VERY DRY - Below .990 ?

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Scooter68

Fruit "Wine" Maker
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Ok Today I got a bit of a surprise. Checked the SG on a 3 gallon batch of Black Currant wine that just finished fermenting. (Started Fermentation on 28 May.)

The number surprised me so I did a retest and took photos to get help confirming what I'm seeing.
The reading was .987 at 70 degrees
I checked this with a test of distilled water and that read .998 at 78 degrees. Doing a temperature correction the .987 doesn't change but since the hydromenter was calibrated for 68 degrees that makes the .998 corrected to .999.

I've not had but one wine before that even looked like it was under .990.

Anyone see anything in those photos different than what I'm reading/seeing?

Black Currant 2017 final SG .jpg

Water hydrometer.jpg

Hydrometer UP.jpg
 
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Looks right to me. Also looks clear, I'd add sorbate and kmeta. Then sweeten to 1.000 and start taste testing so you get it where you want it. Most of my fruit wines end up at 1.008 to 1.010. But I have a black cherry concord that tasted great at 1.000
 
It's just finished fermentation - So it's got some time to age first. K-Meta added already via Campden Tablets.
Plan now is:
1) Monitor it for the next 6-9 months. Dose with K-Meta every other racking (Rack again after first month, then every other month)
2) Add Sorbate and last dose of K-Meta
3) Wait a week,
4) Backsweeten to about the numbers you mentioned,
5) Wait another week
6) Bottle

Last Black Currant quit fermentation with the SG at 1.005. I didn't even need to back sweeten in. I added k-Meta and airlocked it. Added Sorbate and bottled it at 6 months - it was/is a kick your butt sweet wine with an ABV of about 15.5-16% as I remember. This one isn't quite as strong.
 
Used Lavin - K1V-1116

SG was 1.098
Final of 0.988 Yields an ABV of 14.4%

My very first batch of wine was Blueberry with Montrachet yeast, It started at an SG of 1.098 and ended at .988
 
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