Yet another newbie question

[pightr]

I know some people are completely against adding extra sugar to up the alcohol content in wine. So here is my situation. The girlfriend just ordered a batch of wine she wanted me to make for her. Now the kit is an Island mist Strawberry white merlot. Just received it yesterday and read through the instructions and saw that the starting SG is going to be between 1.048-1.052 which is roughly around 6-7% alcohol content from my understanding. is there anyway to bump this number up to roughly 10% by just adding sugar or is that going to far for this softer wine?? Thanks again for the help in advance.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I would bump the starting SG up to about 1.085.

 

[pightr]

I would bump the starting SG up to about 1.085.

Thats what I was looking to get it to but any idea on how much sugar I will have to add? and another question do I need to dissolve the sugar first before adding or no?

 

[jtstar]

Do you have a hydrometer

 

[jtstar]

yes for best results you want to dissolve your sugar in warm or boiling water or juice

 

[pightr]

yes for best results you want to dissolve your sugar in warm or boiling water or juice

Yes I have a Hydrometer. Is there a ratio for how much sugar to dissolve at one time in a certain amount of water? If it comes to it I will just add small amounts of sugar and water to the kit and test until I get the SG I am looking for. Also will I need to add another packet of yeast to this batch since I am adding more sugar? The pack of yeast I have for this batch is Red Star Premier cuvee.

 

[pightr]

Another note...I just read a review on this kit and someone had added 2 pounds of sugar to this kit and said it was great. Not sure how much 2 pounds will bring up the sg? Anyone have any ideas?

 

[jtstar]

Wade, Tom maybe you can help me find the answer for Pightr to his question

 

[BIGJEFF]

I've done those kits many times, added 1L (4cups) of celluloid (liquid corn sugar I bought at the brew store) always worked like a charm!

 

[winemaker_3352]

Download this app - it will help you figure out the amounts to add:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~mpesgens/thwp/winecalc.html

 

[Runningwolf]

I have made that kit but did not care for it. Tasted like Jolly Rancher candy to me. I did up it to 1.08 using simple syrup. Mix 1 cup of water to two cups of sugar. I make up a whole 5# bag at a time and then just add what I need. I also added half the f-pack up front to cut down on the sweetness in the end but retain as much flavor as I could. Some other folks I gave it to loved it. A year later I ended up dumping everything I had left into a fresh rhubarb batch I was just getting ready to bottle. It turned out awesome. It actually worked better then the fresh strawberry wine I had for mixing.

 

[jtstar]

Thanks everyone for helping locate this information for him

 

[pightr]

Thanks again everyone for all the advice. Still trying to figure out how to make that app work on a mac I will have to ask my brother he is the computer guy. I really appreciate it though everyone thanks again!

 

[abefroman]

I've done those kits many times, added 1L (4cups) of celluloid (liquid corn sugar I bought at the brew store) always worked like a charm!

Is that the same as light corn syrup or different?

 

[pightr]

I've done those kits many times, added 1L (4cups) of celluloid (liquid corn sugar I bought at the brew store) always worked like a charm!

Is there anywhere else I can buy this besides a home brew store? Id rather save the drive back down to the store if I could! Thanks again.