The fermentation process is the key to the success of every batch of homemade wine. Sometimes it happens that for a certain reason it does not happen or ends prematurely. There is no need to worry: most often this situation can be corrected; the main thing is to carefully analyze the state of things, choose the right method and do everything according to the right algorithm. Let's make the wine ferment well!

Attention, fermentation is over

The source of the degree - wine yeast - exhausts its potential when the percentage of alcohol rises to 10-13%. This result is achieved 2–4 weeks after sealing the vessel; its signs are the appearance of sediment, clearing of the liquid, and absence of bubbles. This means that the wine will no longer ferment, and you can resort to the following steps - filtration, settling. In this case, you have achieved the result expected from the recipe.

Wine yeast is not capable of making homemade wine fortified, as long as the wort does not ferment. To increase the degree, you have to add the required amount of alcohol, which, by the way, instantly stops the fermentation process by getting into the wort.

If something went wrong

The following options involve certain mistakes when preparing homemade wine, each of which requires an individual approach. If you find several reasons at once, proceed from the most significant nuance, trying to exclude less significant signs.

Give it more time

Perhaps the yeast simply did not enter into an active reaction, the onset of which can be influenced by a number of external factors:

• ambient temperature;
• specificity of wine material;
• a type of yeast;
• acidity/sweetness of the future drink.

Given the circumstances mentioned above, expect signs of fermentation to begin to appear between 4 and 72 hours. Therefore, the best solution is to wait for 3-4 days without jumping to conclusions. It is not recommended to make any manipulations with the composition of the wort. Good homemade wine requires proper aging: in all meanings of the word.

No sealing

Every homemade wine maker can face this problem, especially those who are just learning the basics of winemaking. For the water seal to function by removing carbon dioxide from inside the vessel, the container must be hermetically sealed. Otherwise, it dissipates through holes, and fermentation weakens, goes poorly or stops altogether, and the drink may turn sour (which cannot be corrected). Considering the need to remove the water seal every day in order to stir the wort or add a portion of sugar, the likelihood of a container leak increases rapidly.

Remember! You can keep a vessel with fermenting wort open for no more than 15 minutes, otherwise disaster will inevitably arise: the wine will refuse to ferment.

The advice is simple: daily vigilance during removal and installation of the water seal; Particular attention should be paid to the place where it comes into contact with the container. Experienced craftsmen advise sealing it with adhesive substances of natural origin (for example, dough), if there is no other option - with tape.

Temperature lets you down

Conditions that are the most difficult to control. It is the inappropriate temperature that ranks first among the reasons why grape wine plays poorly.

Yeast is activated and active at temperatures between 10 °C and 30 °C. When cooler, they are passive; when overheated, their fermentation properties are lost.

It is optimal to choose an average temperature from the specified range and be sure to maintain it throughout the entire process while the wort is fermenting. The room must be insulated: if it is accessible, the temperature will change, and then the result can upset the winemaker. To monitor, install a thermometer - constantly check what temperature conditions are typical for the environment surrounding the future homemade grape wine. If necessary or conditions change, immediately find a new location while the liquid ferments.

If the fermentation tank is at a temperature of 30 ° C or higher, you should send reinforcements to the old yeast in the form of an additional portion or wine starter.

We remind you again! It is strictly prohibited to add alcohol during the fermentation stage. If anything happens, then don’t be surprised that the wort has stopped fermenting.

Suboptimal amount of sugar

The presence of sugar is an important aspect of successful fermentation, so its excess or deficiency will introduce undesirable nuances into the process. In both the first and second cases, the yeast simply stops working, although the reasons are different. The “golden ratio” of wort sugar content is 15% with a possible deviation of 5%. This proportion must be controlled by measuring it in time with a special device called a hydrometer.

The popular method of analysis is “to taste”, which is also a win-win. If the must is moderately sweet, and there is no excessive acidity or cloying, then everything is in order: the wine will be good.

How to save fermentation if the sugar content is off the charts? Dilute the wort with water or use juice with high acidity, but do not overdo it: more than 1/5 of the original amount of liquid.

