What to do if homemade wine stops fermenting (does not ferment at all). Even if you have accurately followed all the steps in the recipe for making homemade wine, there is still a chance that the raw materials supplied for fermentation do not begin to ferment. It happens that the wort begins to ferment, and then, for some reason, this process stops. You should not give up in such a situation. More often than not, the situation is completely fixable. Let's look at the reasons why wine does not ferment and what to do in such a situation.

The wine is not fermenting, or the wine has stopped fermenting, what should I do?!

1. Not much time has passed.

After installing the water seal, the fermentation process does not begin immediately. For the “gurgling” to begin, the yeast in the wort must be activated. The onset of fermentation depends on many factors:

• temperature regime,
• raw materials used,
• yeast used,
• amount of sugar used.

Typically, fermentation occurs from several hours to three days. Therefore, if you have met all the conditions for preparing wine, then you need to wait and not tune in ahead of time.

2. No sealing.

This problem often arises among people who are just beginning to master the intricacies of home winemaking. If the bottle with the wort is not tightly closed, then there will be no bubbles in the solution. This will be indicated by a glove that will not inflate. Carbon dioxide will leave the system. The wine will play, but this will not be visible visually.

If the wine does not ferment, what should you do, because in this case the pressure of carbon dioxide can decrease to such a value that air can get into the container, which in turn will lead to acetic souring of the wine and spoilage of the product.

The container with the wine being prepared should be opened no more than 1-2 times a day, for 10-15 minutes. During this period of time, you should remove the foam that forms during the fermentation process and add an additional portion of sugar to activate the process.

Therefore, the tightness of the system should be carefully checked. For better tightness, you can cover the joints with special glue or dough.

3. Unsuitable temperature.

The wine has stopped fermenting, what should I do? This is often caused by inappropriate temperature conditions. The yeast that turns the must into wine “works” in a fairly narrow temperature range - from 10 to 30 degrees. At low temperatures, they “hibernate”, and at high temperatures they die. The optimal temperature for producing wine is from 15 to 25 degrees. At the same time, it is necessary to avoid temperature changes. It is best to set the temperature around 20 degrees and maintain it constantly, day and night.

Therefore, it is worth first of all checking the temperature in the room where the wine is being prepared. If this room does not meet these parameters, then it is necessary to move the bottle to a more suitable location. If it turns out that the temperature has risen above 30 degrees and the wine has stopped fermenting, what should you do in this case? You should add a portion of special yeast (not wine yeast), or wine starter.

4. Low or high sugar content.

How long a wine ferments determines its sugar content. Its optimal value is 10-20%. If there is little or too much sugar, the wine will not ferment well.

If there is not enough sugar, then the yeast has nothing to process, and its work stops. If there is a lot of sugar, then it begins to work as a preservative. You can check the amount of sugar by tasting the wort, or using a special device - a hydrometer.

If you get wine from berries, then there may be another problem that interferes with fermentation - the raw material is too thick.
Therefore, it is necessary to check the wort for sugar and density. If necessary, add sugar or dilute the wort with water. If the sugar content is too low, add up to 100 grams of sugar per liter of wort.

5. Bad yeast.

Many hobbyists use wild yeast strains in their work. Unfortunately, such yeast is unstable and often stops working for unknown reasons.
Therefore, if the wort has stopped fermenting, you need to add:

• homemade sourdough,
• purchased wine yeast,
• 5-7 unwashed grapes per ten liters of must.
• 40-60 grams of quality raisins per ten liters of wort.

6. Mold.

If, when preparing the wort, you poorly prepared the raw materials and did not select rotten berries, then you will probably develop mold. It can also appear if the dishes are not washed well and dirt gets there. Once mold appears, it is very difficult to completely remove it.

Therefore, it is necessary to carefully prepare wine materials and dishes. If mold still takes hold of the drink, then it should be thrown out. How long homemade wine ferments, in this case it doesn’t matter, its taste will be far from perfect.

7. End of fermentation.

As soon as the alcohol concentration in the wine reaches 10-14 percent, the yeast dies. If you want to get a stronger wine, you need to add alcohol.

The fermentation process of homemade wine lasts from two to five weeks. Gradually the process fades, the wine begins to lighten, and sediment accumulates at the bottom of the bottle. In this case, the water seal glove is deflated. This indicates that the process of obtaining wine is completed.

After this, it is necessary to drain the wine from the sediment and put it to “ripening”.

If your wine stops fermenting prematurely, what should you do? Every winemaker faces this problem at some point, and sometimes more than once. This is a real problem even for experienced wine producers. It is almost always possible to solve a problem that has arisen. To know how to act, you need to analyze many situations and clarify for yourself: why the wine suddenly stopped fermenting, why it can ferment sluggishly, and, of course, what to do in such a situation in order to save your work...

Don’t believe an experienced winemaker if he doesn’t admit that he has never had any difficulties with fermentation. In order for fermentation to go well, you need to perform a number of actions. By strictly following them, we can reduce the likelihood of stopping fermentation to a minimum, but there is always force majeure that does not depend on us. For example, while you were not at home, the heating was turned off and the temperature from morning to evening was very low all day, which caused the fermentation process to begin. Are you to blame for this? Wasn't the process going smoothly before?

The following are frequently encountered cases with an explanation of “stuck” fermentation. The problems and solutions given below work for the case of fermentation not only with wild yeast, but also with pure yeast (hereinafter referred to as PY). So…

Fermentation does not start

Fermentation, as such, will not begin immediately. Usually you have to wait 3 hours if you are waiting for fermentation from grape juice without adding store-bought yeast. When you add cultivated yeast, the wine immediately ferments... Wild yeast needs to wait up to 2-3 days. Why? Yeast first multiplies, and only then proceeds to consume sugar. If some factor prevents them from reaching the point of consuming sugar in their development, then they will have to wait a long time for fermentation. The beginning of fermentation, and its continuation, depends on many factors: room temperature, raw materials, amount of sugar in the wort, air access...

