when do I stop fermentation?

[tojo82]

Hi I am making my first wine. It is a plum wine. I would like to know at what stage do I stop the fermentation with the powder and the campden tablets please? The 4 gallons has been in the barrel for 4 to 5 days and doesnt appear to be letting out a gas bubble from the air lock all though when I stir it as I have been doing daily as advised in the recipe it is still fizzy on top. Is there a figure a hydrometer should read that tells me to move on to the next stage of moving the liquid into another bucket with the fermentation stopper and the campden.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have never made this wine but think its unlikely to have finished fermenting in 5 days, I've looked at a couple of recipes and they say "the finished S.G. should read 0.998 or lower" so you need to get a hydrometer to be sure.

 

[tojo82]

Thats great thanks. Its at 1.12 currently so I'll check again in a couple of days. Thank you.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Let us know how you get on.

 

[tojo82]

I will do. Can I ask if it is okay practice to rack the 4 gallons with 4 campdens and 4 tsp of fermentation stopper into another bucket that has a airlock lid or should it be put into 4 demijohns?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

If this is a 5 gallon FV you are going to have a lot of head space which is not so much of a problem when fermenting as the layer of CO2 protects the wine, if you intend to bottle as soon as it is cleared fine but i would not age it for long periods with that much head space.

Check your fermentation stopper as my youngs version says use half a teaspoon per gallon.

 

[tojo82]

Thank you again for your helpful answers. This afternoon my mother in law in law brought round 4 djs from a friend. So I have enough now. As I said early the plum wine was at 1.12 so I wait until its at the level ypu mentioned earlier. Then I crush 1 campden into each sterilised dj and as you said and were correct half a tsp of stopper then syphon it into the djs. I then leave it for ages is that correct?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Yes one crushed per DJ.

 

[tojo82]

Thanks chippy tea for all the help so far. Were about 7 days into fermentation now on the plum wine and the hydrometer has dropped from 1.12 to 1.015. After it goes to approximately 0.998 and I put it into the 4 djs how long do I leave them for then?

 

[penguinarmy]

perhaps this will help you

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7249

 

[tojo82]

Thats excellent thank you. I dont suppose theres is a good thread on knowing if ive messed one up? Im making a robinsons no added sugar lemon and 2 dayd in there appears to be no activity at all in yhe dj. It had crud sediment on top if the liquid ive gently swirled it so it sinks. The other 2 djs of the same process but different flavours are bubbling away nicely?

 

[penguinarmy]

Thats excellent thank you. I dont suppose theres is a good thread on knowing if ive messed one up? Im making a robinsons no added sugar lemon and 2 dayd in there appears to be no activity at all in yhe dj. It had crud sediment on top if the liquid ive gently swirled it so it sinks. The other 2 djs of the same process but different flavours are bubbling away nicely?

try this thread http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=453095#post453095 click to the first post its got the method.


if its still got floaters on it give it a good shake that should start it off, sometimes it takes upto 48+ to start.

hope it helps