Resort to the same actions if the wort refuses to ferment due to too much thickness characteristic of fruit and berry wort. It is better to initially spend more time straining so that you do not have to correct the disadvantageous situation.

If there is not enough sugar, pour it into the wort (proportion 50–100 g / 1 liter of liquid). Don't forget to distribute it thoroughly, stirring the future wine with a wooden pestle so that the must can ferment properly!

Low quality yeast

Natural types of yeast found on unwashed skins of fruit and berry crops are characterized by instability. Therefore, it is almost impossible to predict their behavior when the wort is fermenting.

Options for ensuring efficient fermentation:

• wine starter;
• wine yeast;
• grapes (fresh or raisins).

The appearance of mold

The slightest mistakes often become the main reasons for defeat. Why?

Like any production, making homemade wine requires perfect cleanliness and adherence to techniques down to the slightest nuance. If you get distracted somewhere or let the process take its course, there is a high probability of mold occurring. To prevent the future wine from becoming sick due to the invasion of fungi or bacteria, it is necessary to ensure complete sterility.

It is possible to save future wine when mold has just begun to form or the “affected zone” is not large enough. What to do? Get rid of the film. Pour the liquid into another container. But even these actions are sometimes useless, but trying is not torture! ()

conclusions

Making wine at home does not always consist of extremely pleasant memories, but it certainly brings the necessary experience and knowledge. Take into account every mistake in subsequent preparations: then making homemade wine will become three times more enjoyable, and the result will noticeably improve. This material is intended to appeal to your resilience: never give up, even if the prospects do not appear immediately! Overcoming obstacles - this is what characterizes a true master who does not look for easy ways, much less, ways of retreat. Happy experimenting!

In winemaking, there is no single technology used by everyone that will produce a quality product. There are a large number of different recipes, a lot of nuances. Everyone who is interested in the independent process of making alcohol makes it using their own tricks. However, the main thing is the fermentation process, since it determines the important characteristics of the wine.

Features of the process.

The main role belongs to yeast fungi. As a result of their activity, they convert sucrose into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The quality of the finished drink will depend on the temperature and period of time at which homemade wine ferments. To prepare the base, grapes or other fruits or berries are taken, all raw materials are carefully sorted, ground or crushed, then placed in a suitable container, which is covered with gauze and placed in a dark place. So the mass sits for a limited number of hours before the first signs of fermentation appear. Then a glove is put on the container to monitor the formation of gas.

It is difficult to determine exactly how long a good homemade wine should ferment. Typically, the process lasts from 30 to 90 days. The duration depends on the amount of sugar, the quality of the yeast and the temperature.

Fermentation of any type of wine at home is usually divided into 3 stages:

1. elementary;
2. stormy;
3. quiet.

At the first stage, yeast fungi adapt to the new environment and begin to actively reproduce.

At the second stage, the proliferation of bacteria ends, they occupy the entire volume of the wort, resulting in the release of alcohol. This period lasts from 10 to 100 days, depending on how strong the finished drink should be. The longer the vigorous fermentation goes on, the more alcohol there will be in the liquid. The first few days the mass foams and hisses strongly, and active production of carbon dioxide occurs.

Afterwards the wort calms down and the number of bubbles decreases. The foam formed at the beginning settles at the bottom of the container, and the process begins in the lower layers. This lower fermentation phase of homemade wine lasts until the fungi convert all the sugar into alcohol. At this stage, few bubbles are released, a sediment forms above it, and the liquid becomes lighter.

