The Experimenter
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- Dec 5, 2020
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I know some people would probably be offended by me choosing to post a Sugar Wine question in the Winemaking forum, but I'm relatively new here and wasn't sure where to post this... but it's called Sugar Wine so I put it here.
Anyway, My question is all the way at the bottom; everything between here and there are just details for context: About 5 weeks ago now I started a Sugar Wine. No particular reason, but as my username suggests, I like to Experiment and try new things. That's pretty much it. I didn't really care if it tasted good or even if I had to eventually pour it down the drain, I just wanted to give it a try and see what happened.
I created a 1 gallon batch of Sugar Wine must by adding about 3 lbs. 3 oz. of sugar to water and pitching a full packet of rehydrated Lalvin K1V-1116 (I have not been brewing long, but in the few months I have, K1V has given me an impression of being a strong and fast fermenter, so I figured it was a good choice... idk if that's actually true). Before pitching the yeast I tasted it and it tasted as to be expected (like sugar water and EXTREMELY sweet, but no other flavors; you'll see why I mention that later). I used RO water without thinking about it and because that is a water relatively lacking in nutrients and minerals, I also added some Nutrient (diammonium phosphate) when I started the brew. The OG was 1.141 which is the highest OG I've ever had and didn't know what to expect. I did not have a Target Gravity, again, just experimenting.
Not much happened in the first 24 hours... AND THEN IT TOOK OFF!! At 24 hours it was bubbling once every 2 seconds. By the 36 hour mark it was going faster than once per second (maybe as fast as 2 bubbles per second) and stayed that way all the way up to the 96 hour mark (4 days since start of the brew)! On this 4th day I tested it with my hydrometer. It read 1.145. At this point I was confused. It was bubbling like crazy for 3 days straight and now the gravity was higher than the OG? I knew something was off so I figured that the brew must have a lot of gas dissolved in it so I put some in a tupperware container, capped it, shook it, and then opened it to let it offgas. I repeated this 10-12 times over the next few hours until it was basically flat and didn't foam up when I shook it any more. After this attempted degassing, it tested 1.141, exactly the same as the OG. Now I was REALLY confused. I thought it was degassed to the point where it was basically flat and it gave a reading as if no fermentation had occurred (but if that's true, where the heck did all the bubbles in the airlock come from over the past few days?). Confused, but not wanting to give up, I put it back.
Two days later (day 6 of the brew) I tested it again (after again spending some time trying to degas it with the previous method of vigorously shaking in a closed container and then leaving open for a while and repeating multiple times) and it read 1.132. On day 10, again after degassing a sample, it read 1.120. On day 14 it was 1.110 (to save time, I'm going to stop say I degassed it, just now I've done that every time I tested it). However, on day 14 I also noticed my basement temperature had dropped to 50-55 degrees which is on the low end of what K1V is comfortable with (based on what I've read about it). I chose to move it upstairs to a room that averages 68-72 degrees each day. On Day 17 it was 1.110 still and the same on day 20 (despite no change in gravity, the airlock was still bubbling like crazy). At this point I was afraid fermentation was stuck (possibly from the basement getting too cold before I noticed), so I went out and bought some Yeast Energizer (again, I was afraid my RO-based must was too lacking in nutrients and minerals). I rehydrated half a packet of K1V (in a small sample of the must that I took out and heated to about 95 degrees in a water bath) and also mixed some more Nutrient AND Energizer into the must and then pitched the new yeast. This didn't seem to do much over the next few days, so I gave it some more Nutrient and Energizer a couple days later after which it finally took off again. By day 26 it was 1.098. By day 31 it was 1.090. On Day 35 it was 1.078. This is a fairly consistent rate now, dropping about 30 points over two weeks, or about 15 points per week. However, though it has apparently restarted, this is still VERY slow and at this rate it would still take almost 5 more weeks to ferment completely (again, I don't have a specific target, but I was hoping it would finish at or below 1.010, somewhere where it still has some slight sweetness, but not entirely dry).
Anyway, that's where I am now (today is day 35). Before I ask my question, I should restate the fact that this RO Water + Sugar must has been bubbling like CRAZY (so much so that you'd think it has fermented dry 2 to 3 times over by now) despite not showing a comparable amount of fermentation in hydrometer reading AND should also point out that every time I test the gravity I taste a little sip of it (from the graduate cylinder, not the fermenter, I keep everything perfectly clean) and somewhere around 2 to 2-1/2 weeks in it developed a VERY distinct citrusy/lemon-lime flavor reminiscent of Sprite which has stuck with it since then (actually tastes really good and now I'm actually excited for the final product)... But I have NO IDEA where the flavors came from and I am confused. Again, I'm relatively new to brewing. Is this from esters produced by the K1V?
Anyway, my question is: What is going on? I've always heard Sugar Wine should take like a week or two to ferment, but I'm 5 weeks in with potentially 5 weeks to go if it continues at the same rate it has held over the past 2 weeks... why is it taking so long? And why is it bubbling like crazy if it really is fermenting so slow? Those are my main questions (Why is it taking so long?; What's causing all the bubbles?; Is there anyway I can help it along?). As a final, less important question than those main three... Where do you think the lemon-lime flavor came from?
