High S.G. Fermentation troubles

Hi,
I've been lurking the site for a while and am grateful to have benefited from everyone's advice so much. I'm having a little trouble with a Mint wine that's brewing now.

I used fresh mint, lots of sugar, lots of acid blend and some lemon and orange juice, yeast nutrient, a little tannin and champagne yeast (modified recipe from Jack Keller's site)

Starting Gravity was 1.114 (High, I know! but I figured that the Lalvin Champagne yeast it would handle ok, and I would end up with a nice dessert wine)

Day 2 Gravity: 1.11
Day 3 Gravity: 1.095

Day 5 Gravity: 1.080
Day 6 Gravity: 1.076

The gravity is still falling, but it seems to be so sluggish compared to other wines that I've made. The temperatures been steady at about 83F (is this way too high?)

The recipe calls for it to be racked to the secondary in about two more days.

Activity seems almost non-existant. It doesn't foam up after stirring, and I don't hear it bubbling away vigorously as with other wines.

I'm not sure if I should rack into another primary and re-pitch yeast, lower the temperature, dilute the must, or just carry on with the recipe.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

I'll bet the recipe calls for racking at less than X.XXX "OR" in x number of days.

Use the SG number, not the days. Let it go and see if it is still falling.

Thanks for your reply. Today the wine is at 1.074-1.075. So it's falling but ever so slowly. It's still in the primary with a clean towel overtop. I'm worried about it oxidizing and spoiling.

The recipe doesn't discuss Gravities. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques55.asp

If I wanted to re-pitch the yeast, is it best to rack to a clean primary again or to just toss it in the same primary?

Thanks

telefunken said:

Thanks for your reply. Today the wine is at 1.074-1.075. So it's falling but ever so slowly. It's still in the primary with a clean towel overtop. I'm worried about it oxidizing and spoiling.

The recipe doesn't discuss Gravities. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques55.asp

If I wanted to re-pitch the yeast, is it best to rack to a clean primary again or to just toss it in the same primary?

Thanks

Click to expand...

You don't have to repitch- it's fermenting. If you want to ensure a good fermentation, you could add some yeast nutrients and stir well. I always stir my wines in primary.

You don't have to worry about oxidizing, as it's still fermenting. Oxidation only happens after fermentation. At this point, it's fermenting and that's a good thing.

telefunken said:

Thanks for your reply. Today the wine is at 1.074-1.075. So it's falling but ever so slowly. It's still in the primary with a clean towel overtop. I'm worried about it oxidizing and spoiling.

The recipe doesn't discuss Gravities. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques55.asp

If I wanted to re-pitch the yeast, is it best to rack to a clean primary again or to just toss it in the same primary?

Thanks

Click to expand...

No, the recipe does not, however, Jacks own "Basic Steps" covers the SG thing.

Thanks for your reassuring words. I thought I would provide a little update and see if there are any changing recommendations.

The gravity has remained steady at 1.075 for the past 3 days about. I put an airlock on the container to see what kind of activity there is, and the airlock is popping every 7 seconds, so it seems to be active. There is no foam on top.

Since the gravity hasn't fallen, is this a case of stuck fermentation or am I missing something? I realize wine making is supposed to be a patient man's game so I feel like I'm acting like a nervous dad here.

I tested for acidity (trying to rule out possible problems) and it's at .55% total acidity (my test kit doesn't provide PH values), but the kit says wines should fall between .5% - .6%.

I also added some yeast nutrient yesterday and have yet to see anything different.

Thanks so much for your time and patience in this. This batch has already been a learning experience to say the least!

Try stirring the must with a sanitzed rod or spoon. Stir quite well, and see if that helps.

Thanks for your help everyone.
Thought I'd give another update.
The wine is currently at 1.068 and under airlock. At this rate, it looks like it's going to have to sit another month or two before the sugars are fermented out.
Would you suggest that I just keep on truckin and only rack it off the lees when it reaches about 1.03 or so? I want to avoid off flavors, but I'm also afraid that racking off the lees can stop this already sluggish fermentation.
The wine was poured into the secondary and has not been racked so far to date.

I'm reluctant to keep stirring- the last two time I stirred it, it stalled at the same gravity for two days.

Any updates on this? I'm about to make Jack's mint wine soon.

I still have it in the carboy. I've completely forgotten about it as it's now in the corner of the room, behind other carboys that are still work in progress... I'll climb over them and give you a specific gravity reading tomorrow... I know that it never did get rolling much, and I never had the heart to check it again because I fear it is still too sweet..

I'll let you know what it looks like tomorrow at some point.

Ok, it just checked it and the gravity is at 1.026... so this makes for about a 12% wine. I wish it had ended a little lower...

I took a sample, and overall its not bad for taste, better than I thought it would come, but I'm not sure if I would make it again.

Let us know how yours turns out!

Thanks for the update!
I'm still a beginner so I will follow Jack's recipe as close as possible this first time.