How much sugar?

[cartet]

I had some juices at home so decided to just throw some things together and not sure how much sugar or chemicals to put in it. I used 3 1/2 gallons of Niagra white grape juice, 1/2 gallon cranberry juice (all with no preservs), 1 pkg dried cranberries, 8 ounces pineapple chunks and 3 bananas. I used around 4 pounds of sugar, but I'm thinking I need to add more too it. I think the SG was like 1100? I haven't pitched the yeast yet. I put the cut up bananas without skins, cranberries and pineapple into a bag and cooked it for around 30 minutes and let it cool. I'm only making 3 gallons so topped off with spring water.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Tammy

 

[cintipam]

Tammy, the only way to know for sure if you need more sugar is by checking the SG. Your number doesn't look right (no decimal place at all), and you said I think. Based on that I believe you should check it again and post the for sure number. Anything between 1.080-1.100 should be fine, but the higher the number the higher your ABV.

I use a lot of cranberry and am glad to see you are using Niagara also. that will help keep PH in a good range. Don't forget nutrients, pectic enzyme and a yeast that shines at blushes.

Pam in cinti

 

[cartet]

Thanks Pam. I am at work but I do have the specific SG written down at home. I was just hoping to get a idea before I go home tonight to put the yeast in. Yay, I'm glad the cranberry and the Niagra will balance each other out. I did put in some pectic enzyme, yeast energizer and nutrient and put 3 campden tablets and a small amount of acid blend. I hesitated on the acid blend as I thought maybe I had enough with the grape, cranberry, bananas and pineapple. I can always add more down the line I think?

Oh I have champagne yeast and Montranchet. Which would be better? I'd like the ABV to be around 12-13%.

Thanks!

 

[cintipam]

1.100 will give you 13% but that is the max recommended ABV for Montrachet. Champagne will go higher, but my reading leads me to say Montrachet will give you a better blush. Both are for dry wines tho, so if you want to backsweeten a lot you might consider Lalvin D47. I'm a big fan. Do step feed the nutrients tho, esp with Montrachet. the only time I used that I got sulpher issues. I was pretty inexperienced back then and didn't know about step feeding tho.

When you read your SG on your hydrometer turn it a bit and look at a diff column which will tell you what ABV the SG you have will produce. Only way to know what you will get is to check that column in addition to the SG. After a while you'll know target ranges and not have to worry so much about it tho.

Good luck with your wine. It sounds like a yummy concoction.

Pam in cinti

 

[sour_grapes]

And it is "Niagara." One more "A" than you have been using.

 

[cartet]

Sorry for the spelling mistake Sour Grapes. I will try to watch it.

 

[cartet]

Thanks Pam for the advice. It is much appreciated!

 

[Turock]

You should never use pectic enzyme and SO2 together because the SO2 will inactivate the enzyme. Use the meta first--then the next day add the enzyme. It's all about timing.

Also, yeast energizer should be added 24 hours after pitching the yeast. You always wait for the yeast to take off before adding nutrient, but energizer works better when you wait the 24 hours.

 

[sour_grapes]

Sorry for the spelling mistake Sour Grapes. I will try to watch it.

I hope I didn't sound snarky -- I didn't mean to. I used to THINK that the word was "Niagra." Since I learned better, I am a bit sensitive to that one!

 

[jswordy]

If you are really at 1.100, that's as high as you want to go. The most often used SSG (starting specific gravity) reading is 1.080. The vast majority of recipes I have seen call for 1 cup to 1-1/4 cups of sugar per gallon of must, and that generally gets someone without a hydrometer in the ballpark 1.080-1.090 range. It seems to be a "sweet spot," pardon the pun!

 

[cartet]

It's okay, I'm just a little sensitive to things like that sometimes. I have a friend that is always correcting me instead of just letting it go. But since this is a forum about wine making, it is pretty important that certain words be correct. So I will try to watch it so I don't confuse other new people like myself. Thank you!!! It's all good.

 

[cartet]

Hi Jim! My actual starting gravity (after I added more sugar) was 1.095 according to the hydrometer. I had found a picture of a hydrometer on here with a little cheat chart showing what was in the normal range for starting gravity, so I went with that. I've made several batches of wine in the past from recipes that we got from E.C. Kraus and I think they all said to add everything but the yeast, so that's what I've been doing. But you guy's have been doing this for a lot longer than me so I will defer to your experience the next time I start another batch. I did go home and add more pectic enzyme because after reading several post on here I determined I didn't add nearly enough, so I added that and waited 15 hours before I put the yeast in. However, that was yesterday morning and so far nothing. Not one bubble. Did I kill the yeast? How long should I wait before doing anything else? I moved it to a different spot in my house that might not be in a direct line to my air vents hoping that will help. Our brew supply place in town charges almost $3 for each packet of yeast, which is highway robbery, but unless I'm ordering a bunch it's cheaper than shipping!

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm trying to learn. I'm one of those people that does a lot of baking and rarely follows a recipe but wine making might prove to be a bit more complicated and I will have to learn to play by the rules