What to do?

With fermentation that depends on wild yeast, you will have to wait 3-4 days if the wort was added to the wort for 3-4 hours. If fermentation does not start, then something is wrong with the wort or yeast. You need to find out the acidity of the juice and its sugar content. Next, add clean fresh yeast or raspberry or raisin yeast starter. You will also have to read the text to the end to rule out other problems.

Lack of oxygen during primary fermentation

At first, the yeast grows for 3-4 days and spends a lot of energy on it. This process requires oxygen. So if you install a water seal on the fermentation tank early, then due to a lack of oxygen, the yeast will multiply slowly. If the wine ferments poorly, it is easy for it to spoil due to contamination of the must by bad microorganisms.

What to do?

In the first 4 days, do not install a water seal at all. How can you protect the wort from debris and bad microorganisms getting into it? Just pull the gauze over the neck. It is also useful to saturate the wort without pulp with oxygen by pouring it into another vessel from a great height.

Difference in temperature between starter and wort

BH is not added directly to the wort. They need to be “dispersed”. They do this. Take a glass of wort and water. Add 1 tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of orange juice to it, and also add yeast. Wait 40 minutes before fermentation begins. The starter is then returned to the main wort. If you did not wait 40 minutes, but waited, say, 15 and used water, then the temperature of the wort may differ from the starter by 5-7 C. The yeast may not survive the temperature shock and will die. If this does not happen, then you will have to wait a long time for the fermentation of the main wort to start.

What to do?

Before adding the starter to the wort, you will have to make sure that they are at the same temperature. To make starter, it is better to take a glass of wort than a glass of water, which guarantees in advance that their temperatures will be equal.

Yeast added early after sulfites

It is important to treat all wines with sodium bisulfite (Campden tablets, or rather sulfur, SO2) before adding black hole. Sulfur will sterilize the wort and remove all microorganisms from it. It will come out as gas from the wine within a day. Only after this operation, after stopping fermentation, can you add black hole and start its process again.

What to do?

To prevent a new start of fermentation from being disrupted after using sulfur, wait exactly 24 hours. When sulfur comes out, you need to remove the water seal and place gauze on the neck of the container.

Yeast needs nutrients

In addition to sugar, yeast requires nitrogenous food, vitamins and amino acids to live. Grape juice contains all such components.

What to do?

At the very first fermentation, you can add a special yeast feed from a wine store to the wort, which contains diammonium phosphate (nitrogen), minerals, vitamins, and fatty acids. Just carefully follow what is written on the package. When fermentation slows down, you should not add fermentation, so as not to help bad microorganisms. Also add thiamine hydrochloride from the pharmacy (25 ml per 3.5-4 liters of wine). After adding the additives, they need to be mixed in the total mass of the wort.

The wine stopped fermenting after a week (in the later stages)

The reason for this is that the water seal is not airtight.

An airtight water seal is necessary to remove carbon dioxide from the wine and completely limit the entry of air into the container with wort. Carbon dioxide worsens the living conditions of bacteria. Access to oxygen leads to an improvement in the life of harmful microorganisms, which is unacceptable.

Based on the bubbles released by the water seal, you can judge that fermentation is proceeding normally; if the bubbles stop, then you can quickly notice and do something.

What to do?

Initially check the tightness of the water seal. Seal the joints between the tube and the stopper with plasticine or silicone. You can remove the water seal from the container only if necessary. A water seal is not installed in the first 3-4 days.

The temperature regime is violated

Another requirement for yeast to thrive is the correct temperature range. At temperatures below 10 C, wild and store-bought yeasts fall asleep; above 30 C, wild yeasts die, and some store-bought yeasts will survive, but fermentation will begin. The practice of winemakers shows that the best temperature range for fermenting wine from any berries is 18-24 C.

A dangerous problem is temperature changes during the day, for example due to a draft. If within minutes the temperature of the wort changes by 5-7 C, then a lot of yeast will immediately die. With a larger scope of changes, this process will be larger. A particular danger awaits yeast at the end of fermentation, when the amount of alcohol in the wort prevents the yeast from developing.

What to do?

Control the temperature and keep it in the range of 18-24 C. When fermentation slows down, set it to 21 C (an air conditioner at the other end of the room will help you). If the wort overheats above 30 C and the yeast dies, restart fermentation.

Too much sugar

Yeast absorbs sugar and produces alcohol. But when the sugar content of the wort is 20% or higher (according to the hydrometer 1080-1090 g/dm3), it acts as a preservative on them. The wine simply stops fermenting earlier. Practice has shown that the sugar concentration should not be higher than 10-15%.

To control sugar content you need to use a hydrometer.

What to do?

Fermentation in wine stops if the amount of sugar is equal to or more than 200 grams per 1 liter of must. To reduce sugar content, pure water is poured into the wort for dilution. When preparing liqueur and dessert wine, sugar is added in portions on the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 10th day of fermentation in equal parts, having previously been dissolved in the wine scooped from the wort.

Wort acidity is too high or low

Practice has shown that the normal wort acidity for fermentation should be from 3.5 to 5.5 pH, preferably around 4 pH. When acidity decreases below 3.5 pH, there is no fermentation. slows down a lot or may stop altogether. With an indicator of 4 and above, the risk of improving living conditions for bad microorganisms and wine disease increases.

What to do?

Monitor acidity with a pH meter. If there is insufficient acidity per 3-4 liters of wine, you can add the juice of 1-2 lemons to the wort or, better yet, tartaric acid from the store. Add malic acid to apple wines. If the acidity is high, then dilute it with water to normal.

Too much alcohol produced

Don’t forget that alcohol, like sugar, is also a preservative. As stated above, increasing its concentration towards the end of fermentation completely stops this process. At 12-14% wort strength, wild yeast goes into hibernation.