It is important to remember that the fermentation process must be actively supported. To do this, you must follow some rules:

• Shake the sediment. Dense sediment makes it harder for yeast to work. To help them, the liquid needs to be shaken. To do this, you can shake the vessel or stir the sediment with a clean wooden stick.
• Aerate the wort. If fungi multiply too slowly, it is recommended to give the wort access to oxygen, this will stimulate the work and proliferation of bacteria. You can pour the liquid into another container or simply leave it open for 3-4 hours. This should be done only during the lower fermentation phase, when 6–7° alcohol is formed in the product.
• Add sugar. This may be needed for strength. Sugar is added fractionally. After each addition of sugar, the wort should be stirred with a clean wooden stick.
• Maintain the correct temperature. It is very important to ensure that the drink is kept at the same temperature. If it is too hot, the yeast will begin to process sugar too actively, which will deteriorate the quality and strength of the product. If it is cold, the wort will stop fermenting and will spoil.

At the last stage, when the wort stops fermenting, almost all the sugar is converted into alcohol, and the number of active yeasts decreases. During this phase, the taste of the drink is formed. It lasts from 50 to 350 days. The resulting product is poured into a clean container and stored in a cool, dark place (basement or cellar) at 10–15°C.

How long should homemade wine sit? White is aged for at least 1.5 months, red - from 2 to 3 months. Then it is poured into bottles, tightly capped and stored at a temperature of 5–9°C in a supine position.

What to do when the wine stops fermenting

When the wort ferments, it is important to follow all the rules. In order to monitor the maturation of the drink, a rubber glove is put on the container. When the yeast actively reproduces and converts sugar into carbon dioxide, the glove inflates. This signals that the active phase of maturation is underway. However, even if all recommendations for making the drink are followed, there is a possibility that the raw material will not begin or stop fermenting. What to do?

Why doesn't the rubber glove pick up on fermenting homemade wine? There are a number of reasons why this happens and recommendations on how to avoid it.

• Not enough time has passed. After a water seal is installed, for example, a lid with a tube, the process does not begin immediately; activation of the yeast takes a couple of days. Perhaps the time just hasn't come yet.
• There is no sealing. There will be no bubbles in the liquid when the container with the wort is not tightly closed. In this case, the glove will not rise. To correct the situation, remove the foam from above and add a little sugar.
• Incorrect conditions. The optimal mode is 15–25°C. At low temperatures, yeast stops multiplying; at high temperatures, they die.
• Poor quality yeast. You can never be sure that the yeast is good; it can often stop working for unknown reasons. In this case, homemade starter, ready-made wine yeast or several unwashed grapes are added to the wort.

How long a quality homemade wine will ferment depends on how you monitor the fermentation process and follow all recommendations.

Features of the temperature regime for wine fermentation at home

The best maturation of the drink is slow. 15–25° are the best conditions for this process. Changes must not be allowed.

At what temperature does homemade wine ferment well? The optimal temperature for white wines will be 14–18°C, for red and rose wines - 18–22°C. The fermentation time of high-quality homemade wine also depends on this:

• 10–14° - 20 days;
• 15–18° - 10 days;
• 20° - 5–7 days.

In conclusion, experts advise paying attention to some nuances that will help make the “drink of the gods” a real source of pride.

• Select raw materials carefully; rotten berries and fruits should not be allowed to enter.
• The fruits must be sweet and ripe so that the yeast actively converts sucrose into alcohol.
• The dishes must be dry and clean.
• During storage, it is recommended to pour the drink into another container once every six months, straining out the sediment.
• You cannot store the product near starters, vegetables, or near animals and birds; it very quickly absorbs foreign odors and deteriorates.

Exact adherence to the recipe does not guarantee that homemade wine will ferment normally. There are situations when this process does not start or suddenly stops after a few days. Don't panic, in most cases the situation is fixable. I will tell you why the wine does not ferment and what needs to be done to save the must. The following options are possible:

1. Not much time has passed. Don’t expect the wine to start bubbling immediately after installing the water seal. Yeast needs a certain time to activate. Depending on the temperature, raw materials used, sugar content and type of yeast, it can take from several hours to 3 days before active fermentation begins.

Solution: if all conditions for preparing wine are met, wait 3-4 days and only then draw conclusions.

2. No sealing. A problem often encountered by novice winemakers. If the container is not tightly closed, then there will be no bubbles in the water seal (the glove will not inflate), since carbon dioxide comes out in other ways. It turns out that the wine is playing, but this is not visible.

