Dry yeast is almost impossible to kill but once you add water and it rehydrates than it is very easy to kill off. But just because your liquid is not fermenting that does not mean you have killed it. There are a lot of reasons why and today we are going to cover a few of them. 

            Other than the main reasons being temperature another important one of the reasons is sugar. Sugar is needed to help the yeast produce the alcohol but if you add to much sugar it can do the exact opposite and cause the yeast to stop the fermentation of your product. It is recommended to check the sugar levels already in your juice before adding more to it. This will help prevent adding to much sugar and causing fermentation issues. 

            Something else that can cause fermentation failure is by adding yeast to soon after Sodium Bisulfite or Campden Tablets. Both Sodium Bisulfite and Campden Tablets are added to kill the bacteria and wild yeast in your juice. You want to wait at least 24 hours after adding the Sodium Bisulfite or Campden Tablets otherwise they can kill your yeast and cause it not to ferment. 

            When making wine you want to avoid using distilled water due to there are minerals in the water that is needed to help aid the wine making process. If you have good tap water it is recommended to use that otherwise if your using bottled water you want to stick to spring water, mineral water, or other drinking water that has not been distilled. 

For more tips check out our Beer/Wine FAQ page 

Posted on Categories : Wort & Fermenting