What to do with wine?

The fermentation process is completed naturally, which means clarify it, age it and bottle it. If you would like to increase the strength of the wort, then you need to use black alcohols that are resistant to such indicators and continue fermentation.

Fermentation is over

When using wild yeast, rapid fermentation takes 20-30 days; with store-bought yeast, fermentation time ends faster. Ideally, the end of fermentation occurs in 14 days, and with BH the time for wine is reduced to 7.

What to do?

We drain the wine and filter the sediment, pour it for quiet fermentation, and take it to a cool room. Use a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity of the wine. If it is 998-1010 g/dm3, then the wine is ready for the clarification and bottling procedure.

Diseases of wine due to pathogenic microorganisms

If bad microorganisms get into the wine from dirty hands and dirty containers, this can spoil it, turn it into vinegar, and lead to mold.

What to do?

If signs of disease are detected at the beginning of fermentation, then add SO2 to it, after a day of blackout.

Restarting fermentation

Fermentation is restarted using cultured yeast. These are Lalvin EC-1118, Lalvin K1-V1116 (Montpellier), Red Star and Red Star Premier Cuvee champagnes.

Before adding them, the wort is checked for sugar content and acidity. If something happens, the indicators are returned to normal. Measure the temperature of the ambient air and the wort. They use sulfur, and only then use black hole.

Here are the step-by-step preparation steps for using store-bought yeast:

Buy BH
-- sterilize a half-liter jar
-- add a glass of water 27 degrees to it
-- add 1 tsp granulated sugar
-- add 10 ml orange or lemon juice
-- add 1/2 tsp thiamine hydrochloride
-- 1 tsp with a heap of store-bought yeast
-- cover the neck with thick gauze
-- room temperature should be 18-24 C

After 6 hours, add to them an incomplete glass of wine, the fermentation of which we restart.

Wait 6 hours. Fermentation should already begin. Pour the fermentation activator into a large container and add another 500 ml of wine there.

For the next 6 hours, double the wine poured. Continue to do this until you have poured all the salvaged wort into the container with the activator.

It is not correct to pour the activator into the wort. Pour the juice into the activator in the correct dose.

04.09.2018

Only ripe and healthy berries are selected for wine. The winemaker kneads them. Then the yeast gets to work. The aromatic drink is the fruit of their labor. However, a number of factors can interfere with them. Finding out about them means identifying the reason why the wine stopped fermenting. But first, let's learn how to notice it. How to tell if your yeast is working

Knowing the following four stages will help you control fermentation:

• The fungi have just got into the wort, as winemakers call unprocessed juice, or pulp, in other words, crushed berries along with skins and seeds. So they adapt and swell.
• Microorganisms multiply intensively and fill the wine material.
• A group of yeast cells consume carbohydrates and produce carbon dioxide and alcohol. Many bubbles form in the form of a cap on the surface of the wort.
• The mushrooms ate all the sugar. Then they move into the lower layers of the mass. There are fewer and fewer active mushrooms. During this time, the taste of the wine is formed. The completion of fermentation is indicated by the subsidence of the foam cap on the surface of the pulp.

This means that two factors indicate the active nutrition of microorganisms:

• Formation of bubbles in the water seal. This is how carbon dioxide leaves the fermentation tank, or fermenter. Let us remember that it is produced by yeast along with alcohol.
• Reducing the size of wine raw materials. This suggests that fermentation has been successful and the sugar has been converted into alcohol.

Thus, the yeast does not start working immediately and remains active for a long time. The whole process can take at least a couple of months. If the wine stops fermenting early, this is a cause for concern: sugar remains - no alcohol has been formed. And that's why.

Reasons for stopping fermentation

Uncomfortable temperature for yeast Wine yeast is active only at a certain temperature. The comfortable range for them is 15-25°. Sudden changes in heating and cooling are bad for the wort. If fermentation has stopped, the reason may be:

• The mushrooms fell asleep due to temperatures below 10°.
• The cells died due to heating above 30°.

So, the wine has stopped fermenting due to extreme temperatures for the yeast, what to do now? Placing the fermentation tank in a warmer room will help bring you out of sleep. And if the strains have died, add a new batch of yeast and place in a less hot place.

Properties of wine material

Mushrooms will lose activity if the pulp has the following characteristics:

• little sugar. Because of this, the cells have nothing to eat. No alcohol is produced. Adding sugar in small equal portions will correct the situation. You need to repeat this every couple of days;
• a high sugar ratio preserves raw materials. Fermentation becomes impossible. Dilution with water in a ratio of up to 15% of the wort volume will help;
• wine is a material that is difficult to filter, difficult to handle, and difficult for yeast to handle. In this case, water or juice will help make the mass thinner.

Sugar concentration is measured.

Ideal figures are 10-20%.

Wrong kind of yeast

Mushrooms live on the surface of apples, grapes, currants and other berries. They can be recognized by their whitish coating. They are considered wild and have the following disadvantages:

• unpredictability. They may poorly absorb sugar and produce little or no alcohol. It is impossible to determine the taste and strength of the future drink;
• combination of several strains. They can compete with each other and inhibit fermentation. If lactic acid mushrooms get into the wort, they will turn it into vinegar;
• sourdough preparation time – 3 days or more;
• can form a lot of foam.

If the wine stops fermenting earlier Due to weak yeast, add special wine strains. They will suppress the action of lactic acid yeast and resume alcohol production. They are usually sold as a dry powder. You need to activate the mushrooms in the following order:

• heat the water to 30°;
• pour boiling water over the container for diluting yeast;
• dissolve dextrose in a proportion of 50 g per 1 liter of water;
• Gently pour in the yeast and stir constantly at the same time. This will prevent lumps from appearing. Select concentration 1:10;
• leave for 30 minutes at room temperature;
• pour into and stir.

