Used to make wine at home fruit juices, yeast, sugar and water. What about the quality of?equipment? used in the winemaking process various containers, bottles, wooden spatulas, juicers. An ordinary rubber glove has also found application in this area.
Can be obtained from any berries and fruits: currants, cherries, grapes, apples, raspberries, apricots, quinces, etc. The entire preparation process takes place in a certain sequence: harvest processing, juice extraction, container preparation, fermentation, etc. Let's take a closer look at each of these stages.
Harvest processing
Fruits or berries that will serve as raw materials for making wine need to be sorted. Leaves, petioles, twigs, stems, rotten berries, green or overripe fruits damaged by fungus? all of this should be removed. The sorted material is washed in running water. It is not recommended to keep berries or fruits in water for a long time, as they tend to give up a lot of water. valuable substances, acids and sugars. Shouldn’t you also leave the washed berries until tomorrow? they rot quite quickly. The pits of cherries, quinces, plums or apricots are removed after washing.
Getting Pure Juice
Apple or pear juice obtained in two steps: the fruit is first crushed, then the juice is extracted from the pulp.
The berries can be mashed with your hands or a wooden masher in an enamel bowl or wooden bowl. If the berries are fully ripe, then you can do without kneading.
The pulp formed as a result of the described manipulations is squeezed out. To do this, you can use a press, juicer or juicer. In the absence of these devices, they use ordinary gauze or a napkin cloth, in the middle of which a certain amount of pulp is laid out. The gauze with pulp is wrapped, twisted and thus squeezed out.
A large yield of juice from the berries of cherries, cherry plums, black currants, plums and lingonberries is obtained by heat treatment of the pulp. It is infused with preliminary fermentation. To do this, the pulp is placed in enamel dishes, pour in a small amount of water and, stirring constantly, heat for half an hour to a temperature of 70 ° C. Then, after removing from the heat, cover the dishes with something warm. Leave for half an hour, then cool and begin pressing.
The juice obtained as a result of pressing contains all sorts of foreign impurities, so it should be filtered through a fine sieve. After this, the juice should sit for about 3 hours.
Preparing the glove container
Choosing a container for making wine? one of the key points in winemaking. At home, wooden or glass containers are most often used. The latter are the most popular, since their only drawback is fragility. Glass cylinders, bottles and jars various forms and volumes are convenient both for preparation, monitoring the fermentation process, and for storage and transportation. Wine can with glove? a very familiar picture of the process of preparing a drink.
Glass containers should be washed before use. hot water with soda, then rinse. If the neck of the jar is narrow and the volume is large, you can use a brush with a long handle for washing.
During fermentation of the wort, carbon dioxide is formed, which must escape freely so that the quality of the wine is not affected. The easiest way to remove carbon dioxide? a simple rubber glove. Do you need to make several punctures before placing it on the neck of the jar? this way the air will gradually escape from the container. Best winemaking glove? medical. In addition, this item will be a kind of controller of the fermentation process. So, a fallen glove will be a signal that fermentation has ended.
Fermentation
So, there is a glove on the jar as a water seal, which means it’s time to take care of the temperature conditions to start fermentation. The optimal temperature is 22 °C. Temperatures below 10°C will stop fermentation.
Can wine must stop fermenting after a couple of days? the glove will deflate. And the question will arise of how 
resume the process. The easiest way? wine starter. It is made from raisins (150 g) and sugar (50 g). These components are poured with warm water, closed and left to ferment. After about 3 days, the raisins will ferment. The starter will need to be drained into a small amount of wort, and then add it all to the container with wine. The fermentation process will begin again.
Vigorous fermentation continues for 4-8 days, which causes the wort to feel boiling. A glove stretched over a can will inflate greatly. During this period, it is advisable to stir the wort several times a day using a wooden spatula. Vigorous fermentation is replaced by quiet fermentation, which lasts 2-3 weeks. The resulting wine material will be cloudy, but more transparent than the wort.
Removing wine from sediment
After rapid fermentation is completed, a loose yeast sediment settles at the bottom. The young drink reaches transparency, which means you need to start pouring it, and you shouldn’t delay it? aged on lees for more than 2 weeks Home wine may spoil.
The container with wine must be carefully moved to the table so that sediment does not rise, and placed on a stool into a container for overflowing. You can pour using a rubber tube, which should not touch the sediment. An overfilled drink will not look clear, and is that normal? its external appearance is at the beginning of its formation.
