My new strawberry wine

[Smoke]

So I just checked the wine this morning, looks like active fermentation has stopped. Just tiny bubbles and no activity in the airlock. I’ll pull off a cup or so for testing, then repeat the numbers.

So winemaker 81 said in a previous post “ferment dry, then stabilize with sorbate + K-meta, and backsweeten to taste”
So, by “ferment dry” I assume you mean, “until the sg stops dropping”, but what are the numbers for the sorbate and k-meta? How do I figure out how much to add?

Also, since I believe the k sorbate will sweeten it a little, how do I go about “ back sweetening”? Can I use sugar and or honey? And how much to start with?

3 gallon carboy

 

[Ohio Bob]

So I just checked the wine this morning, looks like active fermentation has stopped. Just tiny bubbles and no activity in the airlock. I’ll pull off a cup or so for testing, then repeat the numbers.

So winemaker 81 said in a previous post “ferment dry, then stabilize with sorbate + K-meta, and backsweeten to taste”
So, by “ferment dry” I assume you mean, “until the sg stops dropping”, but what are the numbers for the sorbate and k-meta? How do I figure out how much to add?

Also, since I believe the k sorbate will sweeten it a little, how do I go about “ back sweetening”? Can I use sugar and or honey? And how much to start with?

3 gallon carboy

Sorbate is added at a rate or 1/2 tsp per gallon of wine.
Kmeta is added at a rate of 1/4 tsp per 5 or 6 gallons, so 1/8 tsp per a 3g carboy.

I do not believe the sorbate can sweeten a wine. If it does it’s at a barely perceptible amount. Glycerin can slightly increase the perceived sweetness, I think because it does enhance the mouthfeel, which allows the small amount of sugar to reside on the palate longer.

Since we do not know your preference in sweetness no one can say exactly how much to start with. If it was me I would rack off 2 jugs, 1/2g if you have them, but only fill halfway. Add a known amount of honey to one, and a known amount of sugar, or sugar syrup, to the other. Swish them around to get them mixed well. Then taste each and record observations. Then pour a glass with half the honey sweetened and half the sugar sweetened. If at any time you can’t taste any sweetness, then increase the sweetener. When you arrive at the best amount of sweetening scale that up to your 2.0 gallons of unsweetened wine. Further advice is to add 50% of what your calculations say, and taste the wine again. It’s easy to miscalculate of overshoot your target. You can always add more, but not take out any if you over sweeten.

 

[Smoke]

Sorbate is added at a rate or 1/2 tsp per gallon of wine.
Kmeta is added at a rate of 1/4 tsp per 5 or 6 gallons, so 1/8 tsp per a 3g carboy.

I do not believe the sorbate can sweeten a wine. If it does it’s at a barely perceptible amount. Glycerin can slightly increase the perceived sweetness, I think because it does enhance the mouthfeel, which allows the small amount of sugar to reside on the palate longer.

Since we do not know your preference in sweetness no one can say exactly how much to start with. If it was me I would rack off 2 jugs, 1/2g if you have them, but only fill halfway. Add a known amount of honey to one, and a known amount of sugar, or sugar syrup, to the other. Swish them around to get them mixed well. Then taste each and record observations. Then pour a glass with half the honey sweetened and half the sugar sweetened. If at any time you can’t taste any sweetness, then increase the sweetener. When you arrive at the best amount of sweetening scale that up to your 2.0 gallons of unsweetened wine. Further advice is to add 50% of what your calculations say, and taste the wine again. It’s easy to miscalculate of overshoot your target. You can always add more, but not take out any if you over sweeten.

Thank you for the info!

 

[Smoke]

Sorbate is added at a rate or 1/2 tsp per gallon of wine.
Kmeta is added at a rate of 1/4 tsp per 5 or 6 gallons, so 1/8 tsp per a 3g carboy.

I do not believe the sorbate can sweeten a wine. If it does it’s at a barely perceptible amount. Glycerin can slightly increase the perceived sweetness, I think because it does enhance the mouthfeel, which allows the small amount of sugar to reside on the palate longer.

