Looking for best way to make sweeter/lower alcohol red wine

[Excl]

I've been able to do a few batches of straight Merlot wine just fine in the past. The problem (or maybe not the problem!) is that the grapes I usually get end up having a pretty high sugar content. Usually 23-25 Brix, which works out to around 1.10+ gravity in my juice. The result is a wine with a pretty strong alcohol content in the finished product.

I prefer something a little lighter/sweeter, so I attempted to make a Rose last year. Ideally, I wanted to stop the fermentation at around 10% alcohol, and leave the remaining sugar. I started the fermentation, and within 2 days I was right around the gravity numbers I was looking for. I tossed in some campden tablets, but the fermentation continued anyway on until it was all alcohol again.

Not wanting to admin defeat, I divided that batch up into some smaller samples and tried some back-sweetening. The results are interesting. I have the sweetened wine I was looking for, but with a strong alcoholic taste.

Now, I did use a Montrachet yeast, which I guess is known to be pretty vigorous during fermentation.

To cut to the chase, I guess my questions are:

1) Is there a reliable way to stop fermentation at ~10% alcohol? Should I use a weaker yeast (suggestions?) and no-nutrients? Maybe cold-ferment and add the campden tablets when it's time?

2) Is back-sweetening my only real choice here? If that's the case, is there any way of reducing the alcohol content without just watering down the wine?

 

[Kraffty]

I think your best bet would be to adjust your Brix before starting ferment and then sorbate and back sweeten afterward.
Best of Luck Mike

 

[Julie]

to make a successful low alcohol wine, you need to start with a lower sg. Trying to stop an active fermentation is a crap shoot. You might be able to and then again you might. For backsweetening, take some of the wine, warm it up and add your sugar to that.

 

[CGish]

About the only way I can think to do what you want is to split the original amount and store part of the juice. Once the larger part had fermented you could add the reserved juice back in to back sweeten to your required F.G.

For an example we have to make some guesses, but here goes (this ignores fermenting and bottling losses - those will need to be accounted for in your system):

If you start with 5 gallons at 25 brix or 1.100, then split the batch into 3.5 and 1.5 gallons.

You ferment the 3.5 gallons to 0.990 or 14.85% ABV.

You sorbate, stabilize, and then back sweeten with the 1.5 reserve gallons.

This leaves you with 5 gallons of 10.4% ABV back sweetened to approximately 1.020 F.G.​

Like I said, this is based on some guess work and fuzzy math, so your outcome may vary a bit.

Additionally, I haven't ever done this so perhaps there is some serious problem with this method that the more experienced members could point out.

Some of the math:

ABV = (S.G. - F.G.) * 135

So 3.5 gallons from 1.100 to 0.990 is (1.1 - .99) * 135 = 14.85% ABV

Back sweetening dilution = (Starting volume X ABV)/(Total volume after back sweetening)

So (3.5 * .1485) / 5 = 10.395% ABV​

Websites that may help you with the math:

http://www.winebusiness.com/tools/?go=winemaking.calc&sid=4
http://www.winebusiness.com/tools/?go=winemaking.calc&cid=5
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=5056600&postcount=6
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=5353916&postcount=7

 

[Excl]

About the only way I can think to do what you want is to split the original amount and store part of the juice. Once the larger part had fermented you could add the reserved juice back in to back sweeten to your required F.G.

For an example we have to make some guesses, but here goes (this ignores fermenting and bottling losses - those will need to be accounted for in your system):

If you start with 5 gallons at 25 brix or 1.100, then split the batch into 3.5 and 1.5 gallons.

You ferment the 3.5 gallons to 0.990 or 14.85% ABV.

You sorbate, stabilize, and then back sweeten with the 1.5 reserve gallons.

This leaves you with 5 gallons of 10.4% ABV back sweetened to approximately 1.020 F.G.​

Like I said, this is based on some guess work and fuzzy math, so your outcome may vary a bit.

Additionally, I haven't ever done this so perhaps there is some serious problem with this method that the more experienced members could point out.

Some of the math:

ABV = (S.G. - F.G.) * 135

So 3.5 gallons from 1.100 to 0.990 is (1.1 - .99) * 135 = 14.85% ABV

Back sweetening dilution = (Starting volume X ABV)/(Total volume after back sweetening)

So (3.5 * .1485) / 5 = 10.395% ABV​

Websites that may help you with the math:

http://www.winebusiness.com/tools/?go=winemaking.calc&sid=4
http://www.winebusiness.com/tools/?go=winemaking.calc&cid=5
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=5056600&postcount=6
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=5353916&postcount=7

That does sound like a great suggestion. I will have to give this one a try on my next batch. That's for the calculators as well!

 

[GreginND]

As you have found, sulfites do not stop active wine yeasts. The only way to do that is to cold crash the wine. When the wine is nearing your desired brix, chill it as cold as you can get it - down to 25-30 degrees if you can. You may have to leave it cold until the sediments drop out and it becomes pretty clear. If you warm it back up without it being clear and stabilized with sorbate/sulfite it will start fermenting again.

There is always a risk that it will referment anyway. And trying to hit an exact sugar level is hard as it takes time to chill down and stop the fermentation. The other options to back sweeten or save/freeze some juice to add back later might be better.

 

[Floandgary]

Note in several of the posts,,,,,,, Potassium Sorbate is key in attempting to stop fermentation and more importantly preventing a restart of fermentation if you backsweeten. Used in conjunction with Potassium Metabisulfite. For future reference though, a lower Brix at the outset will result in lower finished alcohol. Allow to ferment dry. You can backsweeten to a desired level much easier than stopping fermentation mid-stream...

 

[Treeman]

Note in several of the posts,,,,,,, Potassium Sorbate is key ...

As noted in cold crashing or after fermenting dry, your wine has to be clear! before you add sorbate to back sweeten. Sorbate inhibits yeast from fermenting it doesn't kill them, so you want to rack your clear wine off of any yeast lees before adding the sorbate

 

[JDC]

As noted in cold crashing or after fermenting dry, your wine has to be clear! before you add sorbate to back sweeten. Sorbate inhibits yeast from fermenting it doesn't kill them, so you want to rack your clear wine off of any yeast lees before adding the sorbate

Actually, Sorbate is birth control - it inhibits reproduction. Live yeast cells will continue to eat (thus ferment) until dead [yes, not a long time span]. But it is important to remember that neither Meta or Sorbate actually kill living wine yeast cells.

Sorbate inhibits yeast reproduction (thus death of the colony) and Meta makes the wine less tolerable to OTHER bacterial (spoilage ones). Wine yeast tolerates very high levels of Meta.

 

[Floandgary]

As many processes as there are winemakers out there. Always good to read critiques and corrections tho. Just when you think you have a handle on it all,,,,, I prefer simplicity. Almost exclusively buckets. Ferment to dry in the bucket, rack to carboy and dose w/K-meta (and Sorbate if I'm going to treat with f-pac or compatible fruit), add oak. @2-3 weeks rack off everything and sediment, re-dose w/K-meta, set clock for 3-months and do it again. Minimum 12 months for reds, 6 for whites then bottle. Seldom backsweeten in bulk. Jug or bottle at a time if someone prefers.