Ribena + Kveik Not Fermenting & Smelly

[BrewingBob]

I boiled some Ribena concentrate (full sugar version) for about 4 minutes then proceeded to add sugar solution and water to make up a 20 litre brew with the right amount of sugar to come out at about 5% if it ferments right out. I added no other ingredients.

Added the Kveik yeast (a considerable amount of it, scooped from sludge of a previous ferment and kept alive with a little sugar and water in the fridge) when it got to about 28 degrees C (which is below the 32C Kveik is happy to ferment at).

It has been producing one bubble from the fermenter every 5 minutes or so for 3 days now. And it smells of sulphur dioxide (eggy fart). If I open the fermenter there are near zero bubbles on the surface.

Did I perhaps fail to boil off the preservatives enough?

Or did I fail to keep the Kveik alive - it just looked like it was? (it bubbled more when more sugar added)

Or did I pitch it at too high a temperature?

Any suggestions on what to try to do to rescue this brew much appreciated.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

This topic is discussed regularly in the forum some members say boiling gets rid of the preservative and some say it doesn't all i know is my one and only attempt at Ribena wine (with a 15 minute vigorous boil) ended in a failed fermentation at .1000 after 5 weeks in the DJ, i am in the boiling does not get rid of the preservative camp.

.

 

[BrewingBob]

Ah sorry didn't realise it was a common issue - should have searched before posting.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

If I find a way to rejuvenate the fermentation process I'll update the thread.

Thanks again!

 

[needmorstuf]

i had a stinky ferment not so long ago.. I gave it a vigorous airing - poured from height back and forth twice and it cleared the stink and the final product was unaffected. Someone said it is due to the not aerating properly in the first place.

 

[BrewingBob]

Well I thought I'd try a few things...

First I decanted off half a pint of the ferment and added another half pint of water and then mixed in some dry Youngs cider yeast (a whole sachet). That started fermenting pretty quickly. I left it about an hour then stuck most of the content minus about half the sediment into the fermenting bin (which holds about 20 litres of ferment at the moment).

Then I decanted off a whole pint of the ferment into my pint glass on top of the remains of the cider yeast.

About an hour later the pint of now neat ferment and yeast is fermenting away happily - and the fermenting bin bubble rate has picked up a bit. So I think to myself that the problem all along was that the Kveik yeast couldn't handle the inhibitors, but that the Youngs cider yeast could - this made sense with what you said about some people seem to have no problem but some do. So great - went to bed with the pint pitched in also and a very definite increase in bubble rate.

Next morning the bubble rate right back down again. WTAF!

So I sterilised a large container and ran off about 6 litres of ferment then poured it back in from a great height. Repeated this a couple of times. Then stirred the lot. An hour later, bubble rate back up a little, but not much. A few hours later, slow again.

Then I was barreling a kit wine and looking at the sediment from the wine... and thought what the heck. I added a little water to loosen it up a bit, swirled it around so it was all off the bottom, and pitched that into my Ribena brew.

Now 11 hours later my Ribena brew is bubbling away better than at any previous point - and it's starting finally to lose some of the sweetness it had.

Fingers crossed this combination of Kveik, Youngs cider yeast and Cantina Pinot Grigiot yeast sediment now seems to be doing the business.

Thanks for your suggestions so far. I will let you know what happens next! :)

 

[BrewingBob]

Still going strong this morning!

 

[needmorstuf]

nice! that's going to be an interesting brew for sure.

 

[Roddy]

Bloody hell, determined not to let this one go aren't you mate, respect !

I would have hoyed it down the drain by now (have done that with a vimto brew and a coke brew) [emoji23]

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[BrewingBob]

Haha. I'm from Yorkshire! We're tight up here!

This evening the bubbles have slowed a touch - but the sugar content has very noticeably diminished - it's getting there!!! It's actually rather nice!