FranDeVille
Member
I am new to this glorious hobby and think I have my first fail in blueberry wine. Everything I've read here and on other boards have been very helpful so far, but am at a loss with this one. Here's the recipe I used and what I tried:
Vintners Harvest Blueberry fruit wine base 96 oz., ingredients as per can label for 5 gallons except used Lalvin D47 yeast -- homebrew guy I bought base from didn't have VH specified yeast he said D47 is the same.
Followed process instructions on label EXCEPT did not sprinkle yeast as base label says, I prepared as per yeast packet instruction. I splash oxygenated by spoon and pour to/from another sanitized primary for a good 5 minutes. SG was 1.108 and temp was steady at 78°F
Capped and installed airlock then opened to air with cloth cover when no bubbles after a week despite daily stir. It had a rotten egg smell that research said might be stuck fermentation. At this point after reading about stuck/stalled fermentation, I sprinkled another packet of same yeast thinking maybe I'd pitched wrongly or used dud packet in addition to not giving yeast enough oxygen. Bubbles next day, so stirred gently top half of must as per label instruction and left under cloth cover only. Daily stir and hydrometer reading falling slowly for the next week. Rotten egg smell also gone.
I worried about leaving this so open with pets, teens, spouse about (brew station is a corner of the kitchen), so decided to rack to 5 gal carboy at this point. SG was 1.082 and falling slowly each day, I could see the yeast gasses in the must too so figured I solved my problem and was back on track, albeit slower than ideal.
All seemed to be rolling along for the next 2 weeks with occasional bubble in the airlock and gasses seen through glass of carboy. SG after 2 weeks was 1.068 so I figured I just had to be patient. Taste was very sweet as would expext but no bad or spoiled flavor. I left it alone for another 4 weeks and the SG stayed stubborn at 1.064 so I figured it was time to bring out the bigger stick to kick this pony and get her moving again. I won't bore you with the details of my heartache and newbie soul searching, but my wine log reads like a teenagers diary for this month and a half--will he ask me to the prom or not?
Anyway, after reading up some more on stuck/stalled fermentation, I decided to re inoculate with a stronger yeast. I racked to a sanitized primary bucket and pitched 71B-1122 (according to packet instructions). I oxygenated again by splash/ stir for 5 minutes. It got pretty foamy which I figured was all the CO2 from prior yeast. I capped with an airlock and left it alone for a week. SG is now 1.062 and that's where it sits.
So, should I call this an expensive lesson and move on, or is there any hope to save my prom date from the drain? Thanks in advance.
Vintners Harvest Blueberry fruit wine base 96 oz., ingredients as per can label for 5 gallons except used Lalvin D47 yeast -- homebrew guy I bought base from didn't have VH specified yeast he said D47 is the same.
Followed process instructions on label EXCEPT did not sprinkle yeast as base label says, I prepared as per yeast packet instruction. I splash oxygenated by spoon and pour to/from another sanitized primary for a good 5 minutes. SG was 1.108 and temp was steady at 78°F
Capped and installed airlock then opened to air with cloth cover when no bubbles after a week despite daily stir. It had a rotten egg smell that research said might be stuck fermentation. At this point after reading about stuck/stalled fermentation, I sprinkled another packet of same yeast thinking maybe I'd pitched wrongly or used dud packet in addition to not giving yeast enough oxygen. Bubbles next day, so stirred gently top half of must as per label instruction and left under cloth cover only. Daily stir and hydrometer reading falling slowly for the next week. Rotten egg smell also gone.
I worried about leaving this so open with pets, teens, spouse about (brew station is a corner of the kitchen), so decided to rack to 5 gal carboy at this point. SG was 1.082 and falling slowly each day, I could see the yeast gasses in the must too so figured I solved my problem and was back on track, albeit slower than ideal.
All seemed to be rolling along for the next 2 weeks with occasional bubble in the airlock and gasses seen through glass of carboy. SG after 2 weeks was 1.068 so I figured I just had to be patient. Taste was very sweet as would expext but no bad or spoiled flavor. I left it alone for another 4 weeks and the SG stayed stubborn at 1.064 so I figured it was time to bring out the bigger stick to kick this pony and get her moving again. I won't bore you with the details of my heartache and newbie soul searching, but my wine log reads like a teenagers diary for this month and a half--will he ask me to the prom or not?
Anyway, after reading up some more on stuck/stalled fermentation, I decided to re inoculate with a stronger yeast. I racked to a sanitized primary bucket and pitched 71B-1122 (according to packet instructions). I oxygenated again by splash/ stir for 5 minutes. It got pretty foamy which I figured was all the CO2 from prior yeast. I capped with an airlock and left it alone for a week. SG is now 1.062 and that's where it sits.
So, should I call this an expensive lesson and move on, or is there any hope to save my prom date from the drain? Thanks in advance.