Restart fermentation stuck at 1.026SG?

Question

I have a berry wine, stuck at 1.026SG and with a high malic acid (quite sour). Should I try to restart the fermentation by adding fresh yeast? What about yeast from another vat? Is there enough sugar still in the vat to continue the ferment?

Answer 1

There are specific steps to restarting a stuck wine/mead/high gravity beer. You can read the whole procedure here. You'll need some champagne yeast or some other special yeast used to restart stuck fermentations. But it starts with this:

For restarting 5 or 6 gallons, take a quart jar and fill it half way with the wine in question. Add to that, water until the jar is 2/3 full. Put in the mix a 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient, and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Be sure that the sugar becomes completely dissolve. Now you can add a whole packet of the Champagne yeast. Cover the jar with a paper towel and secure with a rubber band.