Sloe Wine stopped prematurely

[Martin Anglesey]

Newbie to home wine-making, so I am bound to be making newbie errors.
My father made various wines over the years, but the finest was sloe, and having found a glut near our new home, I had to give it a go.
I'm using the good old "First Steps in Winemaking" recipe as dad did, and it all started off really well.
The recipe said to rack it into demijohns, then to wait so many weeks before testing it and adding sugar if it was too sour.
Well I tasted it, and it is really way, way too sweet.
I left it for some time longer until fermentation ceased, and then tried it again.
Still no change.
There is clearly a load of sugar still there which has not fermented, but I racked it anyway and set it back in the airing cupboard.
Still no action at the airlock, so I purchased some 'specialist' yeast for strong wine and another for restarting 'stuck' wine. Neither of these have kicked it into action.
At the last racking, I had a little left over which I put into a bottle and added some yesterday to a pint of porter. It came out rather like the homebrew Damson Ale that used to be brewed at the pub on Cartmel Fell near Windermere. That's really not how I want to enjoy it however.
Anyone got any ideas as to what to do?
I'm guessing this is not only applicable to sloes, so will be helpful for future reference.
Thanks,
Martin

 

[Martin Anglesey]

Captain's log - supplemental...
I've just measured the SG at 1.060 so this confirms it has a way to go I think.
Just added a culture of GV4 and a teaspoon of Youngs nutrient to a gallon.
I don't hold out much hope as it's already had that treatment about two months ago!
(Yes, it's taken me a long time to do anything about it!)
It's still very tasty - just underdone.

 

[Martin Anglesey]

Nobody got any clues?
I'm sad to report that following the addition of more yeast and nutrient, the batch I tried this on has done absolutely sod all - not a single bubble from the airlock.
After all the trouble of picking the sloes last autumn, I would hate this stuff to go to waste.

 

[Martin Anglesey]

Thanks for all the advice. I thought this would be a simple problem that many would have helpful hints on.
Apparently not.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I doubt many here still make wine from picked fruit so it may take a while for you to get advice.

 

[user 18729]

Thanks for all the advice. I thought this would be a simple problem that many would have helpful hints on.
Apparently not.

You’ve tried the obvious stuff, I’ll be honest I can’t really think of much to help. What temperature has the wine been sat at? Is there a chance it got too hot?

An idea may be to make a very simple wine (banana wine) and blend this with it, add new yeast and see if the residual sugars from the sloe wine get fermented that way

 

[Martin Anglesey]

Thanks Mozza,
The wine has been in the airing cupboard with a very well insulated tank, such that it is actually cooler in there in the height of summer. I don't think its a temperature issue. The beer is thriving in the same location.
The idea of banana wine sounds particularly horrid, but I take your point and will try something rather less, er, bananary!
I'm very surprised at Chippy's comment that few people make wine from picked fruit. Surely that can't be right, unless we've all become rather more lazy than our forebears. I make my beer from kits for sure (and have a Belgian Dubbel Festival kit on the go at the moment) but that is because I don't have the necessary kit at present to create my own.
Sloe wine is well worth the effort of fruit picking (as is Elderberry when you can find them), so I'm willing to keep putting in the effort if I can sort this current issue.
Thanks guys

 

[Chippy_Tea]

'm very surprised at Chippy's comment that few people make wine from picked fruit. Surely that can't be right, unless we've all become rather more lazy than our forebears. .

Its not really surprising people have turned to kits instead of picking and as you say laziness plays a part, today's kits are very good (unlike in our forbears day) and then there is supermarket juice wine which is quick, cheap to make, tastes great and is popular amongst members (see link below)

I have been making wine for 6 years and have never made one from picked fruit my reasons being by the time i have picked the fruit and gone through the stages to actually get it into a DJ i could have completed a kit, and thn there is the length of time "proper" wine takes to age which can be several months.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ne-recipes-and-wurzels-orange-wine-wow.49462/

.

 

[Martin Anglesey]

I shall give some of these newfangled ideas a go. :)
My wife used to make 'instant wine' from tea and such like, but then again, she was drinking the darned stuff straight from the DJ!
You can probably picture her face when I told her the sloe wine would be drinkable by Christmas - 2020!
I agree about it being a hassle, but where else can you get sloe wine? I've tried the Lyme Bay Winery stuff, and it is waaay short of cutting the mustard.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I agree about it being a hassle, but where else can you get sloe wine?

