Lost batch?

DON'T PANIC!

I am only in my second winemaking year, so I am a newb, but I have made 35 wines so far - so I have seen several examples but I thought I'd offer help while you wait for other answers.

I've made some wines completely 'sealed' with an airlock and they have ALL been fine. The wine may just have finished fermenting or slowed right down as it nears 'dry'. In my experience most wines will ferment absolutely fine under airlock in primary - even though it isn't necessarily the recommended approach.

Have you got a hydrometer? If so I'd use it to test the SG of the wine (SG is marked on the hydrometer from approximately 0.900 to

If you haven't got a hydrometer, taste a little of the wine. If it doesnt taste sweet, but like a rough dry wine, then there is probably nothing wrong and it has simply slowed down.

If the wine really has no bubbles and tastes sweet or has an SG much more than 1.000 then you may have a problem with a stuck wine. How long was the wine fermenting in the primary..?

Best of luck, I hope it all works out fine for you, do let us know.

Jim

Thanks so much.

I measured the SG yesterday, it was 1.002 I started at 1.082

I will let this batch live then. Thanks so much.

-Wayne

You're very welcome. It sounds like it has finished or just slowed right down - the kit instructions may well tell you what final SG to expect. It may well get very slightly drier still in the next few weeks, though it may not. You won't damager the wine testing the SG every few days (for as long as the kit says to keep it in secondary) to see if the SG drops further. You'd want to know the SG before bottling anyway.

Good luck with the rest of the process, Jim

It's ok. It is had to mess it up. I did this once and it's ok. Take the SG and go with the instructions from now on.

When it says to stir it a lot - do what it says - don't over stir it.

I like the other person's advice - don't panic. smile. it's true.

DAve

Wayne Harris wrote:

As long as you are careful you can just put the hydrometer in the carboy and leave it there to monitor progress, just don't drop it in from a height, you can break it. 1.002 is still sweet for a grape wine, you probably want that to get to 0.994.

The easiest way to be sure a wine is dry is to use a Clinitest tablet on a sample, they can measure lower than 0.1% Residual Sugar (RS) pretty easily. If you get to 0.25% RS the wine is considered dry.

As to the current problem how warm is it where it's stored and is the temperature steady? Your yeast may not be strong enough to tolerate cooler temps. That is one reason you aerate in the beginning, it a way to ensure a large, healthy, happy mass of yeast.

Your wine is far, far from ruined as others have said. If you can get it to 75 or 80 F you might see the ferment resume at a faster pace.

Just continue to post concerns and/ or observations anytime you get a little out of your comfort zone; wine makes itself. It's actually hard to ruin if you have a little knowledge and do the right things when it needs a little help.

Joe

Thanks Joe. In terms of knowlege, I am reading several books. I'm learning (Book smarts only at this point) fast and furiously.

This group is a real godsend. Altough, it seems that the more I know, the less I feel i really know. I will never be an oenologist.

The sheer amount of knowlege to be learned, and the credentials of the authors of my books, are both very very intimidating.

I was far from a chemistry major, but based on what I read, I should have paid closer attention in college.

So, thanks for the replies.

You already are - just not a published one :)

Naw, you can go back and review some special topics like pH and such. No sense clogging your brain cells with a lot of information not essential.

Wayne, A significant amount of oxygen dissolves in juice when grapes are crushed or when a recipe is put together. This dissolved oxygen often provides an adequate yeast population to complete fermentation. Good luck with your wine, Lum

As a follow-up, I racked this batch this weekend. (first racking). SG is .996. (down 2 more points) Also, I sampled it. It was clear (ish) It's taste was not horrible. It was not full, and was very very young (obviously). But, it was drinkable. I will rack it 2 or 3 more times in the next 8 months, then bottle.

Thank all who encouraged me to save this batch.

Thanks for the followup Wayne, it's good to know the wine went completely dry in the end!

I like to remember Terry Garey's advice when it comes to winemaking: "Do your best and don't worry..." As has been said so many times here, it seems that wine makes itself and looks after itself to a large degree. You just have to give it the best start in life you can and keep a watchful eye on it's resting place.

Personally I have had two (country - non grape) wines stick on me now. The reason for one is still unknown, but I troubleshooted troubleshot ( ? :) ) the other as being over-enthusiasm with ingredient levels which sent the ph nova. On I ramble :)

Anyway, good luck with the wine, I am sure it will come good. I just drank some green fig wine which 6 months on from last racking has lost most of its youth and is fast becoming a lovely lively little thing... When I last racked I wouldn't have let it near me with a barge-pole, but I'd share a book with it now :)

Jim