killing yeast in must and restarting

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bluestone

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 9, 2014
38
0
0
Norway, Europe
Hey. I bought some "berry mix" wine must from a quality (I think)commercial place that make diffrent kind of products from berries and fruit that they get from (?places?). Anyway so I filled a carboy with this berry wine must that comes from a bigger wine tank out back. To this wine must that contains some sort of active wine yeast i'm told to add sugar and let it ferment. The must is basically alcohol free at this point(because of law regulations etc).
What I was wondering was :
-How should I proceed in killing the yeast(that was a secret) in the must and add my own?
-What kind of yeast should I use in this berry mix containing (mix of undefined amounts of black currents, red current, blueberries, raspberries, + others(?) ...)?

Thanks for answars bluestone:)
 
Why not just let it ride and see what comes of it?
I might do that. That would be the easiest. But I dont know if its some soft cheap yeast, champange yeast, the houses own specially homemade or whatever. The only instructions given to me was add 0.2 lbs sugar/quart. I originally wanted to add some red wine yeast(good for dark berries?) and add a mead touch by replacing sugar with a little extra raspberry honey.

We only talking 25 liter(6.6 US gallons) so its not a big risk batch.

The normal way to kill activity would be to add chemicals or to warm it to 165 degrees F ?
 
i personally wouldnt try killing the yeast and just letting it ride.

Yeah ok. I desided to do just that.

Then I followed instructions :
added 0.2 lbs sugar/quart(about 6.6 lbs honey). Measured the gravity to 1.065.
...Thats seem low given that it supposed to contain no alcohol to start with?

Should I just get the gravity up to wine standard like 1.10 now or step feed it later?

I'm might call them on monday and ask if I dont figure out.
 
The other possibility would be to use a yeast with a kill factor (doesn't play well with other yeasts) like K1V-1116.

Boy I wish I could get berry must! That sounds awesome!

If you want a higher alcohol content, then step feeding would be what I'd do, that way you'll know for sure that it won't end too sweet if you only ever boost it up to your highest sweetness tolerance.
 
McJeff; said:
Well that gravity should get out a abv of around 9.5
I wanted to land on a more conservative effect abv level of around 12-14.

The other possibility would be to use a yeast with a kill factor (doesn't play well with other yeasts) like K1V-1116.
So if I add K1V-1116 it will dominate and take over the fermentation ?

Boy I wish I could get berry must! That sounds awesome!
That what I thought to. I've could not locate any pure high quality plain berry juices at a bulk(6.6 gallon) at afordable prices(almost wine prices). That why I got this finished product. This will be more like a wine kit. The juices is probably mixed with some water and sugar so not pure and actually seems a bit thin. Just hoping for the best ... The product is in season here this month so I thoght it was worth a test.
 
Yeah KV 1116 will take over the fermentation, good all around solid yeast. should give you an ABV around 16%. Stuff over 12-13% and you will start needing some aging before the "hotness" is gone.

Edit: kv1116 wont take that SG to 16% you will obviously need to add more sugar/honey to get it up there. Play around with the gotmead calculator.
 
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If you boost this batch up with honey it might replace some of the flavour they may have lost by watering it down and adding sugar :) Presuming it's not already been fermenting on you, play with the Mead Calculator and see how much honey you should add to get your 11% and that should be fine. Then if you decide you want to step-feed it later or stabilize and backsweeten it, it's an option.
 
OK. I mixed the must with honey till sg 1.07 something. I took a gravity reading now and its still 1.07 something.
So the fermentation is stuck. I tried to add 71b around a week ago, but its just been quiet.

How should I proceed getting it started again? Should I dilute it with some high tasting low gravity juice, Make a super big starter using one of the yeasts menchened that I step feed the must ...?

thanks for answers
 
Get the uvaferm 43, rehydrate with goferm, and after 20 minutes, add an equal volume of your stuck must. When that starts bubbling well, double the volume again with more of your stuck must. Repeat this until you have a liter-size bubbling acclimated starter (might take a few hours). That should get it going.

By the way, have you checked the pH? Berry juice can be low enough to cause stuck fermentation, and adjusting the pH can sometimes get it going again (or if not, at least make it easier for the new yeast).