how much is too much residual sugar

[Laurie]

I've been working on this apple wine forever it seems. I started in early December and the fermentation was stuck at 1.040 so I added Montrachet yeast and it started again. Now it is down to 1.008 but seems finished. Is that too much sugar still. The start sg after adding sugar was 1.120

 

[smurfe]

Thats not bad at all. It will be just a tad of sweetness. Definitely add sorbate to stabilize it though before bottling to eliminate the chance of a bit more fermentation.

 

[Laurie]

Thats not bad at all. It will be just a tad of sweetness. Definitely add sorbate to stabilize it though before bottling to eliminate the chance of a bit more fermentation.

oh good! I wish it was clearer than it is. It is still a bit hazy. I have racked it several times but the last time there was really nothing on the bottom. It's still not crystal clear.

 

[Tom]

Did you add clarifier's ?
Also, did you degas?
You need to do both.

 

[Wade E]

With that hgh of a starting SG you are not going to get any lower with just about any yeast an surprised you made it as far as you did. Fruit wines should really not have a starting sg more then 1.090 so as the flavors wont get hidden by abv. As for clearing, did you se enough pectic enzyme and was the pectic enzyme still good? Apple wine can be a pita to clear as it has a lot of pectin in it. If it wont clear I suggest SuperKleer but if your in no hurry just let it keep going on its own.

 

[Laurie]

I didn't degass. I am new to this and didn't know it was necessary. Also, didn't know that pectic enzyme could go bad. The stuff I used was only about 2 months old.

 

[Tom]

If you don't degas it will suspend particles in your wine and take much longer to clear. I would suggest you get a degasser that attachers to a drill.
As far as the pectic enzyme goes did you add any?
Did you add any clarifier's? If not do what Wade said, Use Super Kleer

 

[Wade E]

Some wines will degas themselves over much time but some doesnt and I like to degasit as soon as its done fermenting and then stabilize the wine with sulfite and sorbate. This will protect the wine from oxidation and the degassing will dramatically let your wine clear much better then without. When making wine from grapes this step is really not needed as much of the gas is expelled when the grapes are pressed as there is much surface area in the press for it to leave not to mention the act of pressing itself.

 

[smurfe]

I do the opposite way of most. For fruit wines I normally just let them sit until they are clear. By that time they normally have de-gassed themselves. I still hit them with the drill and sometime use some Super Kleer but I normally let them do their own thing. This can take up to a year though.