Wine yeast is an essential
ingredient of any wine recipe. It is the critical ingredient that does all the work. Wine yeast consumes the sugars in the wine must and converts them into alcohol and CO2 gas. Without the yeast you would have no wine.
There are three different ways to add yeast to wine must. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Here’s a brief overview of each of them:
Add The Yeast Directly To The Wine Must:
This is the most common method. Simply open the packet of wine yeast and sprinkle it directly on top of the wine must. There is no reason to the stir the yeast into the liquid. It will dissolve into the wine must just fine on its own. Sprinkle the yeast and let it be. The obvious advantage to this method is that it takes no effort. The disadvantage is that you do lose some of the yeast’s ability to ferment effectively at the very beginning of fermentation. The result is a delay in the startup of fermentation – usually a matter of 3 or 4 hours.
Re-hydrate The Yeast. Then Add To The Wine Must:
The wine yeast that you get in little packets has been dehydrated. All the moisture has been taken from the cells to make them inactive while in storage. Re-hydrate means to add water back to the yeast. When this process is done before adding the yeast to the wine must, you get a fermentation that takes off more quickly.
It’s no coincidence that this is the method you will find directed on the side of most packets of wine yeast. The producers of these yeast packets would prefer you use this method. The problem is that if you do not follow the directions “exactly” you can easily kill the wine yeast.
Typical wine yeast re-hydration directions will read something like:
“Put the yeast in two ounces of water that is between 104°F. and 109°F. for a period of 15 minutes.” 
This method works well if you follow it without wavering in time or temperature. But if you don’t use a thermometer to verify the water’s temperature, or if you leave the wine yeast in the water for longer than directed, you can easily kill most or all of the wine yeast.
Make A Yeast Starter. Then Add To The Wine Must:
This method is often confused with re-hydration, but it’s not the same thing. Re-hydration is getting the wine yeast back to its original state by adding water with it. But a yeast starter is actually letting the yeast ferment on a small amount of must before adding it to a batch of wine. A yeast starter usually take one or two days to get going before it is add to the entire batch.
Making a yeast starter is fairly straight-foreword. If the wine must is already prepared you can use it as the starter. One pint of wine must in a quart Mason jar and a packet of wine yeast works perfectly for a five gallon batch of wine. If your batch is larger, multiply the starter’s size proportionately. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient along with the yeast packet and cover it with a plastic wrap secured with a rubber band. Prick a pinhole in the plastic wrap to allow the gasses to escape.
Regardless of the starter size or how it was made, you want the wine yeast to maximize its level of activity before adding it to the wine must. You will see the yeast starter begin to foam up. I usually tell people to pitch the starter into the wine must once you see this foaming start to slow down. In other words, once the foaming has peaked. This is usually 12 to 18 hours after starting.
When you make the yeast starter you can sprinkle the packet of yeast direction into it, but the purist will re-hydrate the wine yeast in water, first, before doing so.
The advantage with the method of adding yeast to a wine must is that you will get the quickest and most thorough fermentation. Your yeast will also be under little stress, so the chance of the yeast producing any off-flavors is very minimal. The disadvantage is that it is more work, and you do need to plan ahead since the starter needs a day or two to get going.
How you decide to add yeast to your wine must is entirely up to you. Any of these methods will work. Just consider the advantages and disadvantages of each one, and go with what works best for you.
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I added 1/2 of a teaspoon of potassium metabisulfite to a pail of 6 gallons on of fresh wine juice before primary fermentation. I now realized it should have been 1/4 teaspoon. Have I ruined the wine?
Louie, you have not ruined the wine. This happens more often than you think. You want to encourage the sulfites to leave by splashing the wine around. The following article will explain this in more detail.
Too Much Sulfite
http://blog.eckraus.com/too-much-sulfite-wine-homemade
I have wine that is 2 and 3 years old and when I back sweeten it it still ferment
Why is that? Rhubarb, BlackBerry wines. In addition, I have wine that pops corks after a year…
I’m just guessing. But, perhaps whatever you used to backsweeten the brew had natural yeast on it, allowing the ferment to begin again. Or, maybe your ferment is still going but super slowly, maybe too cold?
I recently completed the primary fermentation of my harvest and have now moved the wine into carboys for the secondary fermentation. I always use yeast nutrient in the primary fermentation process but I realize now from my written records that I forgot to add it to my must this time. The wine has and is fermenting normally. So my question is – is it too late to add it and would it do any good now that primary fermentation is complete?
Thanks,
Ron
Ron, It is not too late to add the nutrient if needed. It could help the secondary fermentation complete in a timely manner.
Hi, it’s my first time of making wine, I had 26lbs of grapes from my vine, I washed everything out with the usual stuff, crushed the grapes and added the yeast and then stirred it in, and since then nothing has happened, I was expecting the airlock to be bubbling away, as yet nothing, so have I killed it, I’ll be expecting another bumper crop from my vine this year, so shall I bin it and start again? Or can it be recovered? And its been about 2 weeks since!
John, there are many reasons that can cause a failed fermentation. I recommend taking a look at the article below on the most common causes of fermentation failure. Before you can correct the situation, you need to know the cause.
