My wine is not behaving correctly, what should I do?!
I started a batch of strawberry wine and not having enough fruit decided to make a gallon batch instead of a 5 gallon batch!.I cut up the 1 lb bag of strawberries plus a half a bag as well, stirred together fruit = to water amount and covered 24 hours, I then sprinkled a teasp of yeast over juice adding more sugar and water to taste to = to 1 gallon and put in 5 gallon jug with airlock device, I have fermented it X 1 week, I then took cheese cloth after this process and removed all excess pulp and siphoned back into 5 gallon jug, repeated removing fruit mixture process once again to attempt to clarify and then added back to 5 gallon jug with air lock device and added more sugar as sweetness had disappeared from tasting and had been replaced by fermentation smell, then I attached air lock and am wondering from adding sugar to this mixture why is it that there is still no bubbling through air lock!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
Be patient!. Give it more time!.
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You don't add sugar and yeast until you strain it with a cheese cloth and put it in a jug to work, it has to work 21 days, When you firment you don't need nothing but fruit and water and has to firment for 10 days not 24 hours!*Www@FoodAQ@Com
Did you smash the fruit into a pulp!? What was the level of sugar, it needs to be over 20%!. Strawberrys will easily be 20% but you added water and you added sugar then you added more sugar!.
The proper process is to pulp the fruit and add water so that it really is a wet pulp that you can stir but still thick and then add sugar to get to above 20%, Brix of 20!. Then add the yeast it should start within 24 hours and depending on the temperature ferment for anything from 5 to 20 days!. You can press out the fruit at anytime that you feel comfortable that you have gained sufficient flavor and color from the pulp!. It is good to do this while it is still fermenting as it protects the wine!. Don't worry about clarifying the wine until well after the fermentation is complete and the lees have settled in the bottle!. Once fermentation is complete you must transfer into a bottle that has a small head space to avoid spoilage!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
The proper process is to pulp the fruit and add water so that it really is a wet pulp that you can stir but still thick and then add sugar to get to above 20%, Brix of 20!. Then add the yeast it should start within 24 hours and depending on the temperature ferment for anything from 5 to 20 days!. You can press out the fruit at anytime that you feel comfortable that you have gained sufficient flavor and color from the pulp!. It is good to do this while it is still fermenting as it protects the wine!. Don't worry about clarifying the wine until well after the fermentation is complete and the lees have settled in the bottle!. Once fermentation is complete you must transfer into a bottle that has a small head space to avoid spoilage!.Www@FoodAQ@Com