I probably shouldn't admit this, but it's a huge development in my wine making experience. I thought I was being diligent about looking stuff up; I have wine making books that I've been reading and I've been looking stuff up online....but I missed something big. I could do a shorter version of this story, but I have a tendency to be long winded.
Up until when my brother gave me a refractometer for Christmas, I was using a hydrometer to test sugar. The refractometer is great! You don't need to use a big test sample to test the sugar, just a few drops. I basically stopped using the hydrometer. As time progressed, I found that all of my wines were getting stuck fermentations between 1.025 and 1.030 sg. It was frustrating, I re-pitched the yeast, added yeast nutrient, nothing worked. Finally this summer it was time to start freeing up some carboys. I decided the wines were sitting around 8% or 9% abv, which was ok I guess...ok for white table wines anyway. They tasted dry to me, but I was reading that 1.030 was like a desert wine. I figured the higher acid was causing me to think it was dry and maybe my sense of taste was off....maybe I am really just a sweet wine drinker. All of my "sweet" wine tasted good anyway, so I decided to add sorbate and sulfate to make sure the fermentation wouldn't start up again, then I bought a Buon Vino Superjet filter and filtered everything for good measure. Still, I was worried about the wine spoiling since the alcohol levels were so low. I just wouldn't be able to age them long.
I have a whole bunch more wines started this year which also appeared to be fermenting slowly, but there is time yet, so I wasn't too worried. Yesterday a very kind Wine Making Talk member shared a link for Morewine's Guide to Red Wine Making. I was reading along and I got to a point that said "you may have heard that you cannot use a refractometer after the onset of fermentation because the presence of alcohol distorts the reading" then it goes on to say that they have a spreadsheet to use to convert it to the correct reading. I don't have Excel at home, so I just took my hydrometer, dropped it in my bucket of red wine must and the SG is below 0 (it was hard to get an exact number the way I did it with grape skins in the way). I'll get an exact number when I have more time.
Anyway...this is an exciting development. I was already starting to label my previous season's wines putting 8% or 9% abv on the labels, depending on what it worked out to be. It's kind of exciting to know that those fermentations weren't really stuck. I feel kind of gullible, believing what I thought the refractometer was showing over my own taste-buds. It's kind of embarrassing, but also exciting to know everything is working as it should.
Up until when my brother gave me a refractometer for Christmas, I was using a hydrometer to test sugar. The refractometer is great! You don't need to use a big test sample to test the sugar, just a few drops. I basically stopped using the hydrometer. As time progressed, I found that all of my wines were getting stuck fermentations between 1.025 and 1.030 sg. It was frustrating, I re-pitched the yeast, added yeast nutrient, nothing worked. Finally this summer it was time to start freeing up some carboys. I decided the wines were sitting around 8% or 9% abv, which was ok I guess...ok for white table wines anyway. They tasted dry to me, but I was reading that 1.030 was like a desert wine. I figured the higher acid was causing me to think it was dry and maybe my sense of taste was off....maybe I am really just a sweet wine drinker. All of my "sweet" wine tasted good anyway, so I decided to add sorbate and sulfate to make sure the fermentation wouldn't start up again, then I bought a Buon Vino Superjet filter and filtered everything for good measure. Still, I was worried about the wine spoiling since the alcohol levels were so low. I just wouldn't be able to age them long.
I have a whole bunch more wines started this year which also appeared to be fermenting slowly, but there is time yet, so I wasn't too worried. Yesterday a very kind Wine Making Talk member shared a link for Morewine's Guide to Red Wine Making. I was reading along and I got to a point that said "you may have heard that you cannot use a refractometer after the onset of fermentation because the presence of alcohol distorts the reading" then it goes on to say that they have a spreadsheet to use to convert it to the correct reading. I don't have Excel at home, so I just took my hydrometer, dropped it in my bucket of red wine must and the SG is below 0 (it was hard to get an exact number the way I did it with grape skins in the way). I'll get an exact number when I have more time.
Anyway...this is an exciting development. I was already starting to label my previous season's wines putting 8% or 9% abv on the labels, depending on what it worked out to be. It's kind of exciting to know that those fermentations weren't really stuck. I feel kind of gullible, believing what I thought the refractometer was showing over my own taste-buds. It's kind of embarrassing, but also exciting to know everything is working as it should.
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