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Morbius

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What is the secret? I made a meade which turned dry. The recipe came from a book that guarateed that it would be a sweet wine. Should I have conditioned it at the end of fermentation? What is a good amount of honey for a gallon? Likewise how much sugar is good to produce a sweet fruit wine?
 
Morbius said:
What is the secret? I made a meade which turned dry. The recipe came from a book that guarateed that it would be a sweet wine. Should I have conditioned it at the end of fermentation? What is a good amount of honey for a gallon? Likewise how much sugar is good to produce a sweet fruit wine?

There's no secret. There are a few ways to guarantee a sweet wine. You must use a hydrometer. The assumption is that in a dry wine the yeast will consume the sugar turning the sweetness to CO2 and alcohol. The yeast dies from starvation when there is no longer sugar to absorb. A few techniques to choose from are one to stop the fermentation before the yeast absorbs the sugar, two to back sweeten after the wine is dry, or three to continue to add sugar until the alcohol level is exceeds the capability of the yeast to convert the sugars. Your choice.

Lawrence
 
Best advice I can give is to use a hydrometer to help determine the beginning and ending sugar content. I don't think there's a specific formula for sugar, because every different wine base (fruit) has a different amount of sugar. Even between the same fruit... depending on how ripe it is, where it's grown, etc... its sugar content will be different batch to batch. I've got 3 wines going right now... beet, rhubarb and pineapple... and I won't know for a long time, after aging, whether any of these are going to be sweet enough. But if they're not, I'll have to backsweeten to taste. I learned, after trying without one, that the hydrometer is my best friend. They're pretty cheap, and well worth the investment.
 

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