Anyway, My question is all the way at the bottom; everything between here and there are just details for context: About 5 weeks ago now I started a Sugar Wine. No particular reason, but as my username suggests, I like to Experiment and try new things. That's pretty much it. I didn't really care if it tasted good or even if I had to eventually pour it down the drain, I just wanted to give it a try and see what happened.
I created a 1 gallon batch of Sugar Wine must by adding about 3 lbs. 3 oz. of sugar to water and pitching a full packet of rehydrated Lalvin K1V-1116 (I have not been brewing long, but in the few months I have, K1V has given me an impression of being a strong and fast fermenter, so I figured it was a good choice... idk if that's actually true). Before pitching the yeast I tasted it and it tasted as to be expected (like sugar water and EXTREMELY sweet, but no other flavors; you'll see why I mention that later). I used RO water without thinking about it and because that is a water relatively lacking in nutrients and minerals, I also added some Nutrient (diammonium phosphate) when I started the brew. The OG was 1.141 which is the highest OG I've ever had and didn't know what to expect. I did not have a Target Gravity, again, just experimenting.
Not much happened in the first 24 hours... AND THEN IT TOOK OFF!! At 24 hours it was bubbling once every 2 seconds. By the 36 hour mark it was going faster than once per second (maybe as fast as 2 bubbles per second) and stayed that way all the way up to the 96 hour mark (4 days since start of the brew)! On this 4th day I tested it with my hydrometer. It read 1.145. At this point I was confused. It was bubbling like crazy for 3 days straight and now the gravity was higher than the OG? I knew something was off so I figured that the brew must have a lot of gas dissolved in it so I put some in a tupperware container, capped it, shook it, and then opened it to let it offgas. I repeated this 10-12 times over the next few hours until it was basically flat and didn't foam up when I shook it any more. After this attempted degassing, it tested 1.141, exactly the same as the OG. Now I was REALLY confused. I thought it was degassed to the point where it was basically flat and it gave a reading as if no fermentation had occurred (but if that's true, where the heck did all the bubbles in the airlock come from over the past few days?). Confused, but not wanting to give up, I put it back.
Two days later (day 6 of the brew) I tested it again (after again spending some time trying to degas it with the previous method of vigorously shaking in a closed container and then leaving open for a while and repeating multiple times) and it read 1.132. On day 10, again after degassing a sample, it read 1.120. On day 14 it was 1.110 (to save time, I'm going to stop say I degassed it, just now I've done that every time I tested it). However, on day 14 I also noticed my basement temperature had dropped to 50-55 degrees which is on the low end of what K1V is comfortable with (based on what I've read about it). I chose to move it upstairs to a room that averages 68-72 degrees each day. On Day 17 it was 1.110 still and the same on day 20 (despite no change in gravity, the airlock was still bubbling like crazy). At this point I was afraid fermentation was stuck (possibly from the basement getting too cold before I noticed), so I went out and bought some Yeast Energizer (again, I was afraid my RO-based must was too lacking in nutrients and minerals). I rehydrated half a packet of K1V (in a small sample of the must that I took out and heated to about 95 degrees in a water bath) and also mixed some more Nutrient AND Energizer into the must and then pitched the new yeast. This didn't seem to do much over the next few days, so I gave it some more Nutrient and Energizer a couple days later after which it finally took off again. By day 26 it was 1.098. By day 31 it was 1.090. On Day 35 it was 1.078. This is a fairly consistent rate now, dropping about 30 points over two weeks, or about 15 points per week. However, though it has apparently restarted, this is still VERY slow and at this rate it would still take almost 5 more weeks to ferment completely (again, I don't have a specific target, but I was hoping it would finish at or below 1.010, somewhere where it still has some slight sweetness, but not entirely dry).
Anyway, that's where I am now (today is day 35). Before I ask my question, I should restate the fact that this RO Water + Sugar must has been bubbling like CRAZY (so much so that you'd think it has fermented dry 2 to 3 times over by now) despite not showing a comparable amount of fermentation in hydrometer reading AND should also point out that every time I test the gravity I taste a little sip of it (from the graduate cylinder, not the fermenter, I keep everything perfectly clean) and somewhere around 2 to 2-1/2 weeks in it developed a VERY distinct citrusy/lemon-lime flavor reminiscent of Sprite which has stuck with it since then (actually tastes really good and now I'm actually excited for the final product)... But I have NO IDEA where the flavors came from and I am confused. Again, I'm relatively new to brewing. Is this from esters produced by the K1V?
Anyway, my question is: What is going on? I've always heard Sugar Wine should take like a week or two to ferment, but I'm 5 weeks in with potentially 5 weeks to go if it continues at the same rate it has held over the past 2 weeks... why is it taking so long? And why is it bubbling like crazy if it really is fermenting so slow? Those are my main questions (Why is it taking so long?; What's causing all the bubbles?; Is there anyway I can help it along?). As a final, less important question than those main three... Where do you think the lemon-lime flavor came from?
