Final Gravities for wines

[Big Port]

I am wondering if anyone here can clear something up for me. I read an article on Mead Making that had the F.G. listed for dry, medium, sweet and desert meads. Would the same final gravities hold true for wine? Below is the info I found.<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

Typical final gravities for different types of meads are as follows:
<UL =disc>
<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #cc0000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1">Dry Meads 0.990-1.006 </LI>
<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #cc0000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1">Medium Meads 1.006-1.015 </LI>
<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #cc0000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1">Sweet Meads 1.012-1.020 </LI>
<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: #cc0000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1">Dessert Meads 1.020+ </LI>[/list]

 

[masta]

From my research the info you have on FG of mead is correct and FG of wines are typically lower for the categories.


This is some info I found for wine:



<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" summary="s of Wine" border=1>
<T>
<TR>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffff99">SI No. </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffff99">Description </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffff99">Bottling Gravity </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffff99">Wines </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">0 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">very dry </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">0.992-0.994 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">Oaky Reds </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">1 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">dry </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">0.994-.0996 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">Medium Reds </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">2 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">medium dry </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">0.996-0.998 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">French Whites </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">3 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">medium </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">0.998-1.002 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">German Whites </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">4 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">sweet </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">1.002-1.0066 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">Dessert Wines </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">5 + </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">very sweet </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">1.006-1.030 </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">Ice Wines </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">- </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">stuck ferment </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">1.030 (do not bottle) </TD>
<TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #ffffff">1.030 (do not bottle</TD></TR></T></TABLE>

 

[Big Port]

Very good info. Should I have a problem getting a cherry wine with an O.G. of 1.090 to ferment dry usingLatvin EC-1118 and sweeting it back to a medium?

 

[masta]

It will ferment completely dry with that yeast. Not only use a SG reading to sweeten but taste it also.


Alcohol tolerance of EC-1118 is ~18% and your potential alcohol is ~12.5%.


Here are two links to help to figure this out in the future:


Brix/SG with Potential Alcohol Chart


http://www.finevinewines.com/brix_table.htm


Lalvin Yeast Reference Chart


http://consumer.lallemand.com/danstar-lalvin/refchart.html

 

[MedPretzel]

Hmm...





This is a mead topic, but a very interesting one for all wines.


In my way of winemaking, I pay most particular attention to the OG (Starting or Original Gravity). That is the determinant (for my wines) of alcohol content only. (Bear in mind, for my method of winemaking)





I usually account for adding water/wine for the topping up process and adjust the OG accordingly (usually I eyeball it).. For example, most of my wines start out at an SG of 1.090 --&gt; 13.58% alc. I add a little water for topping up (sometimes more, sometimes less), and I usually end up telling people that my wines are in the range of 12-14%. I believe, however, I am quite lower than 13%.





I am not a seasoned enough winemaker to say, "I'm going to start with an SG of XYZ, so I get a sweet wine." It's simply too complicated for me. I think of the alcohol content first.





Then, when the SG has dropped to 0.990 or so (after fermentation has ceased), I know my wines are dry. I sorbate and sweeten if I feel the wine needs to be sweetened.


That's when the hydrometer comes in handy again. You sweeten to taste (minus a little, because my experience has shown that wines which were fermented to dryness really feel sweeter after a year), and take the SG. That's when the SG tables from above really help me, at least.





I know if I have a "semi-dry", "semi-sweet" or "sweet" wine.





Others may have more experience in controlling fermentation, but I'm just not that far yet in my winemaking. My method has worked for me everytime in my 3+ years of winemaking.





Hope this helps.

 

[Big Port]

Wow, you guys are great! I couldn't imagine starting this "hobby" with out the help of all the great minds here. Thanks for all the great and very helpful info. There is so much you just don't know unless you ask and once you ask you realize how much more there is that you just don't know.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Eloquently put! There is a lot to be learned by this forum. We take the
knowledge and put it to work at home, "in the trenches" so to speak, and
that's where real experience comes.

 

[masta]

Ain't nothing like "OJT" !

"On the Job Training"

 

[peterCooper]

Masta, Great avatar!

 

[MedPretzel]

Well, not everything I say should be taken as the gospel truth. I have learned a lot from books, but as we all know, there's only so much you can learn from them (See cold-treatment post!), and then there's the actual experience.


I have also learned a lot from this forum, even if it's "just" another way of doing things to get relatively the same result. Often times, that means 1 or 2 steps less (or more) to get a better result. That's all what we're aiming for, or????

Masta, I have to agree with petercooper, nice avatar, but I miss the viking wench.