Orange pineapple Apple concentrate

[Mlee5457]

Ok so I am definitely a rookie at wine making but I've been having some good success. My wife loves this juice so I figured hey I'll ferment a gallon of that and see what happens. I got the frozen concentrate used 2 cans. Pitched the yeast last night and nothing happened, today I can see a thick settlement on the bottom so I shook it up and it was heavily carbonated, that settled almost immediately and all bubbles stopped. I watched it the rest of the day and nothing. Shook it again and instant fizz and bubbles. I mean it's like an orange soda pop. I have no clue what's going on. I hit it with yeast again thinking they died and it fizzed like crazy for like 2 hours making the airlock go crazy. Well now that has stopped and I can see tiny bubbles coming up in there but the air lock won't move or at least when I'm looking it won't... Not sure where to go from here, this may be a waist of time

 

[Mlee5457]

I guess I should note that I used the red star yeast in the green pack, about half a pack. And I hydrated the yeast for 15 minutes in warm sugar water. It had a slight froth on top when I poured it in.

 

[Mlee5457]

So nobody knows why it would instantly be so badly carbonated? And why after 2.5 days it barely bubbles not even enough to move the air lock? I can still shake it and it fizzes like a soda.

 

[Electrake]

I'll bite. What sort of container are you using for fermentation? For my wines I use buckets, but after my first batch of wondering why they weren't bubbling the airlock, i realized there was no o ring in the lid, therefore it wasnt airtight unless i pressed on the lid or "shook" it.

 

[buMbLeB]

Well, here's my $0.02: first, don't trust the airlock to gauge fermentation, all sorts of reasons it may not be bubbling; second, I wonder if perhaps the (presumably) high pulp content is trapping the CO2 while making it harder to see activity, until you shake it and release the trapped gas?

If it's fizzy it's doing something. Leave it for a week and then try some.

 

[rtrent2002]

A few thoughts...

1. Your must is def fermenting (fizzing)
2. Fermentation is not robust because your juice is very acidic (orange/pineapple), you didn't add yeast nutrient and there is limited oxygen for your yeast to reproduce (airlock)
3. You're probably fine though, just taste it in a few days and you'll know if it's doing the job. Continue to stir/shake and keep oxygen flowing during the first few days.

 

[Mlee5457]

I forgot to mention that I did add yeast nutrient, it's in a one gallon glass bottle with the ring hole handle. I can see tiny bubbles floating up so I know it's doing something, I just expected more airlock action as much c02 is in there. I guess your right it must be getting trapped in the oj mix. I checked the sg today and it has dropped from 1.070 down to 1.040 so it's definitely making alcohol