| It could be your worst nightmare! You've picked | | | | yeast have different temperature ranges that |
| up some excellent quality juice with a high Brix | | | | they can work in efficiently. If the temperature |
| value from a vineyard, hoping to turn it into your | | | | gets too warm, yeast will die. If the temperature |
| own homemade wine. You did what you thought | | | | gets too low, they go dormant. |
| was right, including adding a bit of sulfite to the | | | | 5. There wasn't enough oxygen in the juice. You'll |
| juice to ward off unwanted bacteria and wild | | | | hear and read over and over that air is the worst |
| yeast. You let that do it's thing, and then you | | | | enemy in winemaking, however this is after the |
| sprinkled yeast you got from the local wine supply | | | | fermentation has gotten under way. Yeast do |
| store on the juice. | | | | need oxygen and you can help by giving giving |
| Within a day of sprinkling the yeast, there were | | | | the contents of your pail a good stirring at least |
| signs of fermentation and you were looking | | | | once a day for the first few days. |
| forward to when you could bottle your wine, let it | | | | Now that we've covered some of the possibilities |
| age awhile, and then proudly serve it to guests. | | | | as to why you have a stuck fermentation, you |
| But today, the fermentation has become sluggish, | | | | should be able to figure out what you can do to |
| or all but stopped. And, you know from the | | | | prevent one in the future. |
| specific gravity reading that you took that there | | | | But if you've got a stuck fermentation now, or |
| is still lots of sugar left to be consumed by the | | | | ever do have one in the future, there is a way to |
| yeast. | | | | have hope. If you have a "stuck fermentation" |
| You've got a stuck fermentation. What | | | | right now, hopefully you have a winemaking |
| happened? What went wrong? Is there | | | | supply store within a short distance which likely |
| anything you can do about it? Let's answer the | | | | carries EC-1118 strain of yeast. Get a packet of |
| "what went wrong" with some possibilities first: | | | | that and re-inoculate your pail of wine with it. |
| 1. You used unsanitary equipment from the | | | | EC-1118 yeast is used by winemakers all over the |
| start. Always, always ensure your equipment is | | | | world for making some very good wines and due |
| sanitized with a sanitizing solution. | | | | to it's tolerance to a wide range of temperature |
| 2. The yeast you picked up was beyond it's | | | | as well as a tolerance to alcohol up to 18%, it is |
| expiry date. If not properly stored and used | | | | the "go-to" yeast for stuck fermentations. It also |
| within its shelf life, it can weaken and might not | | | | helps that it has a mostly neutral effect on taste |
| grow and reproduce. | | | | and aroma of the final wine. |
| 3. The yeast you used could not tolerate the | | | | If you plan on making a lot of wine, keeping a |
| alcohol levels it had produced in your wine. Some | | | | few spare packets of EC-1118 yeast in the |
| yeast are not as tolerant of alcohol as others, and | | | | freezer is a very wise thing to do. |
| perhaps you used a yeast that had a lower | | | | I've also prepared for you other information and |
| alcohol tolerance. | | | | resources on winemaking yeast, here that I hope |
| 4. The temperature was not ideal for the strain | | | | you find helpful. |
| of yeast you were using. Different strains of | | | | |