4 pints of juice to the gallon. Now it may be the type of fruit I used in the juicer (Damson, Elderberry, Quince), or that I used too much juice, but they all seem to have a much heavier body to them than the pulped wines. Yet I have heard people talk of 100% juiced wines - and I did a 100% juiced apple for cider, and that came down to 1.099, albeit quite slowly.

Whilst I can see that the yeast has less to work on in the absence of the pulp, I was expecting that to result in maybe less flavour in the juiced versions, yet the juiced wines have far greater flavour in them, and I was hoping never to be crushing, & pulping again.