It must be remembered that filtered wine must be poured under the neck into a new container, otherwise it may turn sour. The container is placed in a cool place for a month to ferment. The glove is no longer needed.
Sugar control
Now is the time to determine how sweet the drink will be. Since active fermentation 
has already run out, all the sugar that will be added to it will no longer be processed. It will remain in the wine.
Personal preference will help answer the question of how much sugar to add. Usually 100 g of sugar is added to a drained liter of drink and mixed well. Then this wine syrup is poured into a common container. Mix again. If the taste does not seem sweet enough, you can add sugar. Some people prefer not to sweeten the drink at all, which is a matter of taste for each individual winemaker.
Maturation
The maturation stage is where the final wine flavor is developed. This period can last from one and a half months to a year. White wine is aged for at least one and a half months, while red wine will require two to three. A tightly closed container of wine is stored in a dark place at a temperature of 10-15 ° C (in a cellar or basement). The maximum storage temperature for wine is 22°C. Wine taste worsens significantly with sudden temperature changes.
The wine will benefit from decanting the lees every 10 days. Thus, it will become increasingly lighter.
Artificial lightening
Beverage clarity? an indicator that every winemaker strives for. Cloudy homemade wine is unattractive from an aesthetic point of view, and often indicates its low quality. Turbidity is associated with the presence of yeast, bacteria, and various substances in the drink. It becomes transparent when continuously removed from the sediment over a sufficiently long time. You can speed up the process and clarify the drink 
independently using pasting.
Pasting (gluing or lightening)? an additional procedure that is carried out in cases where the wine, despite its ripeness, continues to remain cloudy. During fining, substances are added to the wine that cause sediment to settle. The particles that form cloudiness seem to stick together and turn into flakes that settle to the bottom of the wine container. This usually happens within a few days. This procedure does not affect the taste of the drink in any way.
Is fining carried out only after the ripeness of the wine is beyond doubt? To do this, place the container with wine in a warm place. If there are no air bubbles in it, then you can start clarification. Otherwise, the drink is sent for ripening and, perhaps, once ripened, it will lighten on its own. If this does not happen, it’s time to start the forced lightening procedure.
For clarification, casein and gelatin are used (for white wines), egg white(for red wines). There are many ways to lighten. It is important to remember that too much brightener will cause even more haze.
When gluing, gelatin is used in an amount of 1-15 g per 10 liters. It is soaked in warm water for a day. Then dissolve in a small amount of heated wine, pour into a common container, and leave for a couple of weeks to form flakes. After which the wine is removed from the sediment.
Another way of pasting? with the help of tannin. 10 g are dissolved in water, settled and filtered. Then make several lightening tests using small containers with divisions. 150 g of wine is poured into each of these containers and tannin is added. First? 1 tsp, second? 2 tsp, in the third? 3 tsp. and so on. The containers left for a week will show what proportion to use to clarify the entire volume of wine.
When fining 25 liters of wine with protein, take the white of one egg, beat it and gradually add 100 g to the whipped mass. boiled water. The resulting mixture is poured into a small amount of wine, which is added to the total volume. After two weeks of exposure, the procedure for removing sediment is carried out.
Whatever the method of lightening, it is advisable to do a trial procedure so as not to 
spoil the product. There is no need to rush into bottling for storage. It will be better if the wine sits in a common bottle for a couple of weeks.
Bottling and storage
Homemade wine removed from the lees is ready for both consumption and storage. The best place Will there be a basement or cellar for storage? the temperature of these rooms corresponds to the required one. In some cases, wine is stored in the ground, having properly prepared the place.
In home winemaking, it is quite rare to store wine in barrels; bottles are much more practical. Bottling is done very simply: wine is poured into a clean container right up to the neck, sealed with pre-steamed wine corks. Bottles should only be stored in a lying position, so that the cork is wetted with wine and does not dry out.
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.
Fermentation: what the process depends 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.
Fermentation 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:
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
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
Optimal temperature For wine fermentation, the range is considered to be 15–25°; 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.
At homemade difficult to regulate temperature. But there are examples when wine was successfully produced from not very sweet raspberry jam, who first stood at room temperature, and then exposed to 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 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 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 throw a few fresh berries. Sometimes, to speed up fermentation, it is recommended to ventilate the wort, providing the fungi with access to oxygen. initial stage.
