Excited about first batch+questions!

[ffreds]

Hello everyone! Ok, now that introductions are out of the way let’s get to business! I have just started my first batch of wine about three days ago and if you can’t tell I am pretty pumped up about starting this hobby. Everything is going well so far, I’m into the third day and its bubbling like crazy. I have everything figured out except one thing. I forgot to buy a hydrometer to measure the batch and I was wondering if you guys could give me an estimate of what this might come out to be.
Details: 5 gallons of apple juice (bought at the store, not concentrate just normal drinking juice) + added sugar, wine yeast, and nutrient. I calculated the sugar in the juice and the 2 pounds of sugar I added and it comes to a grand total of 3148g of sugar for a 5 gallon batch. From what I have gathered this information might be able to be used to give me a rough estimate of how much I can expect. So basically I have three questions. How much alcohol % will this wine be(just give me a rough idea if possible), should I add more sugar next time, and how long does it typically take for fermentation to complete (I keep getting answers ranging from 5 days to four months!?). Sorry for the long read and thanks for reading/helping! Looking forward to being a part of this forum!

 

[robie]

Welcome to the forum, ffreds.

I am not a fruit wine person, but one of them should come by soon and help you.

You really do need that hydrometer, though. Without it, you won't be able to tell when fermentation is finished, because you can't go by bubbles.

Good luck on your new hobby.

 

[ffreds]

yeah I bought it two days late, oh well. atleast im prepare for my next batch (which i will spend more time and work on)

 

[Wade E]

I would add another 4 lbs of sugar right now and it will be fine right now you are looking at a very low alc probably no more them 7.5 abv at the highest and I believe that to be a high estimate! If you just started it then adding the sugar now since you say its bubling like crazy you will be just fine and that will bring you up to around an abv of 10% when done which is about righjt for this type of wine. Temps will play a big role in fermentation and with this type of wine you typically want to go low and slow to keep more flavor but being as you are a new winemaker youd be safer keeping the temp around 70*F and that will probably ferment out to dry in 5-7 days. Cooler temps will drag this out farther depending on how low you go but be aware that certain yeats strains have temp tolerances. Which wine yeast doid you use? If you used bread yeast then only add about 2 lbs of sugar unless you want this wine to possibly end up sweet.

 

[ffreds]

I do want a sweet wine so that wont be a problem. I am using a wine yeast not bread yeast, the specific strain is Lalvin #71B-1122. I want to get the highest alcohol % but I also dont want to mess this up. Is it 100% safe to add sugar at this stage? Im three days into this about to be four days. Can anyone second this advice? I have an extra two pound of sugar just waiting. I followed a guide that said I would have 12% content with my current recipe but I cant post links until i get a few more posts under my belt. My two main concerns are getting the alcohol content up BUT not at the expense of ruining the batch. I want a sweet wine so that wont be an issue.
Edit: the temperature stays at exactly 70 degrees.

 

[Wade E]

I dont know where you are getting this info but 2 lbs of sugar to a apple juice with 5 gallons isnt much at all unless you meant 2 lbs of sugar per gallon? Did you buy some kmeat and k sorbate as youll need this to make this a sweet wine. With apple wine you dont want a high abv or the flavor will get losat. 12% abv is about as hoigh as you will want to go IMO.

 

[ffreds]

Still need two more posts in order to show the link of the recipe im using.

 

[ffreds]

I added two pounds of sugar to the entire batch, thats it. I figured it was a low amount but I thought maybe other people used so little because it was from concentrate or something and not the actual juice bottles.

 

[ffreds]

annnnnnd here is the link to the guide i am using. At the end shows the recipe. It looked like a good recipe to start with... http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-wine/

 

[Bailey]

If you're still looking for someone to second Wade's advice, consider that done.


Wade's kind-of an authority around here... look at his # of posts.


He's been great helping a lot of us learn a TON about what we're doing with this obsession (whether he's responding directly or just responding).

His advise is always sound.

 

[ffreds]

You are right when you call this a obsession... LOL. Ok advice noted. Next question! How do I add the other two pounds of sugar? pour it in directly or mix it with water? Doing it in stages or all at once?
Flavor for this batch is not that important, this is just for me and a bunch of friends that want to have a good time. Thanks so much for the quick replies and all the help guys!

 

[robie]

I'll second that second opinion!!!

To get a second opinion, don't you generally have to pay a little more than you had to pay on here?(!!)

 

[robie]

You are right when you call this a obsession... LOL. Ok advice noted. Next question! How do I add the other two pounds of sugar? pour it in directly or mix it with water? Doing it in stages or all at once?
Flavor for this batch is not that important, this is just for me and a bunch of friends that want to have a good time. Thanks so much for the quick replies and all the help guys!

Flavor should always be important!!!

Never pour sugar directly into your batch. You can mix 2 pounds of sugar in a pretty small amount of warm water or you can heat a small amount of your wine just to where it is warm and dissolve the sugar in it.

Get the temperature of the dissolved sugar solution to the same temperature of your wine before you add it in.

Make sure the sugar is totally dissolve before you slowly add, while stirring, to your wine. If you don't stir some more after adding to wine, it can still go straight to the bottom, so continue to stir for a minute or so after adding.

Do not stir hard. And don't ask for a second opinion!!!

 

[ffreds]

Yessir. Here I go, after this im off to bed and SURELY everything is alive and working when i wake up. thanks again everyone!
EDIT: fixed doubt

 

[robie]

Yessir. Here I go, after this im off to bed and hopefully everything is alive and working when i wake up. thanks again everyone!

I still perceive that doubt......

 

[ffreds]

I got a small bowl of hot water, mixed 2 lbs of sugar and some extra that we had in the cabinet, and added it into the jug. Unfortunately I think I tried to add it too quickly, because the bottle began to foam and within seconds exploded all over the place. While I thought the whole ordeal was informative and funny my wife did not. Atleast when im sleeping on the couch tonight the room will smell like apples.

 

[SBWs]

Welcome, Okay now I see what you are making, Apfelwein or (German Hard Cider) most of them are around 6% ABV so that accounts for the 2 lbs of sugar for a 5 gallon batch. This Apfelwein has a large following on the internet, it's on my list of thinks to try and make someday. A lot of people use brown sugar and ale yeast. Keeps us up to date on how it goes.