Once again...I'm confused...

We started a Island Mist--Strawberry to be exact. We added extra sugar to amp with the Alcohol content. With that being said we started with a SG of 1.085 and ended with a 1.010 (maybe 0.9% alcohol correct?).
So did we just make fruit juice? Or are we reading it wrong, or is the hydrometer broke? Or I just may give up this hobby Its has great taste but we were hoping for a bit more alcohol than that. So this leaves me a little disappointed.


Any help????

Take your 1.085 (starting specific gravity)
-1.010 (ending specific gravity)
0.075

0.075 =10.19% ABV
0.00736

Sounds like your yeast finished before the sugars ran out.

Edited by: gaudet

You did not make fruit juice. A starting SG of 1.085 gives around a 11-12% ABV depending on how dry it went. The ending reading of 1.010 is a result of sweetening it at the end. I have no idea how you are coming up with a 0.9% ABV. Maybe you are looking at the potential alcohol at the 1.010. That is incorrect. You take the potential ABV of the starting SG and then see how far down it ferments- a bit below 0. That may add up to 1% more to the starting figure. You add those together. When you sweeten a kit like this you don't figure the end at the re-sweetened value, you ignore that amount because hopefully it doesn't ferment and add any alcohol.

I'm no expert and hopefully someone else with chime in, but I think your confusing s.g. with alcohol percent. Wade posted the formula sometime back.

"You will take the Starting SG of 1.080 and subtract the fin. SG of
0.994 and get the answer 0.086. You then multiply that # by 131.4 and
this # 11.30 is your abv of your wine."

I think your alcohol % is .09 * 131.4 which is 11.83%. which is about what I think most "bumped" Island Mist kits shoot for.

If you want high alcohol, you need to bolder wine or it will be out of balance and taste pretty harsh.

man. I must type slow. there were no replies when I started!!!

Appleman is correct as You should have used the SG that it finished at before you sweetened which was probably right around .995. Then you use the formula that Jeff posted and you get your abv of 11.83%or roughly 23 proof and that is fairly decent for a fruit wine. You dont want to get much higher or the fruit will be hidden.
Edited by: wade

Well I would have been right if that 1.010 was her secondary final gravity before backsweetening.

Hopefully is isnt her gravity before sweetening or we have a stuck fermentation cause that should have gone dry.

Thanks for the help! Didn't know there was a formula. Guess thats why I'm still a newbie.


We took of our wine to the last ECU tailgating event for the season...and WOW it was a huge hit and brought lots of smiles on everyones faces. Wine seems to make everyone lovers

Was that final gravity before or after adding the F-Pack? If it was before the others were right and it didn't finish fermenting. With a starting gravity you posted and fermenting to dry and then adding the F-Pack you should of had a wine with a decent little kick. You actually want fruit flavored wines to be on the lower alcohol content side to be able to enjoy the flavor of the fruit. If it gets too high you taste rocket fuel. Come over to my house sometime and try some of a batch of Raspberry I made the ended up at 18% by me making a stupid math mistake. I swear I think the stuff would burn like Moonshine. I can't taste a bit of raspberry and it is going to get dumped when I get the ambition to uncork the bottles and pour. 10% or so is spot on for a fruit wine.

Save me a couple bottles Smurfe, I'll let it age for 5 years....

Raspberry Port A La Smurfe

It was after the F-pack was added. It was great taste and got us all alittle tipsy this weekend. Everyone LOVED it and requested bottles for x-mas

My husband is done with the girly fruit wines! Can you tell me the alcohol result for the Vintners Reserve-Cabernet Sauvignon. Or do we need to add sugar to this one like we did to the island mist one?<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

That one should be in the 13-14%ABV range. You could beef it up, but the yeast might not finish it all and it could end ups sweet. Personally, I would make the Mosti Mondiale Vinifera Noble Cab Franc/Suavignon. The body is much better and the kit is about the same price.

Besides the Mist kits I wouldnt up the abv on any other kits as they are all right on where they should be. Most reds are around 13-14 like appleman said and whites are just a tad lighter like 12.5 -13.

Is that the ending after the de-gassing and adding the additives after the secondary fermentation? Or before degassing? I have a cab s. Started at 1.07. Today it is .992. (on day 10)I do have a little trouble getting the hydrometer off the side of the wine thief. I might need to get a test jar.


1.07-.992 = .078 x 131.4? = 10.249
Or do I take the SG right before bottling?


Thanks!

1.07 is a little low for a Cab, was that in range specified by manufacturer? The formula is right and thats a low abv for a Cab.

It says 1.07- 1.085 depending on the wine type but does not specify further.
Checking the SG again tonight and getting out my drill. Hope to not make a mess!
Mary

That is a low starting sg for a cab but that will be fine and probably an early drinker. Im guessing this is a 10 liter kit right? They tend to have lower SG's then the bigger kits.

Yes it is the 10 liter.
Done mixing and adding the stuff. Hope I did it well enough since the mixer does not reach all the way down. (I had to take a flashlight and see if it was all swirrling around). Hope it was good enough.
Tasted it prior to all the mixing... taste a little wine like but also an odd taste... is that normal? Should I stop tasting it? LOL
I will be happy when this first try is over... it is stressing me that it wont turn out . Now I wait 14 days. (Did get more bottles from the bar to clean though- yeah!)
Thanks for everyone's guidance.
Mary