When the intensity of fermentation decreases, when the pressure of carbon dioxide drops, the current situation is dangerous due to the entry of air into the container, which leads to acetic souring of the wine, which cannot be corrected. A bottle of wine can be opened, but only 1-2 times a day for a short time (up to 15 minutes), for example, to add a new portion of sugar or remove foam.

Solution: check the tightness of the fermentation tank at the points of its connection with the water seal (glove). For greater reliability, cover the joints with dough or other natural adhesive.

3. Unsuitable temperature. The most common reason why wine stops fermenting. Wine yeast is active at 10-30°C. In the cold they “fall asleep”, and at higher temperatures they die. The recommended temperature for fermentation is 15-25°C. It is very important to avoid even small differences. If the wine begins to ferment at 20°C, you need to maintain this value. It is unacceptable when the temperature constantly changes, for example, day and night.

Solution: Check the room temperature. If it does not meet the recommended parameters, move the container to a more suitable location. If the wort was at a temperature above 30°C even for a short time, a new portion of special yeast (not alcoholic yeast!!!) should be added.

4. Low or high sugar content. The optimal sugar content in the wort is 10-20%; in all other cases, the wine ferments poorly. When the sugar content is low, the yeast has no product to process, so it stops. In very high concentrations, sugar becomes a preservative that stops the yeast from working.

Another similar problem - consistency too thick, which appears when working with fruit and berry raw materials (rowan, bird cherry, currant, etc.), which are difficult to mechanical filtration. Thick wine may not ferment.

Action: Check sugar content and consistency. If the wort is sugary or very thick, dilute it with water (sour juice), adding no more than 15% of the original volume. If the sugar content is low, add sugar at the rate of 50-100 grams per liter of juice.

5. Bad yeast. Wild strains of yeast, which are used by the vast majority of amateur winemakers, are characterized by their instability and can stop working at any time, even for no apparent reason.

Actions: to restart fermentation, add to the wort your choice of: homemade starter, store-bought wine yeast, unwashed crushed grapes (5-6 berries per 10 liters) or high-quality raisins (20-30 grams per 5 liters). I advise you to buy raisins and grapes at the market, where they are less treated with chemicals that kill all the yeast on the surface. The best option is to make sourdough.

6. Mold. Appears when using rotten (moldy) wine materials or poorly washed fermentation containers, hands and other equipment. Therefore, it is very important to sterilize everything so as not to infect the wort with fungi. At the initial stages, you can try to cure mold in wine by removing the film and draining the wine into another container through a straw. But there is no guarantee that this will help.

Solution: pour out the spoiled wort, take into account the mistakes and not repeat them in the future.

7. Lack of nitrogen elements. For normal reproduction and vital activity, wine yeast needs nitrogen compounds. Usually the necessary microelements are present in the juice in the right quantities. Problems arise if the juice is heavily diluted with water and (or) sugar to reduce acidity.

If there is a lack of nitrogen, fermentation is active for the first few days, then it slows down for no apparent reason (temperature, sugar and alcohol content are normal).

The problem is typical for homemade wines made from cranberries, blueberries, blueberries, lingonberries, wine drinks made from flowers and vegetables, or in the case of very acidic raw materials, heavily diluted with water and sugar. Store-bought wine yeast usually comes with the necessary microelements. Drinks based on sourdough and wild wine yeast are fed.

8. End of fermentation. At an alcohol concentration of 10-14%, wine yeasts die. It is impossible to obtain a stronger wine using natural fermentation; alcohol is added to the drink to increase the strength.

In most cases, homemade wine ferments for 14-35 days, after which this process gradually stops. Sediment appears at the bottom of the container, the wine becomes clearer, and the water seal prevents bubbles from coming out (the glove deflates).

Actions: proceed to the next stage - filter the wine and put it to maturation. The final goal has been achieved.

