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What to do with stuck wine?

14 years ago

After several batches of Skeeter's Pee (lime wine) that were really tough to get fermenting, I finally had one which resisted all efforts - mainly because I took a bad fall, and was unable to baby it back to life in time

Now that I'm feeling better, the important thing is to try to salvage the ingredients - if possible.

All of the ingredients were added campden tabs, yeast nutrient and yeast, etc., up to initial ferment period, so not sure if the batch can be safely ingested. I wondered if it could be siphoned to remove most of lees, then boil the contents to make a lime simple syrup - sure hate to lose all that sugar, but again - if there is a chance that this mixture could be harmful, would hate to do it.

Your thoughts?

Bejay

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Comments (3)

bejay9_10
Original Author
14 years ago
Well, well. This a.m. I checked the carboy - with airlock still in place - what do you know, it started bubbling all by itself. Of course, now I still am not sure what the final result will be, but at least - somethings happening!

Thanks anyway.

Bejay
sheryl_ontario
14 years ago
Have you tried adding yeast nutrient to them to get them started faster? What kind of yeast are you using?

I think it will be fine. I have had wines stop before too, mostly due to cold in the winter in my kitchen. When it warms up again, they start up again. Occasionally I have added more yeast and nutrient to get it going again but most of the time they are fine on their own if left alone. Sometime you get a very slow ferment for some reason, so slow there are barely any bubbles for awhile.

If it truly stops, try adding a little yeast and nutrient to get it going again.

If you think it has sat for too long and oxidized, I don't think you can save it but it would be brown.

If it is still clear and looks good and you have doubts about safety, I don't see why you couldn't rack it, boil it and start again with new yeast when it cools down. Novel idea but it makes sense to me.
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bejay9_10
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you for your recent posting. Yesterday, I racked it after adding Sparkleoid about 7 or 8 days previously. It looks and tastes fine. The lime tree is still producing a large amount of fruit, so might as well give it another go.

This time, it should start ferment a bit sooner, now that the weather is becoming warmer, but at least now I know this wine's particular habit.

Bejay

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