ProfessorPlum
Member
Hello all. A while back I got this wild idea that I wanted to make a very high gravity apple wine that would have a good bit of alcohol warmth and still maintain some residual sweetness like a dessert wine. I used 4 cans of frozen concentrate, 22 oz brown sugar, and topped up to a gallon with unfiltered, pasteurized apple cider for an OG of 1.160 I shook it all up good to aerate and dissolve the sugar and then added some red star premier cuvee, which I was told was good to about 18% abv. I thought that at 16-18% abv, the FG would come out to 1.025-1.035, which would be about right. It began fermenting vigorously and continued for a couple weeks, then stalled. 3 successive gravity readings of 1.060 a week apart confirm that it is actually stuck and not just slow.
I have tried several things to jump start it again: removing airlock and shaking to degas and allow the yeast access to air, cranking up the heat to about 75F, pitching more yeast, and adding yeast energizer. None of them have helped.
So, is it likely that the current 13% alcohol level is the limit of these particular yeast in these conditions? If not that, what should I try next?
Thanks.
I have tried several things to jump start it again: removing airlock and shaking to degas and allow the yeast access to air, cranking up the heat to about 75F, pitching more yeast, and adding yeast energizer. None of them have helped.
So, is it likely that the current 13% alcohol level is the limit of these particular yeast in these conditions? If not that, what should I try next?
Thanks.