Wine kit not fermenting ?

[onered05]

ok iv got a wilko (from wilkinsons) white chardonnay on the go but cant tell if it is fermenting.
iv done everything by the book and its now been five days brewing. my start reading was 13 and after 5 days it is 10
as im a dim wit can someone tell me what this meens and if my brew is actually working... by the way when i took the lid off the fermenting bucket the smell took my breath away..is this a good sign? sorry if iv posted this in the wrong place by the way

jft96

[Geezah]

It sounds like its working fine to me.

The 'smell' that took your breath away was co2 (thats why it took your breath away) and it is a by product of the production of alcohol as the yeast consumes the sugar and creates ethanol.

The drop from 13? down to 10?

I will assume that you read your hydrometer which should have been 1.130 and it is now 1.100
You should really wait until the gravity drops to arround 1.000 or what otherwise instructed on the kit instructions. 5 days is not a long time for a wine, you should really leave it alone until 14 days has past then test the gravity.

The more you mess with the brew the more chance it has of getting infected and turning to vinegar.

Patience is the key.

[onered05]

Postby Geezah » Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:04 pm
It sounds like its working fine to me.

yes iv left it for 9 days and on the 7th day it really kicked of bubbling away, it has stopped now so ill do the secondary fermentation and hope i have a nice wine to drink in another 7 days...