Since we do not know your preference in sweetness no one can say exactly how much to start with. If it was me I would rack off 2 jugs, 1/2g if you have them, but only fill halfway. Add a known amount of honey to one, and a known amount of sugar, or sugar syrup, to the other. Swish them around to get them mixed well. Then taste each and record observations. Then pour a glass with half the honey sweetened and half the sugar sweetened. If at any time you can’t taste any sweetness, then increase the sweetener. When you arrive at the best amount of sweetening scale that up to your 2.0 gallons of unsweetened wine. Further advice is to add 50% of what your calculations say, and taste the wine again. It’s easy to miscalculate of overshoot your target. You can always add more, but not take out any if you over sweeten.

So the process would be - rack into a clean vessel, stabilize with 11/2 tsp of potassium sorbate and 1/8 tsp k- meta, then back sweeten to taste?
Can I stabilize now, wait a week or so then back sweeten, our OS it better to stabilize and sweeten at the same time?

 

[Ohio Bob]

So the process would be - rack into a clean vessel, stabilize with 11/2 tsp of potassium sorbate and 1/8 tsp k- meta, then back sweeten to taste?
Can I stabilize now, wait a week or so then back sweeten, our OS it better to stabilize and sweeten at the same time?

It’s not necessary to wait after stabilizing before sweetening. Since you’re going to have the operation exposed to oxygen while you do your tasting trials, I would sweeten at the same time. Then let it sit for a few weeks/months or really however long you want to age it before bottling.

The only caveat is if you age it 3 months after sweetening then you would be due for a normal 1/8 tsp of Kmeta. If you bottle it 1 week after sweetening then you will need to add some Kmeta, it just won’t be the full 1/8 tsp. I’m not sure how much to tell you, but it should be some.

 

[winemaker81]

So, by “ferment dry” I assume you mean, “until the sg stops dropping”

The general rule is if the SG <= 0.998 and is stable for 3 days, fermentation is done. I've had a few wines finish a bit above that, but we're talking 1% of my batches.

Beyond that -- if you bulk age at least 3 months (which IME is the least time in which the wine will fully clear), fermentation will be complete.

Since we do not know your preference in sweetness no one can say exactly how much to start with.

This is spot on.

@Smoke, there are numerous methods for determining the how much to backsweeten, and in addition to personal taste, the ABV, acid, type, and heaviness of the wine will affect the choice, e.g., the more of everything I listed, the higher the probability that you'll want more sugar.

Some folks target an SG, which doesn't make sense to me. Three similar batches can be different enough to need differing amounts of sugar, so the final SG of each will differ.

I backsweeten the batch as a whole, stirring while adding table sugar in a thin stream. Taste and decide if it needs more sugar. I repeat this until I believe it needs just a bit more, which is where I stop. This has a higher risk of over-sweetening the wine, but I use small sugar increments, stir well, and stop when needed.

Keep in mind that it's easier to add more than to take some out, so proceed cautiously and things will be fine.

 

[Smoke]

The general rule is if the SG <= 0.998 and is stable for 3 days, fermentation is done. I've had a few wines finish a bit above that, but we're talking 1% of my batches.

Beyond that -- if you bulk age at least 3 months (which IME is the least time in which the wine will fully clear), fermentation will be complete.


This is spot on.

@Smoke, there are numerous methods for determining the how much to backsweeten, and in addition to personal taste, the ABV, acid, type, and heaviness of the wine will affect the choice, e.g., the more of everything I listed, the higher the probability that you'll want more sugar.

Some folks target an SG, which doesn't make sense to me. Three similar batches can be different enough to need differing amounts of sugar, so the final SG of each will differ.

I backsweeten the batch as a whole, stirring while adding table sugar in a thin stream. Taste and decide if it needs more sugar. I repeat this until I believe it needs just a bit more, which is where I stop. This has a higher risk of over-sweetening the wine, but I use small sugar increments, stir well, and stop when needed.