Spread of mold

Infection by pathogenic fungi also becomes the reason why the wine stops fermenting. The reason is neglect of hygiene rules. At the berry selection stage, it is important not to miss spoiled specimens. And when preparing the fermenter, do not forget to disinfect it with boiling water, steam or a specialized product.

"Moonshine B-12" has developed "" for the disinfection of utensils used in winemaking. It should be dissolved in a ratio of 1/10 in water and sprayed onto the container. After 3 minutes, rinse under running water. This will disinfect the tank and prevent the appearance of harmful microorganisms.

Air access to raw materials

Carbon dioxide must escape freely. Otherwise the tank will explode. But free access of air will lead to an irreversible change in the properties of the wine mass. It will become vinegar.

A water seal will help resume fermentation. This device is a valve for removing carbon dioxide. However, it creates a water barrier to the air. This protects the mash from harmful bacteria.

How to choose wine yeast

Modern winemakers prefer store-bought yeast. They are bred in laboratory conditions. With the help of such strains, the raw material ferments slowly with a moderate amount of foam.

Yeast differs depending on the type of wine, resistance to high alcohol content, acid, and temperatures extreme for mushrooms. Therefore, it is first important to decide what kind of wine you will make and from which berries.

For example, if cherry wine has stopped fermenting, you can buy. Apple raw materials can be processed by strains and acid. obtained using mushrooms of the appropriate variety.

Thus, when wine has stopped fermenting, it is first important to determine the reason. If the wort has become vinegar, then this will not help matters. But next time you will have a chance to work on your mistakes.

Even if the recipe is strictly followed, situations are possible when the wine does not ferment at all, begins to ferment ahead of time, or the fermentation process stops after a few days. Let's consider the reasons why homemade wine made from jam, grapes, berries does not play and what can be done in each of these situations.

What does the process depend on?

Fermentation is the process of decomposition of sugar contained in grape or berry must into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The main actors are yeast fungi. It is their activity that determines how long the wine ferments, how fast the fermentation process of the wine material will be, and to what extent the quality of the finished drink will be.

Stages

In the history of home winemaking, there are examples when the winemaker placed the container in a more or less suitable place, then happily forgot about it, and after 2-3 months received a passable drink. However, this is either experience or luck. In most cases, it is necessary to intervene in the fermentation process and control its quality.

For any homemade wine, there are two, sometimes three stages (the last two do not have clear boundaries) of fermentation:

• initial stage - it is at this stage that the fungi “sit quietly”, getting used to the new environment and often causing anxiety in the novice winemaker;
• active - the yeast multiplies rapidly, the beginning of this period is marked by the active production of carbon dioxide, the mass hisses, bubbles, and a sediment forms;
• quiet - fermentation continues, but in deep layers. There are few bubbles.

The second stage can be of varying duration, it depends on what strength of the future drink is desired. Active fermentation can be greatly delayed to end up with a stronger homemade wine. Bubbles are very actively visible for the first 2–3 days.

The next phase - quiet fermentation - lasts as long as the fungi have enough food, they will multiply until they have absorbed all the sugar, breaking it down into alcohol and carbon dioxide. In the recipe, the fermentation process is as follows

• Prepared raw materials for wine (wort, pulp) are poured into containers, covered with gauze, and placed in a warm, dark place;
• As soon as the first gas bubbles appear (fermentation has entered the active phase), a water seal is put on the container (most often, covered with a glove). This stage has different durations, for example, fermentation of homemade wine from apple juice and rowan (temperature 18–28 °C) will take 25–40 days. The end of the stage is determined by the fall of the glove. The new wine is ready;
• Maturation. This is a quiet period. You can add sugar to wine. Or alcohol, which will stop the fermentation process. The deadlines are also different. For the same apple-rowan wine, this means 2–3 months in a darkened room at a cooler temperature of 10–16 °C.

Interesting: winemakers have different opinions about the youth of wine. Some believe that it is young only a few days after the end of the stage of rapid fermentation, some give it several months of youth before the start of a new stage of life - the ripening phase.

Deadlines

There is no clear answer to the question of how long homemade wine should ferment. The process can take from 1 to 3 months, depending on the temperature, the amount of sugar in the wort and the quality of the yeast.

Let's look at the general points that a novice winemaker should know about these three pillars of successful fermentation. Knowing them, you can independently find answers to questions about what to do and how to make the wine play a second time if it does not ferment.

Kit one: temperature regime

The optimal temperature for wine fermentation is considered to be in the range of 15–25°C; for white wines, the best temperature is 14–18°C; for red wines, 18–22°C. At what specific temperature the wine should ferment is decided by the winemaker, focusing on the behavior of the wort and adhering to the ranges specified by the recipe.

When selecting the temperature, it is important to take other factors into account. The wort is rich in sugar, cold, the bottles are small, therefore the temperature should be high - 20 °C. The wort is sour, warm (above 12 °C), slightly sweetened - 15 °C is enough.

At a low temperature of 9–10 °C, fermentation is also possible, but it will take longer.

High temperature (above 25 °C) may only be useful at first. For a mixture that already contains some alcohol, this temperature is harmful.

When making at home, it is difficult to regulate the temperature. But there are examples when wine was successfully produced from not very sweet raspberry jam, first left at room temperature and then placed on a cool winter balcony.

Keith two: yeast

Their quantity and activity determine how correct and fast the fermentation process will be. In turn, the amount of yeast is determined by many factors: the already mentioned temperature, the duration of access of air to the wort and, finally, the quality of the wort.

When it comes to grapes, winemakers know that the fermentation of must from grapes grown on fertile, rich soils will be more vigorous and at the same time smoother. On average, the richer and more nutritious the composition of the starting material, the more active and rapid the fermentation process will be.

The quality of yeast also varies. PWD (pure cultures of wine yeast) behave more actively and smoothly, wild yeast is more unpredictable.

