my new juice/fresh pressed

[JackieG]

I have 2 new juices. the first is Pink Catawba. my starting sg is 1060. it needs help. I would like it to get to about 12% so according to wine cal I need to add about 4lbs of sugar. just checking with you guys to make sure im on track. My 2nd batch is cab.franc red my sg reading is 1080. i want to get this wineto about 14% alcohol. I think i sould add about about 2-3lbs sugar. Also Is this the very first thing i should do before adding anything?

 

[Rocky]

Jackie, the amount of sugar would depend on how many gallons of juice you have. My calculations say that you need to add 13 oz/gal of juice to the Pink Catawa to raise the SG from 1.060 to 1.090, giving you about 12% ABV. In the case of the Cabernet Franc, I calculate you need 11 oz/gal of juice to raise it from 1.080 to 1.105 which would result in something around 14% ABV. I use a table rather than the Wine Calc software. You may get a different result from it.

And, yes, I would add the sugar first and and be sure to get the SGs that you need before adding anything else.

 

[robie]

Never add the sugar directly to the wine. Dissolve the sugar in a small amount of warm water; then stir this solution into the wine really, really well, as it won't readily mix on its own as well as you might think.

 

[sailavie]

I agree don't add the sugar directly to the wine - it may not completely dissolve, and your SG readings may not be accurate. I create a saturated sugar solution from either the must or water, and I use this to increase the SG.

 

[JackieG]

Rocky r u saying 11oz sugar before I make it into simple syrup?

 

[JackieG]

Ya you guys already told me that. But thinks.

 

[Rocky]

Jackie, there are two ways to proceed.

One is to make a simple syrup of 2:1 sugar to water. You can use the ounces per gallon of juice (by weight, not volume) that I showed above. Weigh out the total amount of sugar needed and then find the volume of that weight of sugar. Once you know the volume of the sugar put half that wolume of water in a pan, heat it and add the sugar to dissolve. Do not overheat. Let it cool and add to the juice.

A second way is to take a volume of the juice, warm it on the range and add the sugar, stirring to dissolve. Let this cool and add it to the wine. This will result in a slightly higher sugar content (due to the absence of the water added above) but it will be negligible.

 

[JackieG]

Raised sg for pink Catawba to 1080! Thanks Rocky, Robbie, & Sailavie! The cab I don't have sugar for so it will wait till Sunday. That's about a week since I got the juice is that ok?

 

[djrockinsteve]

Do not add water! You will dilute your juice. Take a small amount of juice, warm slightly on a very low flame and disolve your sugar in that. It will take about 7 minutes for the sugar to invert. If you watch closely you can witness it change. Stir often and when it has completely changed remove it from the heat and allow it to rest a few more minutes to completely finish.

Your juice should never get hot.

Secondly to increase .010 you need 4 ounces of sugar by "weight". If you have 5 gallons then you need 12 ounces per gallon (@60 ounces in all). I would suggest starting off with around 8 ounces. Stir and blend well. Take a gravity reading and then repeat to get it right on. If your sugar is not completely inverted and blended into the juice then you will end up higher in the end with your ABV.

Add your sugar and nutrients and pectic enzyme. Wait 12+ hours and rehydrate your yeast. Jackie you are doing fine.

 

[JackieG]

Steve u r so helpful. I have done kits but never really understood how to make wine because u just follow direction. I've learned so much from you guys. this is so much more fun and I'm learning alot! I already used water but next time I will use the juice. So what do you use to top off with? Water, wine??

 

[Rocky]

I almost always top off with wine. I only use water if I need an ounce or two to top off and I don't want to open a bottle of wine.

 

[djrockinsteve]

In the very beginning I used water, I didn't know any better. Then I learned to top off with a similar wine....DUH! So simple of an idea but never thought about it. You hate to use a bottle of last years wine so you can buy a cheap yet similar wine, even from a box and top off with that, or, open a bottle of your last years wine if you have it. It's not being wasted, just postponned until next year.

All of my juices come in at 1.090-1.092 so there is no need to add sugar. In your case your supplier did not add anything so you will have to. Just take some juice, not all, and add sugar as described above to invert. You can invert 2 times the amount of sugar in the juice. I would recommend to have a little extra juice than 1/2 the sugar. It's easier to invert.

You definitely want to use pectic enzyme to avoid any hazes later on. If you boil or overheat the juice you will most likely end up with a haze in your wine that will take awhile to get out. Not bad, just unsightly.

 

[Rocky]

For sure, Steve. I just eyeball the amount of wine I used when inverting sugar with wine. As long as it is at least half of the sugar it is fine. It does not matter if you have equal parts wine or even twice as much as long as you have calculated the correct amount of sugar needed.

 

[JackieG]

Umm where do u get your juice Steve?

 

[JackieG]

When I get to the next step I hope you guys don't mind helping. With my pink catabwa someone told me to put it in 20 to 30 degree temp for a week. Not sure why.

 

[Runningwolf]

When I get to the next step I hope you guys don't mind helping. With my pink Catawba someone told me to put it in 20 to 30 degree temp for a week. Not sure why.

Jackie they are talking about cold stabilizing. Three weeks would be better as the temp of your actual wine will take a few days to come down to temperature. The idea is to drop out the acid from the wine so it does not appear later when you chill your bottles.

Where did you buy your Catawba juice and is it really pink? It is rare for the Catawba to come out pink, but this year is a good year for the color. Most of the time a red wine is blended with it to achieve the blush color at a 10/90 ratio for consistency.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Umm where do u get your juice Steve?

My California juice (Sept. each season) comes from Premiere Produce in the strip district here in Pittsburgh. Great Prices. Some juices I get from Walkers Fruit Basket in Forestville New York, just off of I-90 (heading there Monday).

Some juice I make myself when I get fruit. I have a fruit press. Some fruit I freeze then ferment on the fruit rather than press.

If you put your carboys somewhere it's chilly in your home over the winter months you will see tartaric acid crystals (Diamonds) drop out. It doesn't have to be freezing unless you want it done quick. My celler wine room is around 55-60 in February.

Come spring time there's lots of diamonds visible.

 

[JackieG]

Dan I got my pink Catawba juice from debonne vineyard In Madison Ohio. It's is pink and very fizzy. I got some last year and it was pink also but I messed it up really bad(it exploded in the bottles). Lol that Was before I decovered this web site. I really have learned so much from you guys. Im just getting the hang of fermenting. I will be stuck again when fermenting is over. Trying to read ahead and figue this out. I really like this so much more than the kits.

 

[JackieG]

Ok what do u mean diamonds, is that good or bad?

 

[JackieG]

Ok stressed out that pink Catawba not fermenting!! What the!!!! Put towel around to warm up....dam