Keep in mind that it's easier to add more than to take some out, so proceed cautiously and things will be fine.

So, I’ve made 2 separate sweeteners to try. 1 is 2 cups water to 1/4 cup white sugar (4:1), and the other is the same ratio using honey crystals. I’ll try Ohio bobs method when I pull off 2 qts while racking tomorrow. ( can’t see using 1/2 gal each) Will also test for ta/ph/and sg, and post numbers.

 

[Ohio Bob]

2 cups water to 1/4 cup white sugar (4:1)

That sounds pretty watery. You’ll be adding a lot of water and very little sugar. The syrup should be thicker, like syrup. Maybe try equal amounts of sugar and water, see if all that sugar will dissolve. I forget how much can actually dissolve.

 

[Raptor99]

That sounds pretty watery. You’ll be adding a lot of water and very little sugar. The syrup should be thicker, like syrup. Maybe try equal amounts of sugar and water, see if all that sugar will dissolve. I forget how much can actually dissolve.

If you want the sugar in a liquid form, try simple syrup. Mix a 2:1 ratio by volume of sugarater, then simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved (it will go from cloudy to clear). It will be quite thick, so you won't be adding much water with your sugar.

Once it is cooled, I use a syringe to measure out the sugar additions. You can get a 60 ml plastic syringe online. Simple Syrup is quite thick, so it is difficult to measure it by the spoon or cup. Unused Simple Syrup can be stored in the fridge for several weeks in a closed container.

 

[Hazelemere]

I never use syrup not because there is anything wrong with syrup except it adds water and I never added water to my wines unless I have no other choice. I make a lot of wine and nearly always have other choices. I always use powdered corn sugar (dextrose). Rack your carboy into a small primary fermenter and start adding powdered sugar in small amounts, stirring it in, until you like the flavour the way winemaker 81 suggested. If you overshoot on the sweetness you can always add a bit of citric acid to balance the wine, then add sorbate and rack it back into the carboy with or without K-meta to age or bottle.

 

[sour_grapes]

So, I’ve made 2 separate sweeteners to try. 1 is 2 cups water to 1/4 cup white sugar (4:1), and the other is the same ratio using honey crystals. I’ll try Ohio bobs method when I pull off 2 qts while racking tomorrow. ( can’t see using 1/2 gal each) Will also test for ta/ph/and sg, and post numbers.

In addition to what the others have said, note that this ratio is actually 8:1, not 4:1.

 

[Smoke]

So, my numbers before adding k sorbate and kmeta were sg-0.098, ph-3.35, and ta-.562.
I went with the one qt honey chrystals and water1:1 along with 1.5 tsp k sorbate and 1/8tsp kmeta.
racked back into the 3 gallon carboy after cleaning it, and came up about a qt short of the neck. Thinking of topping off with a late Riesling that I really like. Thoughts?

 

[winemaker81]

Thinking of topping off with a late Riesling that I really like. Thoughts?

Sounds good.

 

[Rice_Guy]

honey is nice, ,,for next time
* the general rule is that one back sweetens in proportion to the level of titratable acidity and that there is more TA with more fruit per gallon. ,, for starting out simply do it by taste.
* there is a product called Wine Conditioner which probably is 2sugar with 1 part water plus added potassium sorbate. Yes you could add both at the same time. Using honey will make the wine cloudy. I don’t know of a good way to make the wine clear after adding honey
* the general guideline is run a bench trial to pick sweetness level. I use jelly jars with about 2 oz/ 100ml. Your local pharmacy has 10ml syringes that are for dosing meds to kids. Anyway use some measure so it is easy to scale up.

 

[Raptor99]

Using honey will make the wine cloudy. I don’t know of a good way to make the wine clear after adding honey

I use honey to backsweeten my mead. Once it is stabilized and the honey added, I let it bulk age for another month or two until it clears again.