How much sugar for 1 gallon

[TorontoPaul]

How much sugar do you normally use for 1 gallon. I am not sure I used enough. I want the most alcohol possible. I know you are supposed to use the hydrometer but what range of sugar should be in a gallon in cups.




Currentlt I have a gallon of juice fermenting in a jug with 3 cups of sugar, ec-1118 yeast.

I used welchs pure grape juice.
I hydrated about 1/3 of a teaspoon of yeast with 50ml of water at 105*F.

Then added another 1/3 teaspoon of yeast nonhydrated.

I also have 3 plastic 1.64L bottles with juice fermenting with the same amount of yeast but with only 1 and 1/2 cups sugar in each.

2 bottle is apple berry pomegrante
1 bottle is grape berry pomegrante


I have balloons as a seal with holes in it.

 

[dorfie]

In reality the amount of alcohol that is possible is determined by a number of things, mainly the type of yeast you used, nutrient availability, and temperature. without knowing the yeast type we can't tell how high the yeast can ferment to.
So without knowing the yeast and the amount of fruit present (to see how much sugar the fruit has to start with) i can't truly tell how much you should add. if you add too much your yeast will stress and die off, or produce H2S which is a nasty thing to have to remove. I mean you will get alcohol, but you might end up with a super sweet wine, or something that has an issue.
That being said, i normally advise away from trying to make "rocket fuel" because it normally doesn't end up tasting like anything that you want to drink unless you use a lot of fruit, and a fruit that can handle the high alcohol, and if you know what you are doing. if i may, what are you trying to make?

 

[TorontoPaul]

Ec-1118

How much sugar do i need?

I seen somewhere its 2 pounds of sugar for a gallon but i only used 2 cups.

 

[TorontoPaul]

I prefer sweet wine like port.

So I am trying to make something similar without addimg the brandy.

 

[PierreR]

It will depend on the fruit you use, and the specific gravity of the fruit/water/juice mix. There are too many variables to give you a general range.

 

[TorontoPaul]

I dont know yhe starting SG. I need a ball park range. Its easy to say a spoon of sugar is not enough and 10 pounds is too much.

I need to know if i need twp cups or two pounds of sugar.

I am using welchs grape juice

Currentlt I have a gallon of juice fermenting in a jug with 3 cups of sugar, ec-1118 yeast.

I used welchs pure grape juice.
I hydrated about 1/3 of a teaspoon of yeast with 50ml of water at 105*F.

Then added another 1/3 teaspoon of yeast nonhydrated.

I also have 3 plastic 1.64L bottles with juice fermenting with the same amount of yeast but with only 1 and 1/2 cups sugar in each.

2 bottle is apple berry pomegrante
1 bottle is grape berry pomegrante


I have balloons as a seal with holes in it.

 

[dorfie]

ok well i would guess that the welches grape juice is around 1.035 for s.g. and EC-1118 can reach an 18% alcohol before reaching it's limit.
some math now. each lb of sugar equals around 2 cups plus 2 TB sugar. each lb sugar raises the s.g. by .045 if you for example wanted to reach 15% which is around 1.115 you would need to take .115-.40 all divided by .45 to find pounds sugar then multiply that by 2 so that's around 3 1/2 cups sugar. if you want a different level just find the gravity level that corresponds with your percent and work backwards like above.

 

[TorontoPaul]

So it is roughly almost 2 pounds. I used 3 cups in the gallon, so I am not too far off. I have been fermenting for 14 days and its at about 1.1 SG. Should i add more or just let it finish the way it is?

Next batch I will use the hydrometer and probably add about 4 cups of sugar.

 

[NorCal]

I did the same and you can get the alcohol up there. It ended up tasting like a cheap mixed drink and I tossed it. You might have to play with back sweetening to cover the alcohol.

 

[TorontoPaul]

If this works out well. Im going try to figure out how to make jewish wine and port.

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi TorontoPaul, One pound of sugar dissolved in water to make a US gallon results in a gravity of about 1.040. You want to make a wine with a starting gravity of about 1.090. Even if the yeast CAN handle more sugar than that unless you really know what you are doing you will be making "firewater" and not anything pleasant to drink. If you know the gravity of the juice from the fruit then you know how much sugar you need to add (I have no idea what a "cup" is in lbs or kilos but I am sure you can look that up in Google). Good luck!

 

[GreginND]

Paul, please see my response in your other post about feeding sugar slowly to end up with a port-like higher alcohol sweet wine.

 

[TorontoPaul]

I did the same and you can get the alcohol up there. It ended up tasting like a cheap mixed drink and I tossed it. You might have to play with back sweetening to cover the alcohol.

What do you mean?

You tried Welchs?

Why would it not taste like store bought?

