Tortoise wine

[Wynott]

Looks like I have a 'fail' on my hands. I tried making Daisy Wine from an old recipe, which used 3lb of demerera sugar and raisins. Thanks to previous advice here, I didn't put it all in at once, starting off with 2lb sugar and 4oz raisins. That resulted in an O.G. of 1090, fair enough I thought, if a little on the high side. However, the beggar wasn't looking good after a couple of days, even on the heat pad (this was about a week ago). I pitched in some more yeast, to no effect. Added some water, no effect. Consulted CJJB who advised an orange juice starter for 'stuck fermentation' so I tried that. Initially it was looking better, adding the wine to the starter in a bottle, but it soon returned to the same status. Both the bottle and the DJ are hardly proceeding at all, hence the 'Tortoise' title.

Is demerera the issue? I had a similar problem with a Clove and Ginger using soft brown sugar, but the 'orange starter' trick worked with that one.

Any advice would be welcome

 

[johncrobinson]

As you know i am not a fan of high starting gravity 1090 is a tad high but not I would of thought OTT.
As regards the demerera i often use it without problems. (mixed with table sugar)

Is it fermenting at all.???
Flower wines can sometimes be a bit slow due to low nutrient
Raisins need to be "blitzed" to fortify the bulk of the wine,
A dose of dap might help.? (If still near starting gravity)

If it is stuck at about 8% alc, plus you might need to use an ec-1118 starter. to get it going reliably again.

Keep us posted.

 

[Wynott]

Yes, I was a little surprised at the 1090 with 1kg sugar and 4oz raisins, but didn't seem extraordinary in itself, and I have started others at that.

The recipe just said 3lbs (!) of demerera sugar, no mention of table sugar. Maybe I should have boiled the syrup first. I did put 1tsp yeast nutrient in when I started the must, and whizzed the raisins in a processor.

I think I am making some progress now, though it's a bit protracted. I added a little Lalvin 1118 to the 'starter' bottle which did eventually get going, so when it did, I halved it into two bottles and refilled to 3/4 with must from the DJ. After a couple of days, this was going well again, so I have now repeated that, and half the must is now in 4 plastic bottles. If I get the same result, I will be able to put those 4 into a sepearate DJ and carry on until the first one has all been transferred. The original DJ is going, albeit still very slowly. So I have some hopes. It's all currently on a heat pad, think I'd better take it off tomorrow with predicted temperatures or I will kill the yeast!

By the way, what's dap? Is that an acronym for a chemical additive?

 

[johncrobinson]

dap is di-ammonium phosphate a yeast food.
Supplies Nitrogen and Phosphates needed by the yeast.
Pure grape juice allready has the needed levels,But many "country wine" musts have not.
Flowers being the worst offenders in this respect.

Ec-1118 is a killer yeast,By that I mean it will kill the other yeast and dominate the fermentation.
The dead old yeast will then help feed the ec-1118.
It is one of the most powerfull yeasts going.

I would leave it on the heat pad yeast has evolved to see a temperature drop (even quite a small one) as a signal to go dormant.!!!

You could stand a pan on the heatpad and then the demijohn on the pan,That would reduce the heat a bit,And allow it to very slowly cool to the new temperature.Ec-1118 will also withstand quite high (and low) temperatures.

 

[johncrobinson]

To add to the above my ONE failure in 40 yrs was due to me accidently swiching off the brewbelt overnight.The fermentation then promptly stuck.

EDIT:>Forgot to mention a small vit B1 tablet 10-100mg will also greatly help

 

[Wynott]

Thanks for all the info John, very helpful.

This was taken yesterday evening. As we used to shout joyfully when I was a child 'Thunderbirds Are Go'!

 

[johncrobinson]

looks if the demijohn is going well.

 

[Wynott]

It is, of course, going like the clappers now!

 

[johncrobinson]

For anyone not familiar with ec-1118 it will drop the gravity like a stone,Esp when kept on the warm side.

 

[Wynott]

@johncrobinson S.G. down to 0.991 already....and thankfully it has gone a much more pleasing colour than the initial brown goo