Whale three: sugar levels
Wine made from a sweet source, such as wine made from jam, does not need additional sweetening. Can only be used natural sugars contained in fruits and berries. 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 grape or berry wine does not ferment or has stopped fermenting - you need to look for the answer to this question yourself, including your own instinct. 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.
Fermentation has not yet begun
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 everything possible reasons why the wine does not ferment, we will give 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 in this nutrient medium yeast, 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.
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 sugar level is sufficient, it is best to purchase special device– 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.
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 into 2 glasses 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 there is no need for a water seal; it is enough to 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 holes are too large, too much oxygen will enter the wort, which will lead to oxidation of the product - save sour drink will no longer be possible. 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.
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 that finished product in this case, it will have an unpleasant taste, and 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 70–75 °C for a few minutes, left to cool at room temperature, and then stabilized by adding Fresh Juice, 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.
Fermentation began and then abruptly stopped
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 of fermentation
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:
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. Ready 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 why wine does not ferment and what to do general case, 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.
What to do if homemade wine does not ferment? Even following the recipe with maximum accuracy does not guarantee that homemade wine will ferment normally. There are situations when the process either does not start at all or suddenly stops after a couple of days. There is no need to panic - in most cases the situation is completely fixable. We will tell you why wine refuses to ferment and what measures need to be taken to save the must. Why didn't homemade wine ferment?
Reasons why the wine did not ferment?
Fermentation lasts a short period of time
You should not expect that the wine will begin to ferment immediately after the water seal is installed. Yeast requires a certain amount of time to become active. And depending on what raw materials are used, the ambient temperature, the type of yeast, and the percentage of sugar content, it can take up to three days before the process begins.
Solution
If all the conditions for preparing wine are met, you need to wait three to five days and take action after this period.
No sealing
Beginners often face this problem. If the container is not sealed tightly, there will be no bubbles in the hydraulic seal (the glove will be deflated) because the carbon dioxide leaves the container through another route. It turns out that the wine continues to play, although this is not visible.
If we reduce the intensity of fermentation, and at the same time the pressure of carbon dioxide decreases, this can be dangerous due to the penetration of air into the container. The latter can lead to acetic souring of the wine liquid, which cannot be corrected. You can open the wine container, but only once or twice a day for a short period - for example, to remove foam or add additional sugar.
Solution
It is necessary to check the tightness of fermentation bottles at the points where they are attached to the water seal. To make the connection more reliable, the joints should be covered with text or other adhesive substance of natural origin.
Incorrect temperature
The most common reason why homemade wine does not ferment is a mismatch in temperature conditions. The activity of wine yeast appears at a temperature of 10-30 degrees. When it is cold, the fungi “dormant”, and when there is a high degree of heat, they die. For fermentation, the optimal temperature is 15-25 degrees. If fermentation processes begin at 20 degrees, this temperature value must be maintained. Constant temperature changes should not be allowed, for example, during the day.
Solution
The temperature of the kitchen or basement should be checked. If its parameters do not meet the necessary ones, you need to move the bottle to a more suitable room. If the wine has been at a temperature above 30 degrees for a short time, you must add either a wine starter or a new portion of wine yeast.
Low or high sugar content
The estimated percentage of sugar content in the wort is 10 -20. In all other variants, the wine ferments slightly. If the sugar content is low, the yeast does not have a product to act on, so the process is inhibited. An increased concentration of sugar acts as a preservative - as a result, the work of the yeast stops. The sugar content can be checked using a special measuring device - a hydrometer, or determined by taste. The wort may taste sweet, but not cloying or sour.
A similar problem is the consistency of increased thickness, which can manifest itself when working with a fruit-and-berry type base. It does not lend itself well to mechanical filtration, and is too thick wort can stop its fermentation.
Solution
It is necessary to determine the consistency as well as the sugar content of the wine base. If it is too thick or cloying in taste, you need to dilute the wine base with water or sour juice. Liquid should be added no more than 15% of the original volume. In conditions of low sugar content, you need to add sugar at the rate of fifty to one hundred grams per liter of juice.
Poorly selected yeast
Wild yeast strains, which are recognized by amateur winemakers, are characterized by increased instability: they can stop working without noticeable reasons.