 

[TorontoPaul]

Hi TorontoPaul, One pound of sugar dissolved in water to make a US gallon results in a gravity of about 1.040. You want to make a wine with a starting gravity of about 1.090. Even if the yeast CAN handle more sugar than that unless you really know what you are doing you will be making "firewater" and not anything pleasant to drink. If you know the gravity of the juice from the fruit then you know how much sugar you need to add (I have no idea what a "cup" is in lbs or kilos but I am sure you can look that up in Google). Good luck!

I have not used water. I used 100% grape juice.

 

[TorontoPaul]

Paul, please see my response in your other post about feeding sugar slowly to end up with a port-like higher alcohol sweet wine.

I read it thank you.

 

[wineforfun]

What do you mean?

You tried Welchs?

Why would it not taste like store bought?

Paul,
Bernard is just giving you an instance of what 1lb. of sugar will do, not exactly what it is doing in your case.

Your question of "why would it not taste like store bought?" is because you are just "winging it" with so many things.
To taste like store bought you need to have 12-13% ABV, not the jet fuel you are after. You also have to have some sort of balance with acid.

Also, you said you used pure Welchs juice. I assume you mean the juice you buy premixed in a container. If so, and you end up running it to say 16-18% ABV it is not going to have hardly any flavor at all because you have just used up every drop of sugar/flavor in it. You will definitely have to backsweeten it to get some flavor back into it.

 

[menerdari]

I recently made several batches of Wine from grape juice, one was welches farmers pick concord. it was 16 brix right out of the bottle, that equals 1.058 SG.
I added enough sugar to bring it to 20 brix 1.084
It finished on the dry side at 0.996, I back sweetened with 1/4 cup sugar and it came out quite tasty at just over 11% ABV
I am afraid if you push welches juice too high you will end up with an undrinkable swill.

 

[TorontoPaul]

Okay so I just checked my wine must again.

1. 1 gallon of grape
SG 1.02
Added half cup sugar
SG 1.03

2. 1.36L of half grape half Pom/berry
SG 1.01
Added half cup sugar
SG 1.02

3. 1.89L of 3/4 apple 1/4 pom berry
SG 1.008-ish
Added half cup sugar
SG 1.012

4. 1.36L of 1/2 apple 1/2 pom berry
SG 1.002
Added 1/2 cup of sugar
SG 1.01

I tasted the wine it tastes like sour wine. Smells like a mix between wine and vinegar.

The first gallon jug I put the sugar in too fast and it shot foam out of the top. I hope the wine is still okay.

 

[TorontoPaul]

Paul,
Bernard is just giving you an instance of what 1lb. of sugar will do, not exactly what it is doing in your case.

Your question of "why would it not taste like store bought?" is because you are just "winging it" with so many things.
To taste like store bought you need to have 12-13% ABV, not the jet fuel you are after. You also have to have some sort of balance with acid.

Also, you said you used pure Welchs juice. I assume you mean the juice you buy premixed in a container. If so, and you end up running it to say 16-18% ABV it is not going to have hardly any flavor at all because you have just used up every drop of sugar/flavor in it. You will definitely have to backsweeten it to get some flavor back into it.

What do you mean jet fuel? According to you guys its not much sugar. I doubt I will even have 10% abv. I tasted the wine and I barely taste any alcohol in it.

How do I balance or measure the acid?

Welchs juice is pure juice.

 

[PierreR]

Okay so I just checked my wine must again.

1. 1 gallon of grape
SG 1.02
Added half cup sugar
SG 1.03

2. 1.36L of half grape half Pom/berry
SG 1.01
Added half cup sugar
SG 1.02

3. 1.89L of 3/4 apple 1/4 pom berry
SG 1.008-ish
Added half cup sugar
SG 1.012

4. 1.36L of 1/2 apple 1/2 pom berry
SG 1.002
Added 1/2 cup of sugar
SG 1.01

I tasted the wine it tastes like sour wine. Smells like a mix between wine and vinegar.

The first gallon jug I put the sugar in too fast and it shot foam out of the top. I hope the wine is still okay.

Hi, did you sterilize all your equipment? Did you do all the fermenting in these small bottles or did you use a primary? Why not use air locks? They are cheap! I see from your picture, that some of the must ran down the side of your bottles? Did you clean and re sterilize them? Did you sulfite your must to kill any nasties before you added yeast? Every time you add something to your must (sugar?) you introduce air/contaminants. Any of them can spoil your wine. How long have they been fermenting? It is possible that you are smelling normal fermentation, and your wine is just too young, and still actively fermenting.

Your methods make it nearly impossible for anyone to give you sound advice. Without better note keeping and procedures, and attention to cleanliness, I'm thinking it will be difficult to get anything but poor tasting wine.