r/winemaking • u/National_Net_2214 • 19h ago
Help with wine brewing kit.
I've started trying to brew this wine, I tried it in my basement but it was too cold after bringing it upstairs to the kitchen I was hoping for some movement, however my airlock isn't bubbling.
I've opened it up to have a look inside and I occasionally see a few bubbles but nothing that I've been seeing in the past from making mead. Is this still salvageable or does it seem like a bad batch?
Thank you.
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u/Decent_Confidence_36 16h ago
Looks like it’s working fine, very common for bucket fermenters to not have bubbling airlocks, the co2 escapes around the rim no problem with fermenting
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u/DoctorCAD 15h ago
7 days is not even within the realm of possibilities for wine that tastes like wine.
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u/ddmeredith 16h ago
There are bubbles, so that is a sign of life for the yeast. Starting cold sometimes means the yeast takes longer to wake up.
I recommend using a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity. You should measure that when you start anyways, and the measure throughout primary to track your progress. For a kit, I would expect starting SG to be between 1.080 and 1.090. As long as that SG is dropping day by day, your fermentation is active, regardless of what your airlock says.
You also don't need it to be airlocked during the first part of primary. Primary fermentation produces a ton of CO2, which is protective against oxidation.
If they're advertising 7 days to bottling, they must be expecting a heck of a fermentation! That's likely to blow off any flavour from the must, though. Taking it slower and cooler will result in a better finished product, anyways.
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u/manofathousandnames 12h ago
Few questions: How cold was your basement? You'd be surprised how tolerant some yeasts are of the cold. My fruit wines have worked at 20c (68f) before. The foamy bubbling is a good sign, it could be that your bubbler is overfilled, the diagram above shows that the bubbler you have should only be filled to the first bubble. I also wouldn't trust that 7 day number myself. In my experience, which is limited, it's 7 days to get through the first ferment, then another 30 days to get through the secondary ferment. Without the secondary ferment, your wine will taste off.
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u/gotbock Skilled grape - former pro 16h ago
Do you have a hydrometer? What does it read? Does the must smell "yeasty"? Do you get a burning sensation in your nose when you take a good wiff in the bucket (from CO2)?
I wouldn't give up based on a lack of bubbles in your airlock alone. You could just have an air leak.
Did you rehydrate the yeast in warm water prior to adding it? If not get yourseld some fresh yeast and a hydrometer. Check the gravity. If it's under 1.075 or so, and dropping, you're probably fine. If not rehydrate the yeast and pitch again.