It is rare that a winemaker has not encountered problems with wine fermentation. Sometimes the wort simply does not begin to ferment for a long time, sometimes it ferments, but weakly. It happens that the process stops altogether. Let's look at the main fermentation problems encountered in home winemaking.

Why doesn't wine ferment?

1. Active fermentation of wine without the addition of wine yeast usually begins after 6-12 hours. With wine yeast, the wort begins to ferment within 2-3 hours. But don’t worry if half a day has already passed and the grape (or any other berry or fruit) juice has not started to foam and fizz. Sometimes the work of wild yeast begins after a day or three. The degree of their activity is influenced by many factors: the raw materials used, the room temperature, and the sugar content of the wort. Therefore, you should just wait up to 3 days and only then, if the wort still does not begin to ferment, start to panic.
2. In some homemade wine recipes, in addition to fruit and berry raw materials, water is also used. If the liquid is too cold, active fermentation will take a long time. The water temperature must certainly be at least 15-20 degrees.
3. The yeast actively reproduces for several days, for which it needs oxygen. Only then does the work of converting sugar into alcohol begin. If you immediately seal the container with a water seal (a pierced glove), the wort will not have time to be enriched with oxygen, as a result of which fermentation will either be too weak or will not begin at all. To prevent this from happening, the wort should be allowed to ferment for the first few days in an open container covered with a clean cloth or gauze. Then the yeast will first multiply and then begin to act.
4. To be on the safe side, some winemakers rush to add yeast starter to the wort (it is usually prepared from water, sugar and a small amount of unwashed berries or fruits). This is often done when you are not sure that wild yeast will actually work. But we should not forget that the temperature of the starter must coincide with the temperature of the wort, otherwise the yeast will die.

Why is wine fermentation weak or stopped altogether?

1. If the room temperature is unsuitable (below 10 or above 30 degrees), wine fermentation may not occur. The fact is that at low temperatures the yeast is inactive, and at high temperatures they are in danger of dying. To avoid risk, you should place the container with the wort in a room with a temperature of 15-20 degrees (or slightly higher). It is important that the same temperature is maintained constantly.
2. Typically, homemade wine ferments due to wild yeasts - inhabitants of the skins of fruits and berries. But they are quite capricious, which is why the wort sometimes ferments very weakly or the process stops altogether, leaving the winemaker at a loss. To prevent this, you can add a little unwashed raisins (about 5 g per 1 liter of wort) or unwashed grapes (1 berry per 1 liter of wort) to the weakly fermenting wort. Another option is to add fermented wine yeast.
3. Fermentation can be stopped due to fungal infection of the wort. Mold is formed due to the use of low-quality (rotten) raw materials and violation of hygiene rules: dirty hands, poorly washed containers. It is almost impossible to save moldy wort, so it is better to take care of cleanliness in advance.
4. A leaky water seal, from which bubbles do not come out, often makes it clear to the winemaker that the wort is not fermenting at all. But carbon dioxide still leaves the fermentation tank through holes invisible to the eye. And the wort, into which air enters, begins to slowly sour and turn into vinegar. To protect yourself, you should cover with plasticine (dough, silicone) the place where the neck of the container comes into contact with the water seal lid (elastic band of the glove).
5. High sugar content of the wort interferes with the normal functioning of yeast. Ideally, sugar should be no more than 15-20% and no less than 10%. If the indicator is significantly higher, sugar will begin to act as a preservative, significantly stopping fermentation. To prevent such a problem from happening, you should check the sugar content of the wort using a hydrometer and, if necessary, dilute it with clean water (15% of the total volume of the wort). If you don’t have the device at hand, you will have to rely on your taste. The juice is too sweet - you will have to add a little water. If the recipe requires adding sugar to the fermenting wort, it is advisable to do this fractionally (usually sugar is added in equal parts every 2-3 days).
6. Low sugar content for wort is also undesirable, since the yeast simply will not have food. Fermentation in this case will be too weak, and the finished wine will be low in strength (usually no more than 8-10%). If the sugar content is below 10% (that is, the wort is sour), you will need to add sugar (50-100 g per 1 liter of liquid).
7. The wort is too thick and poorly amenable to mechanical filtration and ferments very poorly. If raw materials with a low juice content are used (some varieties of apples, rowan, bird cherry, etc.), it is advisable to add water to the wort (no more than 15% of the wort volume).
8. Sometimes wine fermentation is weak if the main yeast mass is at the bottom of the fermentation tank. To aid the process, it is advisable to periodically stir the wort with a clean hand or a wooden spoon.
9. When the strength of the wort reaches 12-14% (if wine yeast has been added, then a strength of up to 15-18% is acceptable), the yeast dies off. Consequently, you will have to move on to draining the young wine from the sediment. If you expected to get a wine of greater strength, it is permissible to add a little alcohol (about 5-15% of the total volume of the resulting wine).

