Low starting SG

[100LL]

It's been a long time since i've made a kit wine after i got carried away two years ago making six kits in rapid succession. Needless to say it took me a while to get through the wine!!
Anyhow i am making a Selection Original Series Riesling, and when i took the SG before adding yeast i noticed that instead of the 1.080 to 1.100 ratio that the kit recommends that i was at 1.070.
Is this going to affect the end product? Im asking because its going to be wedding favors and i'd hate to end up with a wine that I wouldn't want to hand out.

 

[TonyP]

It's hard to tell, but it's possible you didn't stir it sufficiently and you took a sample from the upper portion of the wine. If you don't stir enough, the wine is stratified with more of the water on top and juice on the bottom.

Is the wine fermenting properly now?

Tony P.

 

[100LL]

Well, im not sure about what's "properly" but i can see that there is some fermentation going on. The lid on my primary is distended and there are occasional bubbles through the airlock. I'll check back this evening and hopefully its more active by then.

 

[ryandavey]

A few of the kit wines I've done in the past actually say you should have an SG of 1.075 a 1.085. I guess it all depends on how they packaged and prepared the kit. I think your wine will be just fine as long as you follow re recipe.

 

[ryandavey]

And of course I misread read one part of the post! I wonder if you couldn't stir in a little sugar to feed the yeast?

 

[cpfan]

And of course I misread read one part of the post! I wonder if you couldn't stir in a little sugar to feed the yeast?

Their should be lots of sugars already in the must. No need to add any more (unless you want higher alcohol). Although I haven't made this specific kit, I would have expected an initial sg around 1.086.

Steve

 

[100LL]

After thinking about it i may have had a little too much water in the one primary. That might have done it. I added one gallon after hitting the 5 US mark on the primary, but might have misjudged it.

 

[TonyP]

After thinking about it i may have had a little too much water in the one primary. That might have done it. I added one gallon after hitting the 5 US mark on the primary, but might have misjudged it.

I've never done but always thought adding some extra water (to a limit) at the beginning may not ruin the wine. When you rack to secondary, hopefully you'll be at right level.

Tony P.

 

[100LL]

Since I have two kits side by side in primaries i have been able to watch them. Looks like the kit with the lower starting SG is bubbling away at a slower rate, but at least its doing something

In doing some looking on the forum i dont think it will affect the outcome too much. One question that came up was that the hydrometer readings can be different when the temp is above 60? That is something i don't yet understand.

 

[TonyP]

Since I have two kits side by side in primaries i have been able to watch them. Looks like the kit with the lower starting SG is bubbling away at a slower rate, but at least its doing something

In doing some looking on the forum i dont think it will affect the outcome too much. One question that came up was that the hydrometer readings can be different when the temp is above 60? That is something i don't yet understand.

Correct, but temperature only becomes critical when getting precise on SG, such as for calculating alcohol content. The difference from 60 degrees to 70 or 80 degrees is only 0.001 and 0.002, Thus, your reading of 1.070 at 70 degrees would only be adjusted to 1.071. There are online tools for adjusting SG if you need them.

Tony P.

 

[100LL]

Thanks Tony. I think im making this more of a big deal than it is. The directions are pretty vague, and im guessing a little low on the SG, after following all the steps is just how the kit is gonna work