Solution
In order for fermentation to recover, it is necessary to add high-quality raisins, wine yeast, as well as crushed unwashed grape berries or homemade sourdough. It is best to purchase grapes with raisins at markets - there is much less risk of treating the berries with chemicals that kill yeast on the surface. The best option is to make sourdough
The appearance of mold
Mold fungi appear when the winemaker uses rotten material for the wort, or poorly washed fermentation bottles. To prevent the wort from becoming infected with fungus, everything must be thoroughly sterilized. In the initial stages, you can try to cure the mold by removing all the films and pouring the wort through a sterile tube into another bottle. However, there is no guarantee that this will help you.
What to do when the wine stops fermenting prematurely or does not begin to ferment at all?
Even if the recipe for making wine is fully and accurately followed, there is still a risk that the raw materials used for fermentation will not ferment or will interrupt the process after some time. There is no need to despair. In many cases this problem can be solved.
It's not the right time
The active stage of fermentation does not occur instantly or after ten minutes. This requires three hours using cultivated yeast, or two to three days if using wild yeast.
Once in a good area, they first begin to multiply, then move on to processing sugar. A considerable amount of time may pass before this action begins if some kind of interference occurs. The start of fermentation is very dependent on temperature, material used, volume of sugar and acid.
Reference! At the early stage before filtration, fermentation of the wort can last 4-10 days.
Actions:
- Wait 3-4 hours using pure cultures or 3-4 days using wild yeast.
- Failure to start the fermentation process may indicate problems with the wort or yeast. This means that it is necessary to examine the juice for sugar and acid levels, and then add it again. fresh yeast or yeast starter with the addition of raisins, berries, and so on.
Very low oxygen content during initial fermentation
During the process, when yeast has multiplied and started eating sugar, it needs oxygen, which is used to start the fermentation process.
If you install a water seal when the wine has just begun to ferment or immediately after adding pure cultural yeast to the wort, the fungi will not have enough oxygen and the reproduction process may be delayed. Fermentation will begin to proceed sluggishly and there will be a danger of contamination of the wort.
Actions:
- Do not install the water seal immediately. To begin with, you can cover it with a breathable fabric.
- The wine is also “aerated” before installing a water seal. The wort, preferably raised higher, is poured from container to container, thereby saturating it with oxygen.
Temperature difference between wort and starter
Before mixing with wort, yeast is prepared:
- You need to mix 1 tbsp. water, tbsp. granulated sugar, you can add orange juice to feed it.
- Add yeast to this mixture and wait 15 to 40 minutes for activity to begin.
- Next, pour the starter into the wort.
Important! If the temperature of the mixture and the wort differs by even 5-7 degrees, the yeast often dies.
Actions:
Measure the temperature of the combined liquids in advance and, if necessary, bring them to a common value. You can keep them in the same environment for an hour.
Early addition of yeast after sulfites
Before introducing yeast into wine, it is preferable treat with sulfites(sodium bisulfite, Campden tablets, sulfur SO2):
- Sulfites disinfect and destroy foreign microbes.
- Sulfur dissolves in the atmosphere and comes out of the juice as a gas.
Everything will take a day. Then pure cultured yeast is added.
Actions:
At the end of using sulfur, wait a day and then add yeast. After manipulation, keep the container open until the sulfur is completely released.
Lack of nutrients
In addition to sugar, yeast needs nitrogen, amino acids, and vitamins. There are enough such substances in grape juice, but not enough in juices from fruits and berries.
Reference! If possible, you can add special makeup.
Actions:
At the start of fermentation, add yeast feed to the wort. You must strictly follow the steps described on the packaging.
During late fermentation, it is undesirable to use feed; it can serve as food for harmful microorganisms. You can use a source of diammonium phosphate or thiamine hydrochloride, sold over the counter.
Watch the video in which the master winemaker tells what to do if the wort does not ferment:
Did the process stop after a week? After adding sugar
Poor water seal seal
The water seal does not prevent carbon dioxide from leaving the wine vessel and prevents oxygen from entering it. A large number of carbon dioxide negatively affects the vital activity of yeast and creates high pressure inside the vessel, so it must be removed.
The presence of oxygen in the vessel promotes the proliferation of harmful microbes. They can convert wine into vinegar and also contribute to wine disease. A properly functioning water seal guarantees and signals high-quality fermentation.
