I have a lot of experience brewing beer but this is my first go at making wine. I had thought about starting for a long time but never did. This year I came across an endless supply of free apples so I jumped in with both feet.
I have two five gallon batches going right now. Both started with a gravity around 1.100. For the first batch, I used Saccharomyces Cerevisiae DF 639 yeast (SIHA Active Yeast #6 distributed by Begerow). I have no idea if this is a common yeast. I got it for free from a local shop that makes everything from wine to whiskey. They were finished for the season and gave me most of a 100g packet that they had left and told me it was good for apple wine. For the second batch I used a combination of a large wild yeast starter and a packet of Red Star Premier Cuvee. I added primarily local honey to raise the gravity but I also used some cane sugar for both batches. I added raisins in both batches and used tea bags for tannin.
The first batch seems to be stuck at around 1.035 and the second at around 1.040. The wine currently tastes pretty good but is, of course, very sweet.
I admit I have little to no understanding of acid, nitrogen, sultiftes, and pH when it comes to wine. I suspect the problem may come from one of these categories. I wanted to do this like someone might have done it 100 years ago and not buy all of the packaged products like yeast nutrient, etc. That may have burned me.
Anyway, does anyone have any ideas of what I can do to get the fermentation to take off again or am I stuck with 10 gallons of dessert wine?
I have two five gallon batches going right now. Both started with a gravity around 1.100. For the first batch, I used Saccharomyces Cerevisiae DF 639 yeast (SIHA Active Yeast #6 distributed by Begerow). I have no idea if this is a common yeast. I got it for free from a local shop that makes everything from wine to whiskey. They were finished for the season and gave me most of a 100g packet that they had left and told me it was good for apple wine. For the second batch I used a combination of a large wild yeast starter and a packet of Red Star Premier Cuvee. I added primarily local honey to raise the gravity but I also used some cane sugar for both batches. I added raisins in both batches and used tea bags for tannin.
The first batch seems to be stuck at around 1.035 and the second at around 1.040. The wine currently tastes pretty good but is, of course, very sweet.
I admit I have little to no understanding of acid, nitrogen, sultiftes, and pH when it comes to wine. I suspect the problem may come from one of these categories. I wanted to do this like someone might have done it 100 years ago and not buy all of the packaged products like yeast nutrient, etc. That may have burned me.
Anyway, does anyone have any ideas of what I can do to get the fermentation to take off again or am I stuck with 10 gallons of dessert wine?