During the fermentation process, yeast cells settle to the bottom, blocking the access of air by being at the very bottom - inert zones are formed that slow down the process. Stirring them periodically with a spatula will help speed up the process, so as to destroy the layers. To destroy them, it is enough to also throw in a few fresh berries. Sometimes, to speed up fermentation, it is recommended to ventilate the wort, providing the fungi with oxygen at the initial stage.

Whale three: sugar levels

Wine made from a sweet source, such as wine made from jam, does not need additional sweetening. Only natural sugars contained in fruits and berries can be used. In ready-made recipes, it is difficult to indicate exactly all the parameters on which the sweetness of berries and fruits for wine depends: their degree of ripeness, variety, harvest time, time from harvest to the moment of use. Therefore, the expected sweetness of the wort does not always correspond to the real one, and yeast fungi, which require sugars to reproduce, may simply not have enough nutrition.

These are general points that should be understood before using any recipe. What to do if either berry wine does not ferment or has stopped fermenting - you need to look for the answer to this question yourself, including your own instincts. It’s not for nothing that many winemakers call making wine a creative endeavor, and even claim that they enjoy the process more than the result.

All possible difficult issues and ways to solve them are discussed below. But this does not mean that there is only one reason why your wine does not ferment; there may be several of them.

The process hasn't started yet

You should not think that installing a water seal automatically means the start of fermentation. The wine will begin to ferment in a few days. Three days before the start of the process is normal. The period depends not only on the type of yeast, but also on the amount of sugar, temperature and raw materials.
For example, jam wine, which is popular at home, often tests the patience of novice winemakers. To begin processing sugar, yeast needs to become accustomed to a new environment.
If bubbles indicating the onset of fermentation have not appeared after 72 hours, then problems have indeed arisen in the wine preparation procedure. Sometimes, if the room is cool, it makes sense to wait longer - 5 days.

Wine does not ferment: reasons

Here we will look at all the possible reasons why wine does not ferment, and we will provide ways to solve each problem. Here you can find answers to the question why the wine stopped playing ahead of time and what to do to stimulate the process.

Temperature

The room is not warm enough (less than 18–25 ºC), perhaps the container is in a draft. In walk-through rooms there are often low drafts that are invisible to humans. At temperatures below +16 ºC, yeast fungi “fall asleep”; in heat (above 25 ºC) they die. Is it possible to save wine that has been left at the wrong temperature and has not started to play? Yes. Move the jar to a suitable place, add live yeast or starter.

Particular attention is paid to low temperatures, they can greatly slow down the process. Wine under a glove can ferment in a warm place for only a few weeks, in a cool place - up to several months. If you have come to the conclusion that the problem is the coolness, is it possible to move bottles of wine to a warmer place to speed up its preparation? Yes. Just make sure that the temperature in the new room is not too high.
There is a caveat when using a pure yeast culture. Such yeast is not added to the main container, but a starter is prepared for faster activation: 1 tbsp per glass of wort. l. sugar, add yeast to this nutrient medium, wait 40 minutes. The finished starter is introduced into the main wort. It is necessary to ensure that the temperature of the starter and wort in the main container is close. Even a slight difference of 5–7 °C is traumatic for fungi, and they die.

Sugar

There is little sugar in the wort. In this case, the yeast simply has nothing to feed on, they do not reproduce, alcohol is not produced, and the process does not proceed. Sugar should make up from 10 to 20% of the wort volume. To check whether the level of sugar content is sufficient, it is best to purchase a special device - a hydrometer (or saccharometer). It is inexpensive - about 300–400 rubles. However, if it is not there, all that remains is to use a very inconvenient subjective method - taste. If homemade wine does not ferment for this reason, you need to add sugar.
After adding sugar, the liquid is thoroughly mixed until dissolved. Even better: drain 1 liter of wort, dissolve the required amount of sugar in it, and pour the resulting syrup back into the main wort.

It would be optimal to initially calculate the amount of sugar per kg of raw materials as accurately as possible, and not blindly trust the recipe. There are special formulas.

If the wine stops fermenting after sweetening, then perhaps there is too much sugar, in which case it acts as a preservative. The wort should be diluted with warm filtered water.

It is advisable to adhere to the rule of gradually adding sugar. The total amount, calculated based on the type of raw material and the degree of sweetness of the finished drink (sweet, semi-sweet, dry), is divided into four doses. 2/3 - before fermentation begins. Divide 1/3 into three equal parts and add it to the wort after 4 days, a week and 10 days from the start of fermentation.

What to do with fermented homemade wine? Usually, by fermentation of the finished product, they mean a completely different fermentation - bite. Acetic acid bacteria break down wine alcohol into water and acetic acid. Within 3–5 days, the wine acquires an unpleasant sour taste. A sour drink can no longer be saved. This trouble can only be prevented. In industrial production, sulfidization (sulfur treatment) is used.

Yeast

Not enough yeast. This problem often arises when they try to make wine with “wild” yeast, that is, those that were on the surface of the berries. There might not have been enough of them initially, or they might have died (for example, in the heat). If the wine does not ferment well for this reason, then it is enough to buy wine yeast in specialized stores. It is also possible to add dark, unwashed raisins. It is possible to prepare sourdough, but it will take quite a lot of time. Or you should put the starter in advance: 200 g of raisins, 50 g of sugar, pour 2 glasses of warm water, cover with a gauze stopper, and keep in a warm, dark place for 3-4 days. The finished starter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

A nuance for those who work with pure cultures of wine yeast. Before adding them, the wort is often sterilized with sulfites. And this is where patience is needed: you cannot add yeast immediately after processing; you need to wait a day for the sulfur to evaporate from the liquid. During this day, the container with the wort is covered only with gauze.

