Should we stabalise on taste or sg readings

I put a kit on some weeks ago (9th of April) the starting sg was 1098, which was quite high, but its a kit so I cant alter it. The kit is an expensive Winexpert vintner reserve Savignon Blanc.

It was racked off to a secondary 9 days ago at 1010 and left to finish. Obviously the fermentation has slowed down but the sg is now reading .992 and the taste of the mix is a tad on the sweet side but its still fermenting at a rate of 2 gloops per minute.

I have 3 dilemmas here.....

1. If I leave it any longer to ferment out to no gloops, it might get too dry.

2. the og of 1098 and the sg now of .992 show it to be 14.4% ABV so its encroaching rocket fuel. I cant really expect it to go much further without compromising the taste.

3. Is it still fermenting, or are the bubbles being produced by excessive co2 escaping.

My hydrometers are all calibrated correctly and the temp is a constant 23 degrees.

What would you do if this was your brew.

In my very limited opinion, you don't do it any harm by giving it a couple extra days to finish. I'd be surprised if you get much more than another 0.002 lower. Sauv Blancs are supposed to be dry wines. If it's me, though, I'd pull the plug and move to next steps - 0.992 is good.

Are you sure you got a good reading on your OG? That just seems a bit high for a Sauv Blanc to me. Could you have read it wrong, or not stirred enough in the primary before taking your reading?

If you didn't stir much along the way, you're probably just seeing the fizz of CO2 being released. There shouldn't be active fermentation going on at this point.

Again, only my limited opinion. I'm a newbie (just did a lot of reading and research on the subject - and I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night).

If your readings are correct, you've got a potent brew there! Many prefer to ferment till it won't ferment any more, usually @.990 would be bottom. Depending on the wine and it's purpose, allowing total fermentation provides the alcohol which helps act as a preservative. You can always back sweeten to taste. Nothing wrong with stopping fermentation when your tastebuds are satisfied tho

How long has it been at 0.992?
As the others have said, the fact that you are still getting gas out does not necessarily mean that there is any fermentation happening; it's probably just outgassing of dissolved CO2. At 0.992, it is more than likely done (notwithstanding what your taste buds are saying).

taste at this point is useless. to many factors not yet complete that will alter taste profile. continue with kit instructions. let wine clear and then settle for about a month. then taste. the alcohol level may not be prominent as this wine is acidic and may balance out. once wine is clear and aged then use taste buds not measurements.

I made the WE Eclipse NZ Savignon Blanc. It started at 1.106, and it turned out great. I let it ferment to dry because I did not want to use k-sorbate.

3. Is it still fermenting, or are the bubbles being produced by excessive co2 escaping.

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Bubbles are a good sign that fermentation has begun, but a horrible sign that it is continuing. Once fermentation is well underway, the only reliable way to tell if it is done is to watch the SG.

It is hard to stop fermentation (other than for Ports when you fortify and stop fermentation with high alcohol level). Better to let it finish. add k-meta and k-sorbate, and then backsweeten.

richmke said:

I made the WE Eclipse NZ Savignon Blanc. It started at 1.106, and it turned out great. I let it ferment to dry because I did not want to use k-sorbate.



Bubbles are a good sign that fermentation has begun, but a horrible sign that it is continuing. Once fermentation is well underway, the only reliable way to tell if it is done is to watch the SG.

It is hard to stop fermentation (other than for Ports when you fortify and stop fermentation with high alcohol level). Better to let it finish. add k-meta and k-sorbate, and then backsweeten.

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I wont need to back sweeten this brew, its already too sweet. I am getting an air lock activity every minute or so and the sg has stabilised at 992. By definition sauvignon blancs are dry wines, this taste more like a german piesporter or spatelaser.

I am going to give it another day or two to see if it drops or gets dryer. its been fermenting now for over 16 days which is way past the instruction advice but this one was a very high starting sg of 1098, so we will see.

At the moment the ABV is encroaching fortified wine properties, so if it does get dryer, Ive got a rocket fuel on my hands, lol.