Wine turned to Vinegar

What did you use for yeast..?

jim,

i used the muscadine's own yeast. i tried my granddad's recipe, nothing but fruit,water & sugar.

this was my first time makeing wine, hopeing my second batch does better.

willie

believe me,

Your wine turn into vinegar because you have bacteria there. When you work without sulphites your fermentation must be fast and effective as well as, the recipients must be filled as ealry as the fermentation ends. Sorry for my english

Willie S ha escrito:

Using the natural yeast that grows on the grapes' skin has worked wonderfully for thousands of years. But it also fails miserably from time to time.

Commercial wine yeast, which can be less than $1 per package, is cultivated to start quickly and many are bred as "killers" that destroy wild yeasts and bacteria. Given the costs (of the yeast AND the loss of the wine) it's worth buying.

The addition of sulfites helps destroy wild yeasts and bacteria and also helps preserve the wine. Sulfer has been used for centuries in winemaking. Sulfite is used sparingly! The general rule is 1/4 TEASPOON at racking time -- I knew a guy who dumped an entire 4 oz package into 5 gallons of wine, so I caution people on this!

Another thing to consider is sanitation. Everything must be VERY clean. While commerical cleaners are available, household bleach works fine. Rinse everything well afterward -- if you can smell bleach it needs another rinse.

Barrels are an entirely different issue -- I'm not going into that now.

After that I rinse everything with a mixture of 2oz sodium metabisulfite mixed in 1 gallon water. No need to rinse with water afterwards, just shake off whatever will shake off. This solution is reusable, as long as it's clear and the smell burns your nose hairs out, it's good. :-)

Bryan

Enologico is right, Willie. I think its called Acetobacter bacteria. It can come from a lot of different places. Fruit flies which carry it on their feet, dirty or contaminated containers, dirty fruit, so on. Good luck with your second batch..

Hi Willie, For wine to turn to vinegar you need exposure to both air and vinegar bacteria. Both are easy to prevent.

The 5 gallons of pear wine you have now should be in sealed containers that are full to within ~ 1/2 inch of the top. Most people use airlocks to seal the containers. The same rule goes at bottling. I can post generic winemaking instructions but there are lots of sites that have good instructions for the beginner; try EC Kraus for fruit wine instructions.

I would recommend use of sulfites as others have posted also, vinegar cannot exist in even a mildly sulfited environment.

Joe

Willie S wrote:

Thanks everybody for the help so far.

The five gallons of pear wine that is fermenting now is in a five gallon plastic water jug,filled to within 1inch of overflowing.every three days i stir & taste it,then i add between half to a cup of sugar to taste. I'm not wanting a sweet,sweet wine but i'm also not wanting a dry wine,guess the best way to say it is,,i'll know the "taste" i'm looking for when i get there lol

How do i know when the fermentation is done? so far its been working for about three weeks now, it's still bubbling & fizzling when i stir it.

Thanks again for all y'alls help,i'm having fun so far :-)

Willie

ps. is there anyway to return the vinegar back to wine?

Willie,

Last question first -- wine into vinegar is a one way trip.

Now on to the first question: Fermentation continues until the yeast runs out of sugar to eat, or until it produces enough alcohol to poison itself. If you continue to feed it sugar it will continue to ferment until the alcohol level reaches the max for your yeast.

For many commercial wine yeasts the alcohol level will be 14% to 18% (regular table wine is typically 11% to 12%). If it's a wild yeast or bread yeast the max alcohol level is probably less, but there's no way to tell.

You can keep doing what you're until you max the alcohol content. Or let it ferment dry, then add potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate to prevent a renewed fermentation, and then sweeten to taste.

Bryan

Bryan,

Thanks for the info.

How much potassium metabisultite & potassium sorbate would i need to add. and how long should i wait to bottle it after i add P/m & p/s?

I'm guessing that out of a five gallon jug w/fruit i should get around

Thanks again Willie

ps. Sorry for all the Questions,i'm just a noobie. :-)

Willie, If you rack it carefully you will get at least 4.5 gallons of wine; you need to let it sit and settle once it's done fermenting. You don't need to do all that stirring once you quit adding sugar.

You already got good answers from Bryan as to the other questions; as to the potassium metabisulfite once it's done fermenting let it settle for a few days and rack it. You will know it's time when the appearance changes from cloudy to 'clearer'. Add 1/4 TEASPOON to 5 gallons. (That is the biggest mistake people usually make, they add way too much sulfite because they remember 1/4 but use a tablespoon...)

You want to let it settle out and rack again once it's clear. Once it looks clean enough for you, add two teaspoons of potassium sorbate right before you bottle it. The sorbate allows you to sweeten to taste before you bottle, you can add as much sugar as you want as long as it's not fermenting at all; sorbate won't stop it from fermenting.

Always keep it topped up like you have it now and add the same amount of sulfite each rack and you should be good. Don't rack unless you have a good reason to either.

Joe

Willie S wrote:

Joe,

Thanks & Thanks to everybody.