Fermentation help
 

i have 5 gallons of cab fermenting...
i have racked once.

but the fermentation has slowed and the SG is 1.028. down from 1.030 2weeks ago...

i had moved the jugs in to the garage and the avg tmp is 50F.

would it perk up if i moved the carboys into a warmer room?????

What is the warmest a room should be to ferment without damaging the wine.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat6.gif

Dont know about wine, but when I make my beer I keep it in a room no warmer than 65. Over 70 will ruin it.

Wine yeast is very different than beer yeast. With beer, the character of the beer depends a lot on the yeast. With wine, you try to minimize the influence. Think ale vs. lager here.

I am not a wine maker, only a beer brewer, but I would look up the yeast characteristics and see the recommended fermentation temperature.

For most Ale yeast yes, but not necessarily. I have a heffeweizen bubbling away right now. I'm keeping it upstairs where it's warmer(72ish) because that's what the yeast profile calls for, and the warmer temperature profile seems to produce more banana + clove which this style is known for.

^ I would do this.

I usually let my stuff ferment in the 60s.

Sounds like you may have a stuck fermentation.
Stuck fermentation - its causes, how to prevent it, and how to solve it - grapestompers

if you pour some sugar into your mix, it might jump start it - it may also make that wine sparkling though....as in "I am tasting the stars!"

I don't know much about wine yeast, I only work with beer yeast.


Going back through, I noticed you say 'the average temperature" How big are the temperature swings? You don't want much variation in your temperature otherwise your yeast will go dormant even though the temperature is ok. Everytime the temperature drops the yeast get ready for "hibernation" and could drop out of suspension, then when it comes back up, they start feeding again. Keep as constant a temperature as you can.

What were the harvest or 24 hour soak-up brix? Stuck ferm in cab is unusual, do you know your nutrient load at the beginning of fermentation? What kind of yeast did you add?

The link Cashflyer provided is good. I don't know why you racked during fermentation, but that might be a cause.

Otherwise, absolutely, fermenting in the 70's would help.

I've only had to deal with one stuck Pinot fermentation, it was difficult to restart. If you can't restart through temp or re-inoculation, take a small portion out of the tank, add some super yeast and a little warmth to get it going, then continually add portions of it into the tank and pulling out stuck portions into the starter.