Oxygen and sealing

Little oxygen. Quite a common mistake for beginners. The fermentation process consists of two periods: the first is short and the second is long. At the first stage, air (oxygen) access is important; tightness is needed at the second stage. If there is too little oxygen during primary fermentation, the yeast becomes nutrient deficient and stops multiplying. That is, at first it is not needed, just cover the neck of the container with gauze folded in several layers. If the water seal is already on, simply remove it and replace it with gauze.

Lots of oxygen. This problem occurs during the second stage of fermentation. Here, on the contrary, tightness and only small access for the release of carbon dioxide are important. If the size of the holes is too large, too much oxygen will enter the wort, and this leads to oxidation of the product - it will be impossible to save the sour drink. It is best to use a medical glove as a water seal, which is placed on the neck of the vessel. To release carbon dioxide, it is enough to make a small puncture on one finger with a thin needle. This type of water seal is easy to control. The glove has deflated, which means the fermentation process has stopped. Either the puncture is too large and the glove needs to be replaced, or the joints should be checked, perhaps carbon dioxide is escaping in other ways.

A convenient way to control air access are single plastic or glass blockers with two flasks and a hose. A sulfite solution is poured into each blocker flask a little less than halfway, and the end of the hose is dipped into the wine. Carbon dioxide sequentially passes through the hose through the first flask (or chamber), then through the second. If the gas pressure has decreased and a vacuum has formed, the sulfide solution moves into the first chamber; it is urgent to add wine to the container.

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What to do with fermented jam? This is exactly how winemakers are often born: by chance a suitable source turned up, and now the beginner is working magic with gloves and studying the technology of preparing alcoholic beverages. And then he wonders why the wine from the jam does not ferment at a normal pace, ferments for a long time, or the process has stopped. Possible error in this case: the raw material may be too thick. In a jelly-like environment, it is difficult for fungi to reproduce. Those who make wine from pulp, that is, from skins and seeds, may face the same problem.

Solution: if the wine does not ferment for this reason, you should add clean, filtered, warm water. If the pulp was pressed (the juice was used for primary wine), then the amount of water should correspond to the amount of juice removed. Be sure to pay attention to whether there is enough yeast for the new quantity.

Mold

This is a common occurrence among those using wild yeast. The surface of the must becomes covered with a film, an odor appears, and the wine does not play. Mold is also mushrooms, but not the ones you need. They begin to multiply due to the entry of pathogens into the wort (there were rot particles on the berries) and favorable conditions for them (high temperature, 22–28 ºC, high humidity, above 85%, low alcohol, low acidity of the starting material). Alas, if it is severely infected, it is better to throw away the wort. Not only will the finished product in this case have an unpleasant taste, but such wine can cause poisoning.

If the solution is not yet heavily contaminated, it can still be allowed to ferment. Remove all moldy areas and then pour the concentrate into a fresh container. Make sure that the top layer does not get into the new dishes, so it is better to pour through a rubber tube. The wort is boiled at a temperature of 70–75 °C for several minutes, left to cool at room temperature, and then stabilized by adding fresh juice and sugar. If there is a lot of mold, removing its visible parts will not help; the drink is already contaminated.

To prevent mold from appearing, use prevention methods: thoroughly sterilize all elements in contact with the material, wash your hands, carefully select raw materials - remove berries even just with barely noticeable dark spots. The berries are not washed, but it is not difficult to ensure the cleanliness of all objects in contact with them.

It is very risky, from the point of view of mold, to make wine from pulp. When floating, the pulp comes into contact with oxygen, which can lead to the development of unwanted fungi. Stir the wort so that the pulp sinks back. It was already said above that the wort should not be too thick. But it should not be too liquid either, this provokes frequent floating of “solid particles”. Too low acidity also contributes to the appearance of mold; you can add a little citric acid. And, of course, carefully monitor the level of oxygen access to the future drink.

The process started and then stopped abruptly

A situation where the wine has stopped fermenting can also occur. The process has started successfully, the wort is in the second stage of fermentation, and then the process suddenly stops. There are two reasons for this. The first is that homemade wine does not ferment because the liquid is contaminated with microorganisms that suppress the proliferation of yeast fungi. In addition to mold, there are a lot of other “creatures”: viruses, bacteria that cause diseases that are dangerous for homemade wine. In this case, there is little chance of saving the product.
The second reason why wine does not ferment is that there is already too much alcohol in the liquid. Fungi die if the alcohol content is more than 14%. If this is the case, the wine will begin to ferment after adding warm water, yeast and checking the temperature. If balance is reached, the process must continue.

Completion

If no hissing is heard, no bubbles are visible, the glove has fallen off, then the fermentation procedure may have already completed successfully and the wine is ready. Ready dates are as follows:

• Wild yeast – 20–30 days. In ideal conditions (warm, plenty of nutrients) – 2 weeks.
• Pure yeast cultures are able to process all the sugars from the wort - in 5 days or a week.

If berry wine stops fermenting after a week, what should you do? Taste it; perhaps the fermentation process was so successful that it has already been completed. The finished drink will not be sweet; it has a bitter-sour harmonious taste without pronounced sweetness. You can use a hydrometer. The specific gravity of the wine ready for the next stage is 998–1010 g/dm3. This drink is clarified and sent for quiet fermentation in cooler conditions.

If the wine at home stops fermenting after a week, but still remains syrupy and sweet, then the process has stopped ahead of schedule. Analyze the possible causes from the list above and take measures to stimulate fermentation. It is not recommended to drink unfermented wine.

Let's sum it up

A simple answer to the question of why wine does not ferment and what to do in general is impossible. It all depends on the stage at which the stop occurred and the specific conditions (temperature, recipe, type of yeast). To find the exact cause, analyze all the parameters that could affect the behavior of the yeast. In general, a winemaker's flair is not so much a natural talent as it is experience.

Attention, TODAY only!

