Hi
I'm a total newbie to brewing anything, making my first attempt at a 7 day Rose wine kit (23ltr)
I've put a bit too much sugar in it seems as my starting SG was 1.11
Rather than use the kit's yeast, I've opted for the high alcohol Gervin GV4 yeast in an attempt to save the wine, or the whole thing will have been a waste of time! I've also used a yeast nutrient. The bucket is sat at a steady 24-25 degreesC at the moment.
After a few hours my bubbler has started to bubble slightly once every few minutes.. Hoping I may have got away with it.
Can anyone share any knowledge/experience of this?
Thanks!
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I'm not a wine brewing expert at all, but with beer adding a bit too much sugar will not do too much harm it all depends how much more you added.
A little will just kick the alcohol content up a bit, may make the wine taste a bit stronger and wont be as the maker of the kit intended - however, it'll probably be ok.
If you added a lot more, it's possible the alcohol content will get too much for the yeast to handle, and some of the sugar will be left unfermented which will probably make the wine taste horrible, it would have to be quite a lot more though I am guessing.
Thanks for the reply!
A combination of carelessness and reading the hydrometer incorrectly I recall adding an extra 1.5kg of sugar than required to the fermentation bucket.
I've checked on the buckets progress today and it smells nice, or close to how a wine should smell. There is also a 'fizz' type thing going on with a constant stream of small bubbles coming to the surface.
Temp is still at around 24-25.
I took an SG of pretty much the same as 24hrs previous, marginally decreased maybe..
I'm planning on doing the same tomorrow, maybe that will give me more of an idea?
Thanks for the help!
I would definately wait for the hydrometer to remain stable, you will really want to brew off as much as that sugar as possible before the yeast gives in. Adding the higher alcohol yeald yeast was a good idea.
The fizz may suggest that it's still brewing.
See what it's like tomorrow, but the longer you give it the better, good few weeks at least, I brew most of my beer kits for 3 weeks in primary, given the sugar you have added I would not be in a rush to transfer it to secondary.
The bucket now has a quite a thick head on the top, and the SG has fell from 1.11 to 1.090..
So.. I'm assuming it's working
Leave it alone and let it do its thing.
12th day of brewing and the SG seemed to stop at around 1.04 for a few days, with little activity in the bubbler also.
Temp has remained constant, to try and revive the fermentation I added a teaspoon of yeast nutrient and give the bucket a good stir. Lid back on.
24hrs later I have a thick head on it again and some bubbling action. The SG has crept to 1.035, so maybe I've saved it?
Planning on leaving it a few days and seeing what the SG can get to, seems to be struggling though.
errrr, I would also drink that wine slowly