The wine stopped fermenting - why and what to do?

Even if you follow the recipe strictly, sometimes you have to face various problems. The most common situation is that fermentation does not begin or the wine stops fermenting a few days after the first bubbles appear. So, the wine stopped fermenting. What to do continue with him? Can he be saved?

Reasons and solution

The situation is fixable - you can still stimulate fermentation and get a normal product. But first you need to figure out the reason. There may be seven reasons in total.

Not enough time has passed. To start fermentation, the yeast must wake up. This takes some time. Sometimes active fermentation begins after a couple of hours, and can start after 2-3 days. The intensity of the process depends on temperature, amount of sugar, and quality of yeast. Solution - if you did everything according to the recipe, wait three to four days.

The container is not closed well. Air will escape freely from a container that is not hermetically sealed - the glove will not inflate, and bubbles will not come out of the water seal. Free access of oxygen to a container with wine is dangerous due to its souring, turning into vinegar. Solution - check the tightness of the connection between the glove or water seal and the bottle. For reliability, you can seal the joints with dough.

Low or high temperature. Wine yeast activity is observed at temperatures from +10C to +30C. In the cold, the yeast simply does not wake up; at temperatures above 30C, it dies. The optimal temperature is 20-25C. The temperature must be maintained at a stable level, avoiding its decrease and increase. This will affect the final quality of the product. If the wine has spent even a short time in heat above 30C, you need to add a little wine yeast or wine starter.

Or the following:

4.Too much or little sugar. The wort should contain from 10 to 20% sugar. When there is little sugar, the yeast has nothing to process. A large amount of sugar becomes a kind of preservative - yeast activity is reduced to a minimum. The wort should be sweet, but not cloying. The lack of fermentation may also be due to the consistency being too thick. The solution is to evaluate the consistency, measure the amount of sugar. The sweet and thick wort can be served with water or juice without adding sugar in an amount of 15% of the volume. Sour wort is sweetened by adding 50-100 grams of sugar per liter of liquid.

5.Poor quality yeast. Wild yeast is unstable. Their activity may decrease even for no apparent reason. The solution is to add wine starter, unwashed raisins, and wine yeast. It is better to buy grapes and raisins at the market - there is less chance of selling chemically treated products there.

6.Mold. If mold appears on the surface of the wort, and the wine stopped fermenting This means that low-quality wine material was used and the bottle was poorly washed. All containers are thoroughly washed and sterilized beforehand, the raw materials are sorted out, removing moldy berries. The solution is to carefully remove the mold and pour the wine through a straw into a clean container.

7. The fermentation is over. If the wine has stopped fermenting, this may also indicate that the natural fermentation process has ended; the strength of the wine has reached 10-14 degrees. At such a concentration of alcohol in the drink, wine yeasts die. A stronger drink can only be obtained by adding alcohol to the finished wine. The normal rate of wine fermentation is 14-35 days, depending on the temperature and amount of sugar.

It doesn't always turn out delicious on the first try. This is a capricious product, the preparation of which must be approached carefully and responsibly. Much comes with experience - experienced winemakers already know what to do if the wine stopped fermenting when you need to add sugar, yeast, filter the wine. Gradually you will learn this too.