Damson wine problem

[easylife]

Hi all

i have recently started 3 gallon of damson wine in a bucket which was working well, the SG came down to around 1.010 so i added sugar to 1.030, drained off the pulp and split the wine into 3x 1 gallon demijohns, after 24 hours all was well all 3 DJ's were fermenting well, but in the last 24 hours one of the DJ's has stopped working but the other 2 are still bubbling away merrily
so my question is why has this happened what did i do wrong and what should i do now? i am new to wine making so please be gentle with me
regards Alan

[mrdexter]

I'm still quite new too, so gentleness assured :-)

First thing is never take a bubbling or non bubbling airlock as a sign of fermentation, always go on the SG. I had a cider which I thought was stuck, turns out there must have been an issue with the bung or airlock or something not sealing properly, and the gas escaping but not via the airlock.

I would take the SG of all three demi johns first of all to see if they are progressing similarly.

I would also take the SG of the one you think is not working 24 hours apart and see if there is a difference, that would indicate it is still fermenting.

[mcblades]

HI

A couple of things you might consider in addition to mrdexters thoughts.

1. what was the OG of the brew? If too high then you may just have exhausted the alcohol tolerance of the yeast.

2. which yeast did you use? see above.

3. how much /which nutrient did you use? . Any off smells (eg sulphides) from the DJ's may indicate a low nutrient level. If so, add 1/2tsp tronozymol (dissolved in half a cup of must otherwise you may get a wine volcano) and give it a good stir.

4. give it a week and see if the sg has changed. I had a xmas pud wine which took forever to finish but got there in the end (with the addition of nutrient and patience)

I am sure wiser heads will be along shortly with much sage advice.

regards

mark

[goldseal]

That is decent advice.

In addition, can you tell us what the starting SG was (i.e. before the fermentation started). If you didn't measure it, the recipe would be handy too.

It would also help to know the variety of yeast you used.

Above all ..... don't panic


EDIT: Doh!! Beaten to it

[TStarr]

I have started taking the Mrs's nail file to all my plastic bubbler airlocks, when I found the ridge where the 2 halves weld together down the neck, were invariably giving rise to airleaks, making it look like the ferment was slowing or had stopped. If you drop a little water around the neck where it enters the bung, or even around the glass/rubber seal, and u suddenly find bubbles flowing thru the airlock, then u have a problem!

I just hope nasties can't get back the same way!

[Cellar_Rat]

I just hope nasties can't get back the same way!

Fermenting wine is producing co2 so reasonably well protected. Plus there would be a positive pressure co2 flow through the gap.


It'll be fine.

[mrdexter]

Fermenting wine is producing co2 so reasonably well protected. Plus there would be a positive pressure co2 flow through the gap.


It'll be fine.

Never thought of that, although I was also concerned about oxygen getting in once the wine was ageing.

[lockwood1956]

The answers to the questions posed above will help us to give better advice (hopefully )

regards
Bob

[easylife]

Hi,

Thank you all for taking the time to answer my questions

I will now try to answer a few of yours too

Mrdexter
The SG now, is the same in all 3 DJ's at 1.020 so i expect that all three are fermenting nicely and when i refitted the bungs and air locks all started bubbling nicely again

Mcblades
The starting SG was around 1.080 the yeast was dried active yeast by Young's as was the nutrient as i didnt know much about the different yeasts before finding this site and just bought everything from the Young's range

Tstarr
It looks like i will be taking your advice about the nail file too

so once again thanks to all

Alan

[mrdexter]

Great news! :-)

[lockwood1956]

Result!

[goldseal]

That's good news Alan .

On a slightly different subject, I reckon your wine has the potential to end up with over 14% alcohol. If this was intentional, that's fine, but for everyday wine this is a bit on the high side.

[Cellar_Rat]

Never thought of that, although I was also concerned about oxygen getting in once the wine was ageing.

Absolutely.

[easylife]

On a slightly different subject, I reckon your wine has the potential to end up with over 14% alcohol. If this was intentional, that's fine, but for everyday wine this is a bit on the high side.[/QUOTE]

Hi Goldseal thanks for this info, i was looking for a medium sweet wine but didnt want to make it too strong, should i just let it ferment until it stops now without adding more sugar? sorry for my ignorance but i am still very new to this but enjoying the experience all the same

[goldseal]

If it was my wine, I wouldn't add any more sugar. I would let it ferment out (i.e. it looks like fermentation has ceased, and the hydrometer reading doesn't change over a 4 or 5 day period).

I would go through the normal processes of degassing and stabilisation, adding potassium sorbate as well as potassium/sodium metbisulphite. This ensures any residual sugar in the wine, or any sugar you subsequently add, won't cause continued refermentation once the wine is bottled.

Once you have stabilised the wine, leave it in a demijohn to clear. You may decide to add finings to help the process. Once the wine is clear ....

Medium sweet probably equates to around 1.005 - 1.010 on the hydrometer. Your wine might ferment to dry (0.990 - 0.993 ish), or the yeast might quit before that, resulting in a higher hydrometer reading. In either case, I think you'll probably need to add sugar to reach the sweetness you desire. Do this by taste, adding a little at a time. If you find the wine is a bit cloying when sweetened, consider adding a bit of acid (citric, or a citric/tartaric mix) to offset it.

Once you have something which tastes right, pop it back in the DJ under airlock, keep it at room temperature for a week or so under airlock, just to make sure it is stabilised correctly and it isn't going to start fermenting again. Once you are sure, and if it is totally clear, I would bottle it.

That's what I would do, anyway

EDIT: My generic rules for making a non-dry wine:
Decide on desired alcohol content
Determine initial SG based on the above, and make up must to that SG
Ferment to dry
Degas, stabilise and clear
Sweeten and adjust acidity
Check for continued fermentation
Possibly filter
Bottle