I haven't a clue if you can but it but i must add i made my first Elderflower wine kit a few weeks ago and we were impressed with the results. (SWMBO thought it a little sweet)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I shall give some of these newfangled ideas a go. :)

This is not a sloe kit but it has sloe as part of the ingredients - https://brew2bottle.co.uk/products/belvino-30-bottle-dried-fruit-hedgerow-wine-making-kit-rose



A very clear, well balanced rose with crispy fruitiness. Ingredients are sloe, raisins, figs, blueberries, oak chips.

Making wine from dried fruit with BelVino winemaking kits is the perfect shortcut for those wanting to make a high quality hedgerow wine, but without all the hassle. BelVino wine kits make 23 litres of great wine.

Makes 30 bottles of fruit wine in seven days using dried fruits and herbs. Requires 4kgs of sugar. The Belvino kits contain: Dried Fruit And Berries, Wine Yeast, Nutrient, Fining and Stabiliser. They contain no grape juice.

 

[Martin Anglesey]

That's the problem with most Lyme Bay wines in my experience. Watery and too sweet. With a kit though, I suppose you could vary the recipe next time.

 

[user 18729]

Thanks Mozza,
The wine has been in the airing cupboard with a very well insulated tank, such that it is actually cooler in there in the height of summer. I don't think its a temperature issue. The beer is thriving in the same location.
The idea of banana wine sounds particularly horrid, but I take your point and will try something rather less, er, bananary!
I'm very surprised at Chippy's comment that few people make wine from picked fruit. Surely that can't be right, unless we've all become rather more lazy than our forebears. I make my beer from kits for sure (and have a Belgian Dubbel Festival kit on the go at the moment) but that is because I don't have the necessary kit at present to create my own.
Sloe wine is well worth the effort of fruit picking (as is Elderberry when you can find them), so I'm willing to keep putting in the effort if I can sort this current issue.
Thanks guys

I’m having a dabble at the moment with greengage, grapes and plum all grown in our garden. First ever attempt. For me it’s the satisfaction of using fruits from the garden as well as learning a new process. But as said it takes a good 7 months before you can start drinking so if I was mainly a wine drinker I’d probably look to speed up the process

 

[CeeGee]

I’ve not yet had a wine ‘stick’ in my short winemaking career, so no advice to give, I’m afraid. Will hopefully be trying a sloe wine later this year!

 

[Rack&Ruin]

I shall give some of these newfangled ideas a go. :)
My wife used to make 'instant wine' from tea and such like, but then again, she was drinking the darned stuff straight from the DJ!
You can probably picture her face when I told her the sloe wine would be drinkable by Christmas - 2020!
I agree about it being a hassle, but where else can you get sloe wine? I've tried the Lyme Bay Winery stuff, and it is waaay short of cutting the mustard.

Tried my 2 year old Sloe wine yesterday. What a dramatic improvement in the last 6 months. Its pokey stuff though.Well worth the wait. Just make it -and forget it.

 

[Tony Palmer]

Sloes in winemaking are very beneficial. You've tried re yeasting and nutrient. Now transfer your stuck wine agressively from the fermenter to get a lot of air in. Make sure temperature is 20-22C and add a working yeast culture GV 2 is good. If this still fails then you can only blend out with another established working wine and do a 50 :50 blend. Hope this helps

 

[Rack&Ruin]

Never needed before..but the enclosed below may be of assistance.
Best of luck.


http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk

Young's Re-Start Wine Yeast 5g
Selected for retarting stuck fermentations. High success rates can be expected where the wine is below 8% ABV and within pH range 3.0 - 3.5. Use for up to 5 gallons of wine
£1.35Sale: £1.21Save: 10% off

Add:

 

[Kybren]

I made slow wine last year, I found giving the DJ a good shake everyday helped get it to the desired gravity

 

[trummy]

I make fruit wines - Had a damson that would not start. The brew shop gave me a packet of robust yeast and told me to use a small quantity of the liquid into a working yeast starter, wait until that gets going, add a drop more of the liquid then more and more until all had been added. It worked, fermented out ok.
Sorry a bit hazy in detail it was about 8 years ago