We will not repeat the beneficial qualities of homemade grape wine, since the fact has long been well known. Among the main ones, for example, grape wine normalizes blood pressure, treats anemia and improves appetite, and regular, daily consumption of a small amount of wine helps remove radionuclides from the body. But even if it were not so healthy, people would still make this drink because of its unique taste and ability to lift the mood. There is a large number ways to make homemade grape wine. And it is clear that everyone has their own secrets, nuances and characteristics. But the basic principles and rules for preparing grape wine are the same for everyone - the grapes are collected, sorted, sorted, pressed, and fermented. All homemade wines are prepared using this simple algorithm, and only small additions or special additives lead to the birth of different varieties of this drink. Another important success factor is the time parameters of the various stages. homemade wine production and the experience gained.

Before making homemade grape wine, you need to properly plant and grow grapes that would best suit your purpose. The grapes should be harvested as late as possible, when they are fully ripe and have reached maximum sugar content and decreased acidity.

The raw materials must be as clean as possible, because one of the rules of winemakers is to never wash grapes. Natural colonies of yeast fungi live on the skins of grapes, thanks to which the further fermentation process occurs. To prepare wine, the berries should be selected especially carefully, literally going through each one, removing all spoiled and rotten ones, so as not to spoil the taste of the drink in any way.

Preparing the pulp

The best cookware for making homemade wine– enameled or glass. Metal utensils are completely unsuitable, since contact of wine with metal causes a chemical reaction, and the drink darkens and acquires a bad taste. Alternatively, you can use plastic food containers. For preparation, it is best to use large containers - 20-50 liters, since in small volumes grape wine ferments faster and it is very difficult to control the process. Before use, all utensils should be washed thoroughly with hot water and baking soda.

Place the selected berries in a large saucepan or basin and begin crushing. Some winemakers advise doing this directly with your hands, some use canvas bags for this, twisting the berries in them and squeezing the juice out of them, and some crush them with an ordinary masher. Whatever method you choose, the main rule is one - crush all the grapes to a single one, so that not a single one remains intact.
The temperature of the room in which fermentation will occur should be 18-23 degrees. S. This is very important. At higher temperatures, the quality of the wine will be lower and acetic acid fermentation may even occur, turning the wine into vinegar. At lower temperatures, fermentation may not begin. That’s why, if the berries were picked at an outside temperature below 15 degrees. C, they cannot be crushed immediately, but need to wait several hours for them to warm up to the optimal temperature. The container with the pulp must be covered with a clean cloth to prevent wine flies from appearing. The next day fermentation should begin. The pulp will rise upward with the release of carbon dioxide, forming a cap over the wort. The raised layer of pulp needs to be stirred several times a day. If this is not done, the pulp may sour. On the 3-5th day, the pulp is squeezed out through a colander, and it is best to squeeze it out with a simple juice press, which you can make with your own hands or buy ready-made; the pulp is used for livestock feed or thrown on a compost heap. During the fermentation of the pulp, the coloring and aromatic substances found in the skins of the berries are extracted, and wine prepared in this way is much more aromatic, more intensely colored and extractive than wine prepared with squeezed juice.
Fill the container about 2/3 full, as the “cap” will rise over time.

The initial stage is vigorous fermentation

As soon as a slightly sour smell comes from the pulp, it should be immediately poured into any container with a narrow neck. For us, these were 20-liter glass bottles, onto which we immediately put on any type of water seal - rubber medical gloves with “fingers” pierced with a needle, plastic double caps, recently sold in the markets.

You can also use a classic water seal, which is done like this: a hole is drilled in a strong long plug into which a narrow rubber hose is inserted. The cork is tightly coated with plasticine or wax on top, and the lower end is lowered into a jar of clean water, where carbon dioxide will escape. The main thing is to block the access of oxygen and ensure the release of carbon dioxide produced during fermentation.
Important details: the upper end of the hose should be at the level of the exit from the cork, and the pulp should be poured into the bottle no higher than three-quarters, so that the juice does not spill out during fermentation.

Not wandering? Let's force it!

If the weather is cool and the juice does not begin to ferment for a long time, you can do two things. Pour out a liter or a half of juice, mix with sugar and heat to 40 degrees, and then pour back into the bottle. Or put 150 grams of finely crushed raspberries into an open jar, cover with gauze and wait a few days for the raspberries to ferment. Then pour this yeast into the bottle and mix with the contents. The process will begin.

Next, we monitor the condition of the pulp.
From 1% sugar 0.6% alcohol is formed. But since most grape varieties in the central regions rarely accumulate sugar more than 20%, it is impossible to obtain sweet wine with a strength of more than 10-12%. To do this you need to add sugar. After 2-3 days, the fermenting wort should be tested for sugar. As soon as you feel that the wort has become sour (which means the sugar has already been converted into alcohol), you need to add 50 g of sugar for each liter of it, mixing thoroughly. Repeat this several times until you feel that the sugar content does not decrease. This means that fermentation has basically stopped, and the wort has accumulated about 15% alcohol. The fact is that the bulk of yeast cannot live in an environment with an alcohol content above 15-16%. That is, they destroy themselves and settle to the bottom.
From the beginning to this moment (depending on the temperature), the wort ferments for 2-4 weeks. Suspended particles sink to the bottom, and the wort is partially clarified. You need to remove it from the sediment using a siphon (hose) and add sugar to your taste. Some suggest that after this, place the container under a water seal in the cellar for further clarification and maturation of the wine, which lasts several months. But a water seal is not needed at this stage for wine with a strength of 15%. A wine with such alcohol content will never turn sour. The simple fact is that at this moment very quiet fermentation will take place, and in a hermetically sealed container (say, in a glass bottle) such CO2 pressure can be created that it will simply burst. In order to prevent this from happening, it is necessary to suppress the vital activity of the remaining particularly strong (pardon the pun) yeast individuals. Yeast bacteria at temperatures above 70 degrees. They die. Therefore, the wine must be pasteurized at a temperature of 75-80 degrees. C for two hours. For those who have a gas water heater, it is very convenient to do this in a bathtub, provided, of course, that the volume of wine is significant. Personally, I immerse about 100 liters of wine in a bath in 3-10-20 liter cylinders. The cylinders should not be filled completely, as intense fermentation will take place for some time with copious amounts of foam released. Naturally, the plugs or lids must not be tightly closed. In the absence of a column, pasteurization is carried out on a gas stove. After finishing the heat treatment, the cylinders are filled to the top and tightly sealed with stoppers. The next day, after cooling, they are taken to the cellar. The heated wine brightens beautifully and, quickly maturing, becomes soft, velvety and harmonious. All you have to do is remove it from the sediment a few times.

