is this normal?

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BlakeP

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Three days ago I started a 3.5 gallon here the recipe I used it is supposed to be a high gravity wine

3- bottles of 1.75 liter apple juice from concentrate
6- pounds of granulated sugar
Top off with water mix
1-packet of redstar premium cuvee

I made a starter for the yeast and pitched it after the lag time I noticed that there were bubbles in the must, but none in the air lock so I added the nutrient Fermaid K since I know the air lock isn't a great indicator of fermentation. But after I added the fermaid K the air lock began to bubble pretty good for about a day but when I checked on my batches today I noticed it wasn't bubbling at all I didn't take a sg reading though. Does anyone know what might be going on here?
 
You should whip some air into it to provide the yeast some oxygen. Yeast has a hard time fermenting sucrose and that's a high gravity must.

Any preservatives in the juice?
 
I agree, high gravity, the added sugar is providing approximately a SG of 1.080 &.most commercial apple juice comes in at 1.030, so your OG may be 1.110--and cuvee is struggling with it. Be sure to stir twice a day, as the yeast really need oxygen in early phase; no airlock until gravity has dropped by at least 50-66%. Nutrient addition was helpful. Try to keep the must around 68-70F. Do not worry about not seeing activity in airlock, your hydrometer tells the tale, and it is quite common for it to take up to 72 hours for a good ferment to establish.
 
You should whip some air into it to provide the yeast some oxygen. Yeast has a hard time fermenting sucrose and that's a high gravity must.

Any preservatives in the juice?
There aren't any preservatives in the juice, I've used it for a couple of other batches with great results. Although I've never tried anything this high of gravity, I was just wondering on how I should go about keeping the yeast happy I know there is quite some controversial on whether you should stir during primary or not to stir because of the oxidation factors. But I'll set that aside and go with this idea, if it works I'm going to just keep doing it until it starts to slow down noticeably. If not I'm going to dilute with water and or apple juice does that sound like a good back up plan?
 
I agree, high gravity, the added sugar is providing approximately a SG of 1.080 &.most commercial apple juice comes in at 1.030, so your OG may be 1.110--and cuvee is struggling with it. Be sure to stir twice a day, as the yeast really need oxygen in early phase; no airlock until gravity has dropped by at least 50-66%. Nutrient addition was helpful. Try to keep the must around 68-70F. Do not worry about not seeing activity in airlock, your hydrometer tells the tale, and it is quite common for it to take up to 72 hours for a good ferment to establish.

This sounds great thanks for the advice as was telling another member if stirring twice a day doesn't seem to be working I will dilute it with some apple juice/water. I didn't think about it before but I could maybe even re-pitch a fresh batch of yeast from another starter, along with diluting it.
 
This sounds great thanks for the advice as was telling another member if stirring twice a day doesn't seem to be working I will dilute it with some apple juice/water. I didn't think about it before but I could maybe even re-pitch a fresh batch of yeast from another starter, along with diluting it.

Give it 2-3 days and check gravity. If no downward movement I would dilute before I attempted pitching more yeast. Of course, if you wanted a lower gravity wine go ahead and dilute, just don't forget nutrients for the added juice. Cuvee has never been a violent fermenter in any batches I have used it in, so I honestly think things will be okay either way you go.
 
Me too, I've never use a yeast that does so little in the way of foam or showing signs of fermenting. Although my worries are primarily based off of the high gravity, so I'm just going to remove the air lock, stir and let it be. Thanks for the great advice and I'll be sure to check back on here to let you know how things are going with it. :ban:
 
Alright you guys so stirring it helped a little but not very much, I went a head a diluted it and that seems to have done the trick it's bubbling like crazy inside the fermented (not the airlock) although the air lock has very good activity now. I would like to thank you guys for giving me good advice!
 
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