Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: simonf on July 18, 2013, 21:40
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First post on this site hoping somebody can help me....
I have started my first ever batch of wine and it seems to of stopped. I followed the recipe and when it went into the demi john it was sending out 1 bubble every 15mins for the first 6 days and now nothing.... is it finished or something wrong. Recipe said rack every 30dsays. Can anybody help please.
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Put in a hydrometer. If it reads very close to zero then it has finished. Carefully take some and taste it. It shouldn't taste too sweet, if the fruit flavour is stong thats ok as it will mellow. Bottle it. Lay it aside in a cool dark place for 6 weeks, it should be drinkable then but will improve over time.
If the hydrometer is quite high then there is still sugar to convert, so in that case leave it for another week. Slow fermentation often doesn't produce bubbles.
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Basically a hydrometer in pure water reads 1.000. Sugar lifts the float to numbers higher than 1.000. The closer to 1.000 the more sugar has been converted to alcohol. You will never get to 1.000 but you should get very close. From about 1.005 through 1.009 will be perfect.
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Ok thanks for the help. Newbie question, Do wines often finish this quick ?
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Ok thanks for the help. Newbie question, Do wines often finish this quick ?
Fermentation can slow right down such that the co2 leaks through the airlock without making a bubble. I just use a fermentation barrel without an airlock for the fist fermentation. Say a week to ten days. However it is also possible that the sugar content was a little too high and the yeast has been overwhelmed. If the hydrometer shows numbers greater than 1.010 then I would add another sache of wine yeast (not bread yeast) and give it another week.
The wine won't spoil. The only reason the wine will go bad is excess oxygen. So test for sugar, hydrometer or a taste test. It should taste sharp and not syripy. Excess sugar then more yeast, batten down and give it a week. If its done then bottle it up and put it away for as long as you can bear to.
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Just a thought, though its not likely this weather. If the wine goes below 20 deg C fermentation can stop. Just put it in a warm place (25-30 deg) and it will restart.
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What recipe did you use??