Hypothetical Question
- Thread starter KPatrick
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It depends. Champagne yeast can ferment up to about 18%, maybe even a little bit higher, but if it's just pitched into a high alcohol environment, it'll die before it gets a chance to ferment.
If you've got a too-high SG must, you can try a starter with champagne yeast. What I mean is to take some of you must, and water it down substantially, so that there is still some sugar but lower alcohol. You can even add a little bit of sugar if you have to, depending on the Sg you currently have. Continue adding a diluted must every few hours, as long as the yeast is still going (it'll be bubbly and foamy). Eventually you can add more must and less water and that should get the yeast going enough to be tossed into the fermenter. It might take 3-4 days to do this.
There are a couple of problems, though. First, no guarantee it'll work because of the high ABV environment. Also, even if it does work, you might have rocket fuel for 5 years before it mellows into a drinkable beverage.
You may want to consider mixing up more must and keeping the ABV lower as to end up with a decent wine.
What are you making? What's the OG and the SG now?
If you've got a too-high SG must, you can try a starter with champagne yeast. What I mean is to take some of you must, and water it down substantially, so that there is still some sugar but lower alcohol. You can even add a little bit of sugar if you have to, depending on the Sg you currently have. Continue adding a diluted must every few hours, as long as the yeast is still going (it'll be bubbly and foamy). Eventually you can add more must and less water and that should get the yeast going enough to be tossed into the fermenter. It might take 3-4 days to do this.
There are a couple of problems, though. First, no guarantee it'll work because of the high ABV environment. Also, even if it does work, you might have rocket fuel for 5 years before it mellows into a drinkable beverage.
You may want to consider mixing up more must and keeping the ABV lower as to end up with a decent wine.
What are you making? What's the OG and the SG now?
digdan
Well-Known Member
Each yeast profile has its own appetite for sugars. Unconverted sugar is totally up to the yeast. Champagne vs Bread yeast per say, their metabolism towards converting are drastically separate.
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