So… the wine has been blobbing away in the demijohn, turning all that yeast and sugar into lovely alcohol. It slowed down a bit, which I gather is normal, but at the weekend, disaster struck. The wine stopped fermenting!
Now I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that the process isn’t complete – it’s not been in there three weeks. In a slightly mild panic, I decided to consult Dr Google. The word on the street is that the wine is ‘stuck’ (boo!), but it is entirely possible to kick start it again (hurrah!).
To do this, I took about a cup full of the wine out, and added some sugar, a sachet of yeast and a 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient. Before I added these magic ingredients, I had a sneaky slurp to see what I was up against. To my absolute surprise – and I don’t know what I was expecting – it tasted of wine and the rhubarb notes were coming through. (Hark at me – I’ll be swilling it round and spitting it out next – actually I WON’T – what a total waste!)
The wine and yeast starter will sit on the kitchen worktop until it’s fermenting well. At that point I’ll reintroduce it to the mother ship in the demijohn.
Fingers are well and truly crossed!
Rhubarb wine part 1 and part 2 also available…
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