OTR Mixed Berry Slow Fermentation?

[DamianH]

Hi all,
I'm new round here, and new to brewing. Got bought an fv a hydrometer and a gordies winter warmer kit for Christmas, which seems to be going pretty well. I've now bought a second fv and started the otr kit on Thursday evening. Trouble is, the air lock seems to be bubbling a lot slower than the gordies was at this point (maybe twice a minute, the gordies has been in the fv for 10 days and is bubbling more).
I sanitised my thermometer and checked the temperature of the brew, 19.5deg which should be ok according to the instructions.
I added 1.4 kgs of brewing sugar (the recipe said to use 1.3 kgs). I also replaced 2 litres of water with 2 litres of apple juice, which added another 200 grams of sugar. Could this be the problem?
There is activity in the airlock, and there's a 1/2" of foam on the wort, so I'm pretty sure something's happening, just seems really slow considering the amount of sugar (and ccomparing it to the ale). Is this normal? :hmm:

Cheers, Damian

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

The 300g extra sugar is almost definitely the problem, you're right. You've got at least 1.6kg total sugar, which is enough to produce about 16%-18% ABV (depending on the exact size of the container) and still leave the wine sweet. That much sugar can inhibit or even kill the yeast, so for strong wines the sugar is usually added gradually, starting with 1-1.2kg and adding the extra in 100g batches.

That said, if it's bubbling, it's fermenting. If you have any, a teaspoon of marmite, tomato puree or yeast nutrient should give the yeast a boost. Give the wine a lot of extra time, and rely on your hydrometer rather than what the instructions say. The final SG should ideally be between .990 and 1.010, but with all that sugar it may be higher.

 

[DamianH]

Hi Tim,
Thanks for the info. It's a 23 litre cider kit that im making. I've been snooping around the forum for a couple of days and saw that somebody had used 1.5kgs of sugar to achieve around 7% vol, so I used 1.4kgs, aiming for 6.5% (the kit instructions estimated 5.9% with 1.3kgs). I forgot to allow for the extra sugar in the juice.
Going to put the fv in a warmer part of the room now to see if it improves fermentation, if not i'll try a teaspoon of marmite, will this change the taste of the cider?
Thanks again, Damian