Stuck or not?

[chadspad]

I made some plum wine last year. It fermented fine and the SG was down to 0.990 - after racking I topped up with sugar water, adding 280g of sugar but this didnt restart fermenting and the SG is stuck at 1.010. I had another 5 (what am I doing wrong!!) that were also stuck so about a week ago I used some restart yeast - 4 of the others have restarted but the plum is not having it! Im really disappointed as it is a beautiful colour and tastes really lovely. Is it likely that it will restart but is just taking longer? If it doesnt restart is it possible to add a campden tablet, rack it and bottle it as it is without having to have the SG down to 0.990? Thanks for your help

[P cuthbert]

Chad;

The plum is definitely stuck. If you like it as it is, you can add 1/2 tsp of Potassium sorbate per gallon. Be sure that you have sufficient sulphite to prevent any bacterial action.

If you wish to bring the SG down on this one, you can rack it onto a conditioned yeast. This would be the lees from a fermentation that has just completed. Simply rack the wine as you would normally, leaving the lees behind and then rack the plum onto the lees. A quick stir, and you should be back into fermentation fairly quickly.

Be sure that you sorbate the plume before bottling if you want it as it currently is.

Pat

[chadspad]

Hi Pat, Thanks for replying. Wouldnt racking the plum onto another wines lees make it taste of that?? I have a mint wine that I can try it with.

[NorthernWiner]

I made some plum wine last year. It fermented fine and the SG was down to 0.990 - after racking I topped up with sugar water, adding 280g of sugar but this didnt restart fermenting and the SG is stuck at 1.010. I had another 5 (what am I doing wrong!!) that were also stuck so about a week ago I used some restart yeast - 4 of the others have restarted but the plum is not having it!

Chad, two questions. First, what was the SG when you first started? Second, what type of yeast did you use? Keep in mind, some yeasts are only viable up to 14% alcohol.

Also, I wouldn't suggest mixing with the lees from the mint wine. Some of the mint flavor could carry over to the plum. Not a good blend, IMO.

Steve

[chadspad]

Hi Steve,

The SG after the first ferment was 0.992 then I added the extra sugar water on the top-up and the SG wouldnt go below 1005. I added some restart yeast and I think, fingers crossed, things are at last on the move. If not, what do u suggest please? I dont like the idea of putting onto different lees, as u say, the flavour might carry over - mint and plum mmmmm not sure lol

[lockwood1956]

It depends on if the ferment WILL re-start or not, and that depends on many variables, the yeast may have reached its alcohol tolerance...what was the starting S.G?
Knowing this will allow you to see how much alcohol by volume you have allready, if your alc level is high even a restart yeast will not work.

Why did you add the sugar water? you may have been better off just stabilising as it was. If you were intending feeding the yeast, then don't let it go as low as .990 next time, feed it at 1.000, it may give better results.

hope this helps
regards
bob

[lockwood1956]

IF this is a stuck ferment then please see advice here

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=911

if it wont start due to alcohol tolerance of the yeast being reached, then you need to either leave it slightly sweet (where it is now) or blend it with some drier wine.

regards
Bob

[chadspad]

Hi Bob,
Unfortunately, I dont have any record of the starting SG only the reading after the ferment had finished
I always rack and top up with sugar water as thats what C.J.J.Berry said to do - or have I mis-interpreted it? I thought u had to rack and top-up several times before stabilizing???

[lockwood1956]

Yes you need to rack and top up, but not with sugar water, unless you want the % alc to climb higher, because it can result in stuck ferments.

I think it would be best to re-read "first steps" as you are not necessarily following it to the letter

Also read some of the free downloads available on theis site, they are full of good information. You really do need to use your hydrometer at the start as well as at the end of the ferment.

[chadspad]

Good advice Bob - will go back to the drawing board! Thanks for your help

[chadspad]

Bob, have been re-reading First Steps and this paragraph appears under the heading of racking - this is after the first ferment:

Before fitting the airlock to your new jar of semi-clear wine, make sure that the jar is filled to the bottom of the neck, so that the minimum of air is allowed access to the wine. Do this by 'topping up' if necessary (and usually is) with syrup, made to the same strength as your original 'must'. Thus, if your original 'must' had 3lb of sugar per gallon use 3oz of sugar in half pint of water. Or use surplus must as previosuly described.

Hence my having used sugar water - something which I do on every batch of wine now. It doesnt say anything about it only being for increasing the alcohol. Im confused now

[DAVID]

Bob, have been re-reading First Steps and this paragraph appears under the heading of racking - this is after the first ferment:

Before fitting the airlock to your new jar of semi-clear wine, make sure that the jar is filled to the bottom of the neck, so that the minimum of air is allowed access to the wine. Do this by 'topping up' if necessary (and usually is) with syrup, made to the same strength as your original 'must'. Thus, if your original 'must' had 3lb of sugar per gallon use 3oz of sugar in half pint of water. Or use surplus must as previosuly described.

Hence my having used sugar water - something which I do on every batch of wine now. It doesnt say anything about it only being for increasing the alcohol. Im confused now

My reading of the above reminds me of something I was taught from the very beginning.....ALWAYS MAKE A LARGER BATCH so that you actually end up with what you set out to make, wether it be 1 gallon, 5 gallon or a cup full.

Easiest way of doing this is running a PET bottle 1litre/3 litre plugged with cottonwool along side your "main" batch.
This way your "topping up" with exactly the same as whats youve racked.

[chadspad]

Hi David, I have started doing that recently - I shall continue from now on. Thanks for your help

[lockwood1956]

Hence my having used sugar water - something which I do on every batch of wine now. It doesnt say anything about it only being for increasing the alcohol. Im confused now

Didn't mean to cause confusion....

If you add sugar syrup every time you are topping up, the yeast will keep fermenting the extra sugar until it reaches it's alcohol tolerance, it will then be spent and any extra sugar added will just add sweetness.

You need to bear in mind that "first steps" is an old book, that was first written when British wine drinkers liked their wine quite sweet, and sugar feeding was the norm, to try to ensure no re-fermenting took place later in the bottle, or to end up with a sweet wine (or both) Wines made using this feeding technique generally take a bit longer to age before drinking because of the higher alcohol levels. (not always a bad thing, but extra time ageing before you can drink it isn't always what you want when you are first starting out) Progressive Winemaking is a much better book, that goes into a lot more detail than "First steps" although it is a little more expensive, I think it's worth the extra money. (it can be found on eBay and sometimes second hand on Amazon)


I think it's OK to use sugar syrup as you described, when needing to top up after transfer from primary vessel to secondary vessel, but I wouldn't use sugar syrup to top up after that, unless you are deliberately trying to feed it sugar to boost the alc content or to end up with residual sweetness.

As David says, prepare a bigger batch, and then you always have the right stuff to top up with, it's a pain keep transferring to smaller and smaller vessels for your top up wine, but worth it in the long run.

hope this helps
regards
Bob

[chadspad]

Hi Bob, Thanks for clarifiying. I do tend to only top-up with sugar water the first time. Will have a look for that book thanks for the tip.