Fermentation not kicking off after 30 hrs.

[asktoby]

Hello
First attempt at wine making using neighbour's grapes.
I used the below guide which I cobbled together from various websites.
The must is in a fermenting bucket with a sealed lid (a Young's u-Brew one).
Normally, with beer, I see lots of activity after the first 24 hours, froth, pushing the lid up...

It's been 30 hours with this wine and it looks exactly as it did when it started.
When I started the yeast in warm sugar water it was nice and frothy. That's what got poured in. The grapes had plenty of that white powdery sheen that I believe is natural yeast too.

Gravity is 1090.

Bucket is at midlands UK room temperature (25 degrees I guess?) which is usually fine for beer.

Do I just need to wait longer?

[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Sterilise bucket, pan, masher[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Remove grapes from stalks[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Crush grapes with potato masher in a pan[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Pour into bucket [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]You need about 1 Gallon or 4.5L[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Add water to cover if necessary
[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Add tea from 2 teabags for every gallon of wine[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Check gravity is between:[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]1078 (11.5%ABV)[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]1095 (13% ABV MAX.)[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]If necessary add sugar (approx 1kg per gallon?)[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial](I added about 1KG, raising gravity to about 1090)[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Start yeast in some sterile sugar water[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Add yeast[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]--this is where I'm up to--
[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Stir every day if grapes rise.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ferment for 7-25 days, until gravity fixed for 3 days and in the range of 990-1000:[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Seive out chunks.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Pour liquid through funnel and sterile muslin into demijohn[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Fill demijohn to 2 inches from top[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Half fill airlock.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Fit bung with airlock[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ferment for 3 months[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Syphon (rack) to 2nd demijohn[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ferment for 3 months[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Rack again.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Once it's no longer cloudy, Bottle.[/FONT][/COLOR]

 

[simon12]

I would check its sealed and give it another day

 

[asktoby]

Good news! I gave it a good stir and there was plenty of agitation and gas - it doesn't seem to be quite as aggressive as I'm accustomed to with beer, but I'm only doing 1 gallon whereas I normally do 4 gallons of beer so I guess I should adjust my expectations down!

 

[asktoby]

OK, the wine has been in the first demijohn for 5 months so today I tried my first racking.
I've siphoned it into a second demijohn, added a crushed campden tablet, and put an airlock on again.

There was a bit of leftover wine on top of the sediment after siphoning so I poured it into a glass for a taste.

Smell:
Fruity, almost like cherries.
Definitely some alcohol smell.
Doesn't smell like red wine, but doesn't smell unpleasant.

Taste:
Fruity, but really very sour.
Not pleasant, I spat it out!

I'm guessing this is not good?
Should I add sugar or something?

This is a summary of how I got to this point:

[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Crush grapes[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Pour into bucket (1 Gallon or 4.5L)[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Added tea from 2 teabags[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]
Added about 1KG sugar, to bring SG up to 1090)[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]
Ferment until gravity fixed [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]at 992[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]
Seive out chunks, move to [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]demijohn[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]
Ferment for 3 months
[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]SG was 994[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Syphon (rack) to 2nd demijohn[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Taste leftover.
[/FONT][/COLOR]

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I cannot help with the wine you have made as i only use juice for mine, if you have a spare DJ why not give a juice wine a go while you wait for the other, it takes around 3 weeks from start to bottle and can be drunk as soon as it is bottled - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49462

 

[asktoby]

I posted this at lunchtime.
I've since left the glass out for a few hours and tried it again this evening with some food and found it to be much better!
It's still very sour but I can tell it's not "wrong" per se.
Best thing so far is taking a bite of "Party Ring" biscuit and then drinking the wine over the top, so I'm thinking adding sugar is the way forward.
I'm just not sure if I should use white sugar or aspartame to sweeten it, and I'm not sure of how much to add or when.