Top Reasons For Fermentation Failure
https://eckraus.com/wine-making-failure/
how much suger should I put in my gallon of wine
Jody, unfortunately we cannot tell you how much sugar to add because we do not know how much is currently in the juice. You can use your hydrometer to help determine how much sugar to add.
can I add yeast to my wine
Jody, when making wine you do want to use wine yeast.
My wine is on the fifth day of primary fermentation..but I notice from third day onwards that it’s not bubbling ..so shall I add more yeast at this stage ?
What you should do is take a hydrometer reading to see if the fermentation is done or not. It is very possible that the fermentation is done. If it did not finish, adding more yeast is seldom a solution. I would recommend going over the following to try to figure out why the wine stopped. Once you know the “why”, then you can come up with the appropriate action to take.
Top Ten Reasons For Fermentation Failure
https://eckraus.com/wine-making-failure/
Hi. My husband and I started our wine last night and we put the yeast in first! I now realize we should have put the yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme in then wait 24 hours for the yeast. We haven’t put the nutrient or the enzyme in yet. Have we ruined our wine? Can we still add the nutrient and enzyme?
Tara, it is perfectly fine to add the yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme even if you have already added the yeast.
Oh, good. I added the yeast nutrient today a few hours after crushing and adding sulfite, pectate, water and sugar, and I was afraid I added the nutrient too soon. We pitch the yeast tomorrow, 18 hours after starting, right?
Sir how to prepare yeast starter from the small amount of yeast culture in ypd media?
Sangeeta, the article posted below will explain how to make a yeast starter.
Making A yeast Starter
https://blog.eckraus.com/making-a-wine-yeast-starter-to-restart-a-stuck-fermentation
About a month ago I started a wheat wine, I pitched two yeasts together. A Nottingham yeast(beer yeast), and Lalvin EC-1118. It was a very hard fermentation, lots of foam. My OG was 1.140. My plan was when I got to 1.050-1.030 I would pitch a turbo yeast. I got to 1.040 and pitched the turbo yeast and it worked for a day or two then stopped. Idid some research and read the 1118 was a killer strain. Is there anything I can do to restart the fermentation and get this wine to dry out more? Thanks for your help.
Tim, if the EC 1118 has gone dormant, meaning it has fermented all of the alcohol it can, that is not the problem. Have you actually checked the current gravity to see if it is finished because the turbo yeast could have finished the fermentation within a couple of days.
When adding my yeast for white wine, I had the temp for the starter at 98F…. but only waited 8-10 minutes before adding the in juice. Will that slow or prevent the fermentation process?
C.M., there really is no way to know if the yeast will or will not ferment correctly. You will just need to keep track of the progress with your hydrometer. If it does become stuck, I would just sprinkle a new pack of yeast on top.
Is it better to add Potassium Metabisulphate, to kill of any wild yeast, before adding yeast, or is this not necessary.
We strongly urge home winemakers to sulfite their wine 24 hours before adding wine yeast. This is so the fermentation can start with a clean slate, so to speak. Also, while waiting the 24 hour do not put the must under an air-lock. Cover it with a thin cloth so that the sulfite is not trapped within the must.
Vic, If you never added the sulfites, it will not interfere with the yeast fermentation.
I am using 210 grams of yeast for 210 gallons of Must @104 degrees. Can I apply the yeast all at once to take advantage of temperature.?
I’m am also looking to purchase a 6 Bottle Filler from your company. Could I have a catalog with specifics?
Hello,
I’m currently in the starting stages of prepping to make my first wine; I chose to go with a frozen Cabernet must. My biggest question right now is: should the must be at a certain temperature before I add the yeast starter in? Currently it’s sitting in between 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hello,
In one of your pages, it indicates that the yeast nutrient is added to the must prior to the yeast. Is this correct? I’ve read that this could give vigor to the native yeasts. If you could please advise.
Regards,
Artur
Can I add my yeast 22 hours after mixing my must including my campden tablet?
I bought a 6 gal pail of cab juice, made a slurry of EC-1118 yeast at the proper temperature. I waited about 10 mins and added the yeast slurry to the wine and mixed and the wine bubbled up and overflowed. Did I ruin the chance of a proper fermentation?
1st timer:
How long do i have to add other ingredients to the must if i’ve, already poured in your sugar, and what’s considered too late?….. I had yeast but I now understand it should be wine yeast, so I heald off on other ingredients also..
I made a yeast starter for my stuck cranberry wine. The starter seemed to be doing what it should, but since I added it to the carboy, the yeast has not dissolved and rather looks like pellets. The bits will sink when agitated and float to the top again. The SG is decreasing sloooowwwly. The acidity is not too high, and temperature is consistent.
hi,
this is a crazy question., just started with a wine kit and i am in the first stage. im having trouble reading hydrometer, , before I add the yeast. I have a Brix, with red and yellow lines,
yellow for beer, red for wine. Instructions say specific gravity should be 1.080 or higher.
its at the yellow stage (beer) 40, after 2 days.,
should i wait a few days before putting yeast, thanks, if you can help me.