Hi,
A couple of years ago I bought grapes from a farmer in the Barossa Valley. Well actually, I bought grape juice. He picked the grapes at their peak level of sugar and then crushed and pressed them for me. I took the juice home and fermented it over a year. It is superb.
Now I can't remember if the ferment in the carbuoy with the airlock is meant to bubble straight away (meaning the water in the airlock will bubble and reduce to indicate yeast activity) or does that happen only after several weeks.
With this wine, no sulphur, sugar water or anything else was added to the wine. It was pure grape juice fermented into wine
The reason I am asking is that I am now trying to make wine with some mandarins. I picked it at the peak level of sugar and then crushed and pressed and left to ferment for three days before I removed all the pulp. I didn't include the skin, seeds or pith. The water in the airlock hasnt been bubbling. Can you tell me please why it is not bubbling when the top layer of the ferment is covered in white yeasty film?