Apfelwein fermentation stuck! too much sugar?

[cidraft]

I got a little carried away with sugaring up my freshly pressed juice back in october, and got the starting sg to 23 brix (i was aiming for 16 -- a slight miscalculation )

It was fermenting nicely and i put it to secondary and thought i was getting a fine dessert wine or something, but things didn't work out, its now stuck at 6 brix and tastes like glue.

I even pitched in a little more yeast and fresh juice. Any chance of revival?
Thanks

 

[1k_wayne]

That works out to a SG of 1.097 to start, and 1.024 now for about 10% alcohol and it's sweet, but that might help mask the alcohol taste. Do you know what the ABV tolerance is of the yeast you used and what is the temperature?

The higher the alcohol content the longer it's going to need to age before it tastes good. I'd probably just leave it as is. Depending on the yeast you may want to rack it again in a month to keep it off the sediment, that can create off flavors, and I wouldn't expect it to taste good for at least a couple more months.

FYI, I've got 3 gallons of cider that's about 17% and sweet (1.036) that I may not be able to drink until next fall.

 

[Calder]

What yeast? A lot of ale yeasts will stall at 10%. Many will also go to around 12%. You might want to pick up a champagne yeast and toss that in.

If you used a champagne yeast, then I don't know what the problem is. Maybe it got too cold?

 

[cidraft]

Unfortunately, it WAS champagne yeast to start with which should still work at and above 14% abv. Would adding some nutrients to the yeast help any?
Thx

 

[minerkj]

I had the a similar problem with my last batch of cider (added too much sugar, sg=1.107 and fermentation stopped early at 1.018). I solved it by racking it onto a yeast cake of another brew (which used Lalvin 1118 yeast) that I had just finished. I was using Nottingham yeast and had probably reached its alcohol tolerance, which is not true in your case, so this may not work for you. I also tried putting the carboy in a warmer room, stirring the heck out of it and adding a new packet of yeast, but they didn't help.

I read some other posts on HBT and the consensus was that pitching a new packet of yeast won't help, unless you get a starter going over several days and acclimate the yeast to your brew. I have also read that adding yeast nutrient late in the brewing process can actually be bad for the yeast, but I don't remember the specifics.

 

[1k_wayne]

I'd start by warming it up to around 75F/24C for a day or two and see if that gets it going again.

 

[cidraft]

Hey guys just an update:
The cider from last october went through malo lactic fermentation in the spring and fermented down to no sugar almost.
Its funny, i had them in several carboys and with the scent of spring these guys all knew their job.
At that time the taste was still not so enjoyable, but now, after a year or more it is starting to taste like something real. Quite thick in flavor and molasses-like from the brown sugar and added wood chips.
Just thought i'd share this...
Happy holiday brewing!

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Congrats Cidraft! Glad to hear everything is working out.