Part 6. Preparing sourdough
What should we do if we seem to have done everything correctly, but the wine does not gurgle — is our fire not burning? Well, about the fact that “we did everything right” — We probably got carried away. It is possible that something is still wrong - miracles do not happen. Maybe when washing the fruit, the yeast fungi were all washed away. Or maybe it's too cold in the room. Or maybe the wort is too sour or too sweet.
Well, if everything is correct, we need to start the fermentation process - light our fire. This can be done using “sourdough”, adding it to the wort and thereby infecting it with yeast. Then they will multiply themselves, and the fermentation reaction will go into full swing.
You can prepare a starter to artificially infect the wort with yeast fungi yourself. To do this, take two glasses of unwashed raspberries or garden strawberries, crush them with ½ glass of sugar and place them in a bottle using a funnel and a thin stick. Add a glass of water there and shake the mixture thoroughly. We close the bottle with a stopper made of twisted cotton wool and place it in a warm and dark place with a temperature of 18-20°C. Shake the bottle several times a day.
After 2-3 days, when the contents of the bottle begin to ferment, strain the juice through cheesecloth and add it to our wort. The fermentation reaction has started.
You can store the starter for a short time and only in the cold and under a “water seal” — otherwise it will turn sour.
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