Noob Wine Help - Stuck Fermentation

[mdstrobe]

Hey guys,

This probably sounds like a total noob and get stressing out for nothing, but I started to ferment a wine from carmenere grapes I received from a local homebrew shop. All started well (I have two 1-gallon batches split) with an O.G. of 1.100 both with the E-1118 wine yeast. A week later, I noticed that the S.G. read 1.030. The next day, the same. The next...the same.

So I added more yeast in an effort to relax, however I'm still seeing no change in S.G. I'm starting to pull some from the gallon to ferment on it's own with more E-1118, but it's not changing. What can I do? I think I've tried literally everything (1) warming the liquid--currently at 75F. (2) agitating and swirling the liquid and (3) adding a metric-ton of yeast.
Any other ideas or should I wait another week? Has anyone else experienced stubborn wines when getting to the 1.030 mark?

I know I know I'm just a nervous home winemaker but this is my 5th batch with the same method/equipment and the first where I'm experiencing this problem.

Thanks!

 

[buMbLeB]

I have seen this, but not with fruit wines - I've had it happen with country brews like ginger beer. Never totally resolved it, but my theory is lack of nutrients combined with antifungal ingredients inhibiting the yeast.

Maybe try adding nutrient and energizer?

Also, many times it kind of "hangs" there for a few days, and then resumes fermenting. Patience is probably ok too.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi mdstrobe - stuck fermentations are not always easy to restart - especially when we don't know what the cause might be. One problem could be that the must is too acidic for the yeast to metabolize the sugars. Have you taken a pH reading? Another problem could be that your hydrometer is not providing you with an accurate reading - have you checked your hydrometer in distilled water and in a solution of sugar water whose SG you have determined should be, say, 1.010 or 1.090?
A third issue may be that the yeast was provided with insufficient O2 when you pitched the yeast. So the corrective here is to whip air into the must or you might try "splash racking". By that I mean rack the must into a separate bucket or carboy but rather than pushing the siphon down towards the bottom of the target fermenter you keep the siphon tube as close to the top as you can AND you aim the flow of liquid so that it fans out over the surface of the side of the fermenter as it runs down the wall - absorbing air as it goes.
Assuming that neither of the first two are the cause of the problem what I would do is put what you are doing on its head. By that I mean you don't add more yeast to the problem batch but you add the problem batch to a working batch of yeast.
That means you make a cup or so of a weak sugar solution and pitch the yeast. When you see that the yeast is actively fermenting the sugar you add the same volume from the stalled must and watch to see if the yeast continues to ferment this solution. If it does and once it is actively fermenting you then add enough of the stalled must to double this current volume and you repeat this process until the entire stalled batch has been transferred to this new batch of yeast...doubling the volume from the stalled batch each time you add to the actively fermenting batch. This process can take a half a day or longer.

 

[HopGobbler]

How are you checking the SG, are you using a refractometer or hydrometer?