Apple Wine in the Secondary

[tedcody]

A month ago I added 2 lbs of sucrose to 6 gallons of Campden treated cider, for a starting SG of 1.060. There was vigorous fermentation for 10 days before it totally stopped. I let things settle until day 21 then racked it off the lees into a clean 6 gallon glass carboy. Final SG was 1.001 (about 8% alcohol). To bring the level to the neck I added 1/2 gallon of fresh cider which had been treated for 24 hrs with 1 Campden tab and 1/2 gallon of room temperature water with 1 cup of honey (added when the water had just finished boiling).

I would have thought that the added carbs would support a second round of fermentation in the secondary, but I've seen no bubbles over the first 4 days. Am I right? Suggestions? Should I leave this batch in the secondary for another 3 months as planned, or is it all over?

 

[Yooper]

A month ago I added 2 lbs of sucrose to 6 gallons of Campden treated cider, for a starting SG of 1.060. There was vigorous fermentation for 10 days before it totally stopped. I let things settle until day 21 then racked it off the lees into a clean 6 gallon glass carboy. Final SG was 1.001 (about 8% alcohol). To bring the level to the neck I added 1/2 gallon of fresh cider which had been treated for 24 hrs with 1 Campden tab and 1/2 gallon of room temperature water with 1 cup of honey (added when the water had just finished boiling).

I would have thought that the added carbs would support a second round of fermentation in the secondary, but I've seen no bubbles over the first 4 days. Am I right? Suggestions? Should I leave this batch in the secondary for another 3 months as planned, or is it all over?

Is it clear? If it's dropped clear, that's a good sign it's done but of course a hydrometer reading is the only way to know.

 

[Hawkbox]

Yeah I think you'll have to pull a reading and see what it shows.

 

[tedcody]

Is it clear? If it's dropped clear, that's a good sign it's done but of course a hydrometer reading is the only way to know.

Yay. On day 5 CO2 production exceeded its solubility and there was sudden moderate bubbling. Thanks for the hand holding!

 

[Yooper]

Yay. On day 5 CO2 production exceeded its solubility and there was sudden moderate bubbling. Thanks for the hand holding!

Remember that temperature and barometric pressure changes also cause bubbling in the airlock, so the only way to know if fermentation is happening (if there isn't a lot of foam, etc), is to take a hydrometer reading!

 

[KC]

I let things settle until day 21 then racked it off the lees

11 days is a long time to let it sit, but unless you cold crashed it and have a high flocculating or lager yeast there will still be some in suspension after racking. Such a small amount of viable yeast could take a while to noticeably restart, especially if they are being affected by the residual campden tablet from the addition.