Oh no - what have I done?

gemmacide · Jun 25, 2012

Hi brewers!

I'm so sorry if this has perhaps been answered, I've had a look around the forum and I can't find anything that pertains to my query exactly. I'm pretty new to brewing so forgive me if this is a really stupid problem...

I made up some elderflower wine, 2 gallons worth to be exact. The recipe called for 13 pints of water which I boiled up in a selection of pans, added the elderflowers, sugar and grape juice, then added a campden tab, acid blend and yeast nutrient once cool. After 24 hours I added the yeast and then fermented 6 days in a brew bin.

After that I strained the must and shared it between 2 demijohns, but I only had enough liquid to fill each one halfway! My boiling water must have evaporated somewhat and given me less than I started with. Now here is my problem, instead of just adding one to the other and making only one gallon I got greedy and added cooled boiled water to top each of them up but am getting virtually zero bubbles coming through the airlock after 3 days. I feel I may have broken it :?

So I'm wondering if my problem could be to do with the following:
1: My addition of water to double the volume of each demijohn has somehow killed the yeast off by dilution? I've been reading up on the science behind this and can't quite figure it out.
2: The must was exposed to the air for some time as I forgot to put the bung and airlocks in whilst my newly boiled 'topping-up' water was cooling. Newby mistake I know but I'm thinking could this exposure to the air have done rather a damage to the stuff?
3: Have I just ballsed it up in general, as I know some batches have a tendency just not to work?

Do any of you have any idea of how I have gone wrong, or indeed how I might rectify it? Or do I just dump it out and start again? I'm loath to do this as the narrow window for elderflowers has about passed now and it could be tricky to get more fresh ones.

Thanks so much for any help you can give! :)

pittsy · Jun 25, 2012

hi , all seems ok , you wont harm the yeast by exposing to air , in fact the harm comes from wild yeast which seems not to have happened , now when you added cooled boiled water how cool was it as too warm will kill the yeast but as long as it was below 30c that too should be fine (20c is best ) it may be you just need to re pitch more yeast and add some nutrient in fact i'd just try adding nutrient first and leave it a day if still no good re pitch more yeast , p.s did you smell the flowers ? they should smell banana ish because not all elderberries are good for brewing if you get a cat pea smell they its the wrong ones

good luck and don't throw it out just yet :thumb:

gemmacide · Jun 26, 2012

Uh oh, they were definitely quite cat pee-ey. Although when I first picked them they were quite sweet and fragrant? And the. Water had definitely cooled right down so I'm pretty sure it's not an issue of heat killing the yeast.

Right well I'll just go for it and add some nutrient, and then some more yeast to see if I can get it restarted, thank you so much much for the tips! I will let you know how I get on :)

Moley · Jun 26, 2012

If you had 13 pints of water plus grape juice (how much?) plus sugar (how much?) then I fail to see how your DJs could be so low. Are they gallon glass DJs or 5 litre PETs? I would have expected the levels to be up to the shoulder.

Anyway, you can't have killed it from anything you describe.

If you fermented for 6 days in the bucket before straining, my guess is that it has already fermented out. Do you have a hydrometer? If yes, take a reading. If no, do a taste test and see if there's any sugar left, but put one on your shopping list.

I thought all elderflowers had a cat pee smell, but the intensity can vary.

gemmacide · Jun 26, 2012

I think I was short partially due to the recipe I was using being an American one and requiring a 6.5 pint US gallon, rather than my imperial gallon glass DJ, leaving me a pint and a half short in each one, plus perhaps the time I left the water boiling managed to evaporate a proportion of it? I know what you mean though, it does seem to be rather a large shortfall. I gave it a smell before leaving for work and it actually smells quite pleasant so will try a taste later.

My hydrometer was reading around 1.001 when I measured a couple of days ago, time to rack perhaps? I'm so new to this game that I'm unsure. My elderberry and blackberry wine took weeks to finish bubbling!