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Uh oh, Apricot wine has SG of 1.032

Following Jack's recipe for dried apricot wine, I just moved my wine from primary into 1 gallon glass secondaries (made a 2 gallon batch) after 10 days of fermentation. My SG reading before transfer was

1.032, and it looked like fermentation was done.

Should I dump it back into a primary and see if I can get the fermentation going again, or should I just let it sit out the next 90 days in the gallon carbouys and hope for the best. The recipe doesn't say what the SG should be after 10 days, so I may still be on track for all I know (though the fermentation is going super slow if that's the case).

Cheers, Harry

Reply to
Harry Colquhoun
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What was your starting SG? Darlene

Reply to
Dar V

I *thought* it was 1.095, but my hydrometer was cracked (and I didn't notice) and some liquid seeped into it. I would assume this would invalidate my initial reading.

In other words, I have no way of knowing what my initial SG was. :-(

On another note, I found the airlocks on my two gallon jars releasing a bubble or two probably every minute last night, so fermentation is going again.

Cheers, Harry

Reply to
Harry Colquhoun

If the hydrometer was cracked and some liquid seeped in, this should cause the initial reading to be high. That would indicate to me you had less than

1.095. I assume that you could see it fermenting and the yeast really was active in the primary. If, when you moved it from primary to secondary, you did not bring over enought yeast, it may have stuck. Jack has recomendations for how to restart a stuck ferment. I would suggest you try that.

Ray

Reply to
Ray Calvert

How much sugar per gallon did you add? This doesn't allow for sugar in the fruit but gives some idea where you're at.

If the liquid is still in your hydrometer you could put it in water and get a reading. If it's small then maybe all's well anyway.

How about temperature too? Is your yeast cold tolerant (or what yeast did you use). It might want a bit of warming. I would warm it just enough to give a slow, casual, almost surreal fermentation.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Dumas

Harry, as Ray indicated, you may have left a lot of the yeast behind when you went from primary to secondary. This is not uncommon, as many yeast strains migrate to the lees and get left behind.

The slowness in fermentation may be because your apricots had been treated with a preservative before being dried. Dried fruit often is, so you really have to read the labels carefully and even then you can be misled. Whether the yeast got left behind or the apricots were treated with a preservative, it sounds like (from your second post) fermentation is slowly coming back.

I would not be concerned at this point. Wait it out and let the yeast renew their population while continuing to make that wine. But do not rack again until the s.g. is at 1.000 or below. And get a new hydrometer. It is the one essential instrument every winemaker needs, and they are not at all expensive.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page

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Reply to
Jack Keller

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