First drain

We prepare another bottle - wash it, dry it, and place it next to the full one. We insert a rubber hose into the pulp almost to the very bottom and strain all the juice through it. As a rule, two full bottles of pulp yield one juice without pulp, grains or peel.

Let's taste it. If it is sour, add 150–200 g of sugar for each liter of juice and put it under the water seal again. At this time, you can remove the containers from a sunny place and place them indoors. Sometimes the juice is very tart, so some people add a liter or a half of water to it. But it's better to do without it.

Secondary or peta wine

What to do with the pulp from which the juice has already been taken? We do things differently. Some owners whose family drinks little wine simply throw it away. But there are people, including myself personally, who love repeat wines - to my taste, they are both subtler and more refined than the first, brighter, more concentrated and intoxicating wines.

We measure how much juice has left the bottle, heat the same amount of clean, preferably soft water, dissolve sugar in it - from 200 to 300 g per liter - and pour in the pulp. She will also wander, but for a longer time. As soon as the pulp becomes completely colorless and is compressed into a dense layer, it can be thrown away. And put the juice, like the primary juice, for fermentation.

How wine matures

Now is the most important stage. When quiet fermentation begins, we ourselves will see how the sediment will sink to the bottom. The more often we remove it, the clearer the wine will become.

Next, the blending process begins. Of course, this must be done if the farm has many varieties of grapes and among them are very sour ones and, conversely, very sweet ones. In the end, by adding, diluting, introducing additional sugar levels, we make it the way we like it best. But many of us prefer to make dry and semi-dry natural wines.

If desired, you can mix white with red and pink. But a higher class should not be confused with, say, Riesling with Aligote, Bordeaux with Isabella, Lydia with Muscat of Hamburg, etc. In such cases, rose wines are not mixed with any other wines at all.

As a rule, wines fermented in September ripen by the New Year. During this time, they are removed from the sediment twice or three times. If we see that the wine is not yet ripe, but has completely stopped fermenting, it can be refreshed by pouring it twice in the air from one bottle to another.

At wineries, wine is artificially clarified by adding gelatin or egg whites. My advice is to do without it. Ripe wine, which is promptly freed from sediment, will clarify itself. When the wine matures, it acquires its inherent taste and strength, it needs to be fixed.

Pasteurization

To prevent ripe wine from turning sour in the future due to the penetration of air, it must be fixed by interrupting the process of quiet fermentation. To do this, we prepare bottles of champagne, cider or any dark bottles. Washed and dried, they are waiting in the wings. Bottles should only be glass.

Having poured wine into them, carefully seal them and, wrapping them in tow or any cloth, lower them into a large saucepan, filling it with hot water. We insert a thermometer into one of the bottles. As soon as the wine in the bottles heats up to 60 degrees, keep it in this state for 20 minutes, take it out and send it to a cool, dark place, laying it on its side.

Diseases of wine and methods of its treatment

When making homemade grape wine, there is a possibility that the process will go wrong for various reasons. Here are the main symptoms and methods of control.

Acetic fermentation of drink

Symptoms of the disease: a film forms on the surface of the liquid, grape alcohol is converted into vinegar.

Reason: this disease occurs when the required absolute purity of the process is not observed at any stage of making homemade wine. It is possible that the recipes were violated when adding yeast or sugar. Failure to comply with the temperature regime for fermentation of the drink. Failure to follow proper product storage rules.

Treatment of wine disease: if the disease is detected at the initial stage (transparent thin film), the drink can be “cured” by sterilizing the liquid at 65-75 degrees and adding additional alcohol.

Obesity drink

Symptoms of the disease: homemade grape wine becomes oily, thick, and viscous.

Reason: wine obesity occurs during “oxygen starvation” in anaerobic conditions.

Treatment of wine: a diseased drink is treated by simple aeration by moving (transferring) the contents from one container to another clean container, or by heating the liquid for 15 minutes at a temperature of 50 degrees.

Souring of the drink (mouse disease)

Symptoms: Homemade grape wine smells like mouse urine.

Reason: such wine diseases appear when the technology and cleanliness of preparation are not followed, or when the finished drink is not properly cared for.

Treatment of the drink: 15-minute pasteurization of the product at 80 degrees. Sometimes adding a little citric acid to homemade wine helps. However, a drink that has become very “sick” cannot be restored.

Wine mold

Symptoms: the presence of a grayish film on the surface of the liquid, which subsequently wrinkles, increases in thickness and, as a rule, acquires a yellowish or dark gray color. The strength of the wine decreases, the drink loses its aroma, acquiring an unpleasant odor.

Reason: failure to maintain cleanliness during the preparation of the drink, violation of fermentation requirements, violation of product storage rules.

Treatment of wine: the drink must be passed through activated carbon.

These are, perhaps, all the main diseases that homemade grape wine can be exposed to. True, sometimes the drink also develops various foreign flavors, but they, like many of the above-mentioned diseases of wine, arise mainly when the purity and production technology are not observed.

Remember that good and healthy homemade wine can only be obtained with full compliance with production technology, absolute cleanliness of the room, hoses, dishes and, of course, your hands. And then no wine treatment will be required.

Grape wine made with your own hands is always unique; it cannot be compared with what is sold in the store, not to mention the quality of purchased wine.