Many people use a rubber glove, but in terms of quality it will not replace a water seal.
Reference! The presence of air bubbles in the water seal indicates normal fermentation.
Actions:
What can be done if the wine stops fermenting? First you need to check the water seal for leaks. If necessary, apply silicone putty or other sealant. Do not remove the water seal unless necessary and do not install it during the first fermentation period.
Failure to comply with the temperature regime
Ensuring high-quality fermentation requires a constant temperature within a certain range:
- A drop in temperature below 10 degrees significantly slows down fermentation and can stop completely.
- When the temperature rises beyond 30 degrees, it leads to the death of wild yeast, but some pure cultivated yeast function even at more than high temperature.
- Normal wine fermentation occurs at temperatures of 18-24 degrees.
Important! Changes in temperature also cause problems. Change in wort temperature over a short time by 5-7 degrees, will lead to the death of most of the yeast fungi. More significant differences can lead to the death of the entire colony.
Such changes are very dangerous at a late stage of fermentation.
Actions:
- Create comfortable conditions for wine with a constant temperature of 18-24 degrees.
- As fermentation slows down, maintain the temperature at 21 degrees.
- If the yeast dies, you need to restart the process.
Too much sugar
The biggest and most common problem for beginners in wine making. With increased sugar concentrations, yeast activity decreases.
Important! The normal amount of sugar is 10-15%.
Actions:
- Buy an alcohol meter to measure. If the sugar content exceeds 20%, add to the wort clean water, start with 15% of the total. amount of wort.
- For high densities, do the same. If necessary, restart fermentation.
- In the preparation of dessert or liqueur wine, sugar is added in portions on days 2, 4, 7, 10 of fermentation in equal amounts, having previously been dissolved in a sufficient amount of fermenting wine.
Increased percentage of alcohol
Alcohol is a preservative. The more alcohol in the wort, the less active the yeast. When the alcohol content is 12-14%, wild yeast dies, settling to the bottom of the vessel.
In the absence of a hydrometer and without determining the amount of sugar at the beginning of the process, it is difficult to determine the alcohol content of wine.
But 12-14% alcohol is palpable. When adding sugar, you need to calculate the production of alcohol from it. Average rate: 1 g sugar = 0.5-0.6 ml. alcohol.
Actions:
Proceed to clarify the wine, age it and pour it into containers. To increase the strength, you need to add pure cultured yeast that is not susceptible to alcohol.
The process has ended
The end of fermentation may signal the end of the process. Wild yeast extends fermentation for 20-30 days, while with cultivated yeasts the process goes many times faster. The yeast strain matters a lot. High temperature and required quantity yeast nutritional substances accelerate the action.
Reference! IN ideal conditions fermentation can be completed in two weeks, and pure cultured yeast fungi can digest sugar within 5-7 days.
Actions:
Make sure the fermentation process is complete. A sour, bitter taste and no sensation of the presence of sugar indicate that fermentation is complete. The specific gravity of the wine is 998-1010 g/dm3 according to a hydrometer, indicating readiness for clarification.
The presence of harmful microbes in the wort
In many cases, diseased wine is discarded.
Actions:
- Use clean, sterile equipment.
- Keep your hands clean.
- Having detected the disease at the beginning of development, sterilize the wort by heating or add SO2, add yeast.
What to do if the wine does not ferment is described in the video:
How to restart the fermentation process of a homemade grape drink?
Carry out due to the death of yeast or if dead yeast was initially used. For the procedure, a starter or pure yeast culture is used. It is better to replace wild yeast with cultivated yeast.
Important! In many cases, if fermentation has stopped, yeast called “killers” is added. They are able to displace other strains and take their place in the preparation of a quality product.
Killer yeasts include:
- Red Star Premier Cuvee,
- Red Star,
- Lalvin EC-1118,
- Lalvin K1-V1116.
Actions:
Before adding yeast, if any problem arises, the wort is corrected. Sweets are diluted with water; if the acidity is low, food acid is added.
Pre-preparing yeast:
- Into the sterilized floor liter jar add: 250 ml of clean water at a temperature of 27 degrees, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 5-10 ml of lemon or orange juice, a pinch of yeast nutrients, 1 teaspoon of yeast. Nutrients replaced by 0.5 teaspoon of thiamine hydrochloride,
- Seal the jar with a cotton wool stopper and place in a warm place.
