Pineapple Wine Not Fermenting

[Casa De Oro]

So this will be my second attempt at fermenting macerated and pressed pineapple juice that has gotten stuck.

My basic process is let the whole fruit ripen for a week

Crush whole and macerate with the skins on and pectic enzyme and add enough sulphite to get to about 30ppm based on historical liquid volume achieved through my process.

Both times the SG has been about 5% pABV with a pH of 4.07


Now what seems to happen is the initial juice ferments to 1.000 (with nutrient) using the wild yeast then when I add another fermentable sugar source to restart fermentation, I get 0 activity.

I have even added in 1118 when it gets to this "secondary" stuck point with more nutrients, and get nothing


I have done this with store bought juice and it had worked fine. But store bought juice is not scalable financially and it's wasteful.


I have been fermenting for years now and truly fermenting fresh pineapple juice is the only thing I can not seem to figure out why it won't behave like most other ferments do.


I'm looking for suggestions, recommendations, microbiological justifications, anything really to try and figure out why fermentation is not restarting once the initial fermentation is done, even with added cane sugar, nutrients, and commercial yeast.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[lumpher]

Only thing I can think of with your procedure is in the initial stage, the yeast does it's thing until the acidity and alcohol combination gets too strong, and the nutrients too low and damages the yeast. Then when you add more yeast the environment can't sustain it even with nutrients. Try adding it all at the start and see if the yeast can get a good grip on it. I know 1118 will take over fermentation and knock out the wild yeast, but I think this may be the case. Maybe someone else can chip in with the exact science, but I just know that starting it all together works for me.

 

[pdxal]

Have you checked the gravity after the EC-1118 gas worked for a while? After the addition of more sugar and yeast nutrient? Maybe it has dropped but you didn't notice any activity?
Good luck with your pulque/pineapple swipe.

 

[skinwalkermercy]

I make tepache which is a fermented pineapple drink(and honestly it is few days short of a basic wine that made from the cores and rinds of the pineapple) when I make mine I add yeast when I first crush and macerate pineapple, I also add the brown sugar add honey during this process. And then fill with warmed purified water to wake the yeast.