Vanilla wine not starting

[spacemonk32]

I started a batch of Vanilla Wine on 4/28. The base ingredients were 6 qt of white grape juice, 1 cup of real vanilla extract, 5 pounds of sugar and 2 gallons of distilled water. Yester day there was still no signs of fermentation and the SG reading had not moved at 1.130,

I am using red star montracth yeast which I read could be slow or inhibited by high sugar ratings. I also read that distilled water could be an issue along with using white grape juice with stabalizer in it so I think I have a few cards stacked against me.

Last night I made a cup of sugar water and pitched the same kind of yeast in it and let it sit for awhile. After 2 hours there was a good foam head on it so I pured it in to the batch in hopes that that will get things moving. I will take an SG reading when I get home to see where its at but this morning there were still no signs of life.

I am thinking if this doesnt get things going maybe I could rack some into a gallon carboy and cut in some spring water witch would add some minerals to the mix and lower the sugar levels. I would probably add some yeast energizer at that time also. Or Maybe I could pitch a different yeast into it such as a champagne, that worked well on my pineapple I have going now.
Would pitching a totally different yeast into the batch be a bad thing? I think at the moment my best course of action is to wait a couple of days and keep an eye on it I am just trying to put a plan b togeather.

 

[HebrewedsoIbrew]

If your S.G was 1.130 and you used Montrachet I can see why you might be having trouble, That's a very high starting gravity for montrachet, Jack keller states on his website that Montrachet does not deal greatly with high starting gravitys, You'd probably be better off repitching a better yeast for the job like Lalvin EC-118, adding in some yeast energizer wouldn't hurt at all,

Also, if there WAS preservatives in your juice then that will be your biggest problem of all, you should go check the label to see if it had any, And repitching a different kind of yeast should be fine I think, I've never done it before so it's out of my knowledge base. Hope it all works out well for you mate,

 

[ACbrewer]

When it comes to stabilizers/preservatives, they are 'used up' as they 'prevent/kill' yeast. It is possible to just keep pitching more and more yeast and eventually you will over come them.

 

[spacemonk32]

Do I have to stick with the yeast I have or should I switch to a higher tolerance yeast. I could not find anything about two different yeast strands in a must.

 

[HebrewedsoIbrew]

Do I have to stick with the yeast I have or should I switch to a higher tolerance yeast. I could not find anything about two different yeast strands in a must.

When it comes to situations like these, Lalvin EC-118 is probably your best choice. The workhorse of all yeast!

 

[stella_tigre]

I did a gallon of Joe's Grape Mead using white Welch's. It had kmeta so I mixed it up a day ahead of time and let it air out. Ec1118 eventually got going, got a bit sulphurous but is now happily in secondary.