- Leave for six hours and let it get stronger. Pour the yeast into a sterilized wine vessel, pour in 250 ml of wine with the frozen fermentation process. Wait six hours, pour in 500 ml of wine. Do this every six hours, doubling the amount of wine added, until all the wort has been transferred.
Important! This method of starting a new fermentation guarantees excellent result almost 100%, because the process is gradual and the yeast has time to get used to the wort and adapt.
Making wine is not always associated with pleasant memories. Only this still gives the necessary skills and knowledge.
Remembering all the mistakes, in next time you will no longer allow them to happen and the cooking process will become enjoyable, and the wine will taste several times better.
When obtaining wine during processing, several types of fermentation can occur:
Fermentation conditions
The winemaker should take care that alcoholic fermentation begins as quickly as possible and that all other fermentation in the prepared wort ceases. It requires the right temperature to start and sufficient quantity food for yeast.
Why from correct temperature Does the rate of reproduction of wine fungi depend? At excessively high temperatures, they go into a depressed state, reproduce poorly, and organisms that are not necessary for the winemaker develop. Practice shows that when adding a sufficient amount of cultivated wine yeast to the wort, it is better to maintain the liquid temperature within 20-25°C without fear of creating favorable conditions for wine pests. When the wine is fermented without adding or when an insufficient amount of spores is added, the heating of the must should be limited to 18-20°C. When these parameters are lowered, the work of wine yeast slows down and other types of fermentation are started. Therefore, if the wine 
is prepared during the cold period, it should be kept in a heated room away from heating sources, protected from drafts and sunlight. You should also protect the wort from temperature changes when the yeast goes from active life to a depressed state.
The presence of food is the second condition for fermentation. Usually, sugar is always available in the amount necessary to start fermentation, even if the wort is highly diluted with water. To properly start fermentation and bring it to completion, you can add a small amount of ammonia to the wine, which promotes the growth of yeast. Usually it is added at the rate of 0.2-0.3 g per 1 liter of wort. To maintain the vital activity of bacteria during the fermentation process, sugar is added in portions in the required amount 2-3 times. How much to add is determined based on the sugar content of the raw materials.
Errors that prevent normal wine fermentation
Exact adherence to the recipe cannot guarantee normal fermentation of the wort. There are situations when wine that has begun to ferment suddenly stops the process of processing alcohol. This is possible in the following cases.
If too cooled water was added to the wort, it will turn out very cold and the fermentation process will not begin. To start the process, you should heat part of the liquid, bringing it to a temperature of 40-50°C and add it to the main mass. Achieve an increase in the temperature of the supplied wine to 18-20°C. In this case, if there is enough food, the yeast should start working.
A typical mistake of novice winemakers is that after installing the water seal or putting on 
Using a rubber glove, the fermentation process will be immediately noticeable. After several hours of not finding any bubbles emerging or the glove being lifted, they try different ways activate the process. As a result of adding various activators and transfusion, the resulting wine may lose a significant part of its taste qualities. It should be remembered that yeast is living organisms and it takes time for them to begin activation; you should worry if after 3-4 days there are no signs of fermentation.
If the container is not tightly closed, the wine may oxidize. This is especially dangerous during the period when the wine begins to ferment and at the end of the process. At the initial stage, air entering the wort leads to its souring and the formation of mold in the pulp cap. During the active phase of processing, a leaky container is not so dangerous; the released carbon dioxide prevents the wine from contacting the oxygen contained in the air. On final stage Vinegar will form in a container that is not hermetically sealed.
Violation of the temperature regime leads to the fact that at low temperatures the yeast becomes inactive, and at high temperatures they simply die. The optimal temperature is considered to be from 18 to 25°C. Therefore, when sluggish fermentation occurs, the first thing you should do is check the temperature of the supplied wort. Depending on the thermometer readings, you should cool or warm the wine. If the temperature of the wort rises above 30°C, then a new portion of wine yeast or starter culture should be added to the container with wine.
Excess or lack of sugar causes wine to ferment poorly. Why is this happening. If there is a lack of food, the yeast has no product to process, and high concentration sugar turns into a preservative. The optimal sugar content of the wort is considered to be from 10 to 20%. Measurements are carried out using a special hydrometer. At home, the presence of sugar is checked by taste; the wort should be moderately sweet, but not cloying. Too thick consistency of the drink prevents 
normal fermentation. If the wort is very sweet or thick, it should be diluted with water.
