Fermentation issue

[Pam]

I dont think I have a problem but just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if I should do it different next time.
I am making wine out of Jam (peach and apricot). My SG was really high when starting so I added some water. I did not want to dilute it too much, taste wise, so I opted to leave it a bit high in SG as I always sweeten back anyway. I figured it if was too high alcohol then I could add some water or juice at that time. I started the wine at SG 1.120. I thought it would work longer. I expected the alcohol content to be higher.
Well the opposite happened. I used 1/2 packet wine yeast (which I have done before) and the wine started bubbling really quickly, within 1/2 day.
It bubbled furiously and then in 5-6 days had totally stopped. I took the SG at that point and it was 1.030. I added about 1/4 teasp bread yeast since I had no more wine yeast (live 1 hour from a store) It did nothing. In 10 more days it has really cleared. I racked it tonite and it is still 1.030. Which in my calibration the wine is still about 11 % alcohol. It is nice and clear and tastes good. Am I ok since I will still sweeten back anyway? What should I have done differntly besides starting at lower SG.
Thanks for your help. Pam

 

[St Allie]

Hiya Pam

hmm.. well beer yeasts usually ferment out to a lower abv so not surprised it didn't help if you are already at a higher alcohol level. Have never used jam for a wine personally. However, if it's clearing and there's no more activity .. I think you're done, get ready to bottle it.

Allie

 

[cpfan]

Pam:

With a final sg around 1.030 you probably don't want to sweeten that wine. It's already pretty sweet.

Next time? start with a lower sg.

and I figure it's closer to 12%.

Steve

 

[Pam]

I am one of those people that like a sweeter wine. I tried adding a little sugar to a sample of the apricot wine and like it better. Just a tad more I would say, not alot.
thanks all.

 

[Wade E]

Adding some yeast to a wine with that much abv already will usually result in failure without doing a starter and slowly adding some of that wine to let the yeast acclimate to an extreme environment. Since this is a fruit wine it may be just about right, maybe just a tad sweet. Please add sulfite and sorbate just in case this batch wants to start up again so you dont have exploding bottles or corks popping.