Hello,

Wine brewing is a new hobby of mine for about the past month. WyoWino's recipe for Black Berry wine really peaked my interest. However, I ended up using the mixed berry fruit (BlueBerry, BlackBerry, Raspberry and Strawberry) mix. I followed the recipe to a tee. I put the campden tablets in and waited about 30 hours to add the yeast. The yeast has been in for about 12 hours now. I am actually seeing nothing going on at this time. The big question is..... How low should I wait to see if maybe I put the yeast in too early or not? I'm thinking it should be bubbling by now. Thanks for your help. By the way, the juice turned out absolutely great. I can't wait to get the end product.

Ok, I think I figured out the issue here. I took a temperature reading of the must and found that it was 62'F. I'm pretty sure that's too cool for yeast. Hopefully I didn't kill it. I ended up moving the fermenter to a small room where I could controle the temp. I will check it again in the morning.

At the risk of losing my batch, I went ahead and primed another packet of yeast. Put it in a small bowl of luke warm water and added a little must to it and it came to life quickly. After about 15 minutes, I stirred up the must and added the new yeast. I will continute to monitor. I suspect everything will be well on its way in the morning. If not, I've got about 6 gallons of pancake syrup.

Any Marines out there. Semper Fi.

I appologize for all the responses I've been giving myself, but I keep researching and finding more mistakes I'm making that's contributing to my own failure. I found that the primary fermentation should be done my covering it with a towel. I had the air lock on it. Supposedly impeding the yeast from multiplying. The open air apparently is very important during the primary fermentation phase. I have corrected this and should be the last correction needed. I hope helping myself helps others. Assuming I am making the right corrections.

First, welcome to the forum.

I have seen some mixed berries similiar to your mixed berries at Costco. Should be a pretty good wine. I like to ferment wine at about 70 degrees. Some winemakers start out their primaries in a closed container with an airlock. I prefer to use an open container. Did you start out in a plastic bucket with a cover and an airlock, or a glass carboy with an airlock? Also, how much wine are you making? 1 gallon, 5 gallons? What yeast did you use? Do you have a hydrometer and tube for holding the must?

Stirring your wine a couple of times a day will help get some oxygen to the must. After adding the yeast and being at the right temp it can take 24 hours for the yeast to get a good start. The first batch of wine gets frustrating sometimes. Seems like everything should happen immediately and fermentation seems to have it's own schedule.

While you are waiting check out the chemical section where there is some info about measuring titration acid in wine.

Keep us posted on the progress.

I started the brew out in the white primary fermenting bucket. Had the lid sealed with the air lock. I did check the potential alcahol and it was at 15 percent. Not sure if that means anything. I will have to respond to the other questions later tonight. I checked the brew this morning before leaving for work and still no activity. I've got a long day at work today and won't be home till really late. Thanks for the response though.

That gives me a better idea of what is happening. Stir it a couple of times a day while in the primary. If the lid was on the bucket when you added the metabisulphite (campden) it will take longer for it to degas enough for the yeast to get started. I think pitching yeast the second time was a good idea. Once the lid is off and covered with a towel it should degas within 24 hours. Yeast can't handle the SO2 invironment.

So, if anything, we can say without a doubt, the must is sterilized then. By the way, there is 6 gallons of must in the bucket right now. It has the most beautiful color and the entire basement smells like I have some glade fruit plug in down there. Thanks again for the assist. Will keep you posted.

Sometimes getting through the first batch is challenging. After that it becomes much easier.

Still no activity as of 12:30 PM today. The must still smells and tastes great, but the yeast isn't doing anything. From your last post, it makes sense that if I initially added the campden tablets then sealed the container, the campden had no place to escape. It very well may have killed my second dose of yeast as well then. The type of yeast I'm using is "LAVLIN 71B-1122".

I am betting you are right. I use 71B-1122 in my grape wine. Sometimes if the acid is a little high I have problems so I suspect the SO2 is a little high because you had it sealed.

Be sure you make a starter when you add the 71B-1122.

I would stir the must before you add the new yeast to make sure most of the SO2 is gone.

Should there be a point where I can re boil this juice and try again? I fear that if I let it sit too long, it will go bad. I think I'm going to let it sit one more day, then I've gotta do something with it. Unless you have any ideas.

Re-boil? Not sure why you boiled the berries. They didn't need boiling. It will be OK, but don't boil next time. Boiling fruit juice throws a pectic haze that is more difficult to get rid of. Did you add your meta bisulphite in campden form? 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon? Or did you use the powder form? 1/4 teaspoon per 5 gallons? (absolutely no more than 3/8 teaspoon for 5 gallons)It usually takes about 24 hours to get the yeast to really start its fermentation. Stirring dissipates the SO2 so the yeast can ferment and allow oxygen into the must. If it still hasn't started you may just throw some Red Star Premier Cuvee' yeast in the must. That yeast will ferment just about anything.

Beer makers boil their beer and don't use metabisulphate. They don't really need the metabisulphate because boiling sterilizes. When the beer goes into the primary it gets stirred vigorously to oxygenate it. When you boiled your fruit juice, then basically had it in a closed container and added metabisulphite you created a poor invironment for the yeast to get a good start. Opening the container and stirring vigorously is the only thing that will oxygenate at this point.

When I make fruit wine, like black berry, I thaw the berries, then whir them up in the blender. I pour the mixture into a Home Depot paint strainer bag, tie off the top and leave the bag in the must. Some of the mixture will of course leak from the bag but any heavy stuff and seeds will remain in the bag. I then add any water and sugar to bring the specific gravity up to approx 1.092 Sg. I then add the rest of the ingredients. Last I add 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon and stir it in. Cloth over the top like muslin. Let it sit for 24 to 30 hours. I then make a yeast starter. While the starter is working I add yeast energizer and stir the must. I then just pour in the yeast starter and let it sit overnight before I stir the must again.

The temp should be about 70 degrees.

Holy Crap. Why did I think you boiled your black berries. So, basically what I did was made my own concentrated juice, then making wine out of it. Your way seems much easier. Thanks for the replies. They have been extremely helpful.