Wild yeast used by winemakers at home is quite unstable and can stop fermentation at any time, especially at the initial stage. Therefore, to carry out high-quality fermentation, you should use ready-made wine yeast or make a sufficient amount of wine starter yourself.
The appearance of mold in the wort is due to the use of rotten or self-fermenting raw materials. Wine can also be contaminated by neglecting basic sanitary standards, when dirty containers, unwashed fermentation tanks, etc. are used. In the initial stage, you can try to cure the wine by separating it from the mold, but healing cannot be guaranteed.
Reasons for stopping fermentation
The reasons why wine stops fermenting before all the sugar has been processed are usually temperature violations, anaerobiosis and improper chaptalization.
High temperature contributes to the rapid progress of the process of processing sugar into alcohol, but it also helps to stop it. There are no specific temperatures above which the yeast dies and excess unprocessed sugar remains in the wine. Why is this happening. It is generally recommended not to heat wine above 30°C. Already at this value, extremely unfavorable conditions for fermentation are created, and at 34-36°C the bacteria completely die and the wine stops fermenting. But this indicator largely depends on climatic conditions, so wild yeast can tolerate increased temperatures in different ways.
Low temperatures usually used in the production of white wines. This is necessary to receive subtle aroma inherent in these drinks. But at home, low temperatures for preparing wine lead to the fact that the yeast multiplies very weakly and their quantity in the wort is insufficient and the wine ferments poorly. This can lead to the fact that with an increase in the alcohol content in the liquid, the spores will go into a depressed state and stop multiplying and processing sugar, as a result of which fermentation will stop.
Low anaerobiosis causes yeast to experience oxygen starvation and therefore reproduce poorly. This usually happens when wine is fermented in large containers. At home, low anaerobiosis can occur in the initial stage of fermentation, after 2-3 days, when reproduction is most significant.
Excessive sugar content, oddly enough, also leads to delayed fermentation. This happens especially often when producing wine naturally with a strength of more than 10%. An increased alcohol content leads the yeast to a depressed state and completely stops fermentation, despite the high content of food supply for bacteria. The higher the sugar content in this case, the higher the risk of stopping fermentation.
Suspension of fermentation can occur when microscopic mold fungi, for example, Botrytis cinerea, which can appear on the skin of overripe grapes, enter the must. For a number of winemakers, the appearance of a small amount of this mold is a sign of grape maturity. Once in the nutrient medium, mold fungus actively develops, helps reduce the amount of wild yeast and stops fermentation.
Incorrect chaptalization (addition of sugar) may cause the process of wine production to cease. Sugar should be added to wort with low sugar content in portions, at certain intervals at the initial stage or during vigorous fermentation. The addition of sugar at the final stage leads to the fact that the yeast, already oppressed by the produced alcohol, has difficulty processing it and 
fermentation may stop.
Actions that will lead to resumption of fermentation
When the process slows down or stops, the first step is to agitate the sediment. If the temperature regime is not violated, then this is very effective method. The fact is that the bulk of the fungi involved in fermentation settles to the bottom in the form of a dense sediment. In this case, the top layer works, and the rest of the yeast does not participate in the process. Therefore, at the final stage of fermentation, the wine should be shaken periodically or the sediment should be stirred with a wooden stick.
If wine fermentation proceeds slowly, it should be saturated with oxygen. This is achieved by blowing, pouring the wort from one container to another, or through short-term access to air, opening the container for several hours. It is recommended to carry out airing several times at the initial stage and when 5-7 percent alcohol appears in the wine.
If fermentation has stopped as a result of the temperature regime, when the liquid has cooled below the recommended parameters, the wine should be heated. To do this, the room is heated or the container is placed in more comfortable conditions. After some time, the fermentation process should resume. When the temperature rises, when all the yeast contained in the wine has died and it does not ferment, you should cool the wort to acceptable temperatures and add the required amount of new wine yeast or starter.
If the wine is severely affected by mold, then practically nothing can be done about it. In any case, it will have a putrid taste. The best option in this case there will be an addition required quantity sugar and pressed yeast to obtain mash, which is distilled into moonshine.
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