blueberry wine slow to ferment

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wickman6

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I assembled this 3 weeks ago, with an og of 1.086. Racked to secondary last night and its only down to 1.050. Is this too slow?

I haven't made wine in a few years but all of my previous notes show a much faster fermentation.

Will this be ok? I plan to take gravity readings over the next few days to see how its going. I believe I used premiere cuvee yeast, and its fermenting at 65 degrees.

Thanks for any help!
 
wickman6 said:
I assembled this 3 weeks ago, with an og of 1.086. Racked to secondary last night and its only down to 1.050. Is this too slow?

I haven't made wine in a few years but all of my previous notes show a much faster fermentation.

Will this be ok? I plan to take gravity readings over the next few days to see how its going. I believe I used premiere cuvee yeast, and its fermenting at 65 degrees.

Thanks for any help!

I'd warm it up a bit, say to 70 or so. If you have the primary under airlock you'll be fine at this pace. Once you get to 1.010 move it to your carboy.
 
It does seem a little slow, but not unusually so, probably just in the upper limit. Have you done any nutrient additions? It would be helpful if you posted your recipe/notes if you have any for this one.
 
I have the recipe here.

10.5# frozen blueberries
Table sugar to get to og.
About 4 gal water
1 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
3/4 tsp tannin
3 tsp acid blend
Kmeta to sanitize

And I also used pasteur red yeast, not the one I listed before.

I do have a room I can move it to that's a bit warmer, I'll move it there.
 
wickman6 said:
I have the recipe here.

10.5# frozen blueberries
Table sugar to get to og.
About 4 gal water
1 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
3/4 tsp tannin
3 tsp acid blend
Kmeta to sanitize

And I also used pasteur red yeast, not the one I listed before.

I do have a room I can move it to that's a bit warmer, I'll move it there.

Add some yeast nutrient.
 
Oops, forgot to mention that. I did use some, don't remember how much and I didn't write it down but I used whatever Wyeast recommends on their package. Thanks for the feedback.

One thing I might not have done is oxygenate well enough. Would it be ok to do so now, or should I just warm it up and see if fermentation kicks up?
 
wickman6 said:
Oops, forgot to mention that. I did use some, don't remember how much and I didn't write it down but I used whatever Wyeast recommends on their package. Thanks for the feedback.

One thing I might not have done is oxygenate well enough. Would it be ok to do so now, or should I just warm it up and see if fermentation kicks up?

If you haven't been stirring it daily, start now.
 
Blueberry is notorious for being hard to start and for stalling. If you have not hit the 2/3 sugar break definitely dose with nutrient, keep it close to 70F and give it a good stir. The class of fruit it comes from, or is it species, is the problem...vacinuum. Some times you have to pitch a second yeast, like EC1118 or KV1116 to get it to finish, or in the future make a good starter.
 
Saramc - when you say 2/3 sugar break, do you mean 2/3 of the way to 1.000 ?
eg - initial is 1.09, so you would rack at 1.03 ?
 
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