Newbee question about sugar

[wormcoach]

I'm brand new to winemaking and brand new to the forums. I'm interested in fruit wines. Some recipes say to add sugar and some don't. I'm wondering what the general purpose of adding sugar to juice is - more alcohol? Sweeter wine at the end? thanks all.

 

[PCharles]

The Importance of Sugar in Fruit Wine

Hi, I'm a bit of a newbee also, but have found some good info about fruit wine.

Sugar is required in fruit wine as the natural sugar level in most fruits is far below that of ripe grapes. It is essential that you get your hands on a device to measure specific gravity. SG measures desolved solids such as sugar. Your starting sugar level will determine the alcohol content of your final product. 55% of sugar is converted to alcohol and 45% is converted to CO2. I use a float Specific Gravity device, which is inexpensive.

Failure to have an adequate sugar level will result in a lot ETOH level and also encourage bad bugs. ETOH naturally surpresses bad bags and will also kill thegood yeast as levels of ETOH get higher.

Here is a good web page to start with. Jack Keller is well known as perhaps the most knowledgeable fruitwine maker. I've seen many of his fruitwine articles in Winemaker Magazine.
http://http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/winemake.asp

I hope this helps.

Happy fermenting,
Paul

 

[wormcoach]

Thanks, Paul. Your explanation helps and I also downloaded the Home Winemaking Book from somewhere here on the forums. Between you and the book, I think I have a basic understanding.

Apple wine, here I come.

 

[PCharles]

About Sugar

Hey, I'm glad my posting was of value. The best of luck with your apple wine. We have a local apple orchard near by and I hope to do the same thing later this fall. There is a winery here in NC, McRitchie Winery and Ciderworks. They make the normal variety of reds and whites, but they also make a lovely apple wine. It is very light and dry with a tad of added carbination.

I hope you don't mind a few more comments about sugar. There are several ways to make a sweet wine. If you let fermentation take its complete course, the specific gravity will drop down to about 0.098. The specific gravity of distilled water is 1.000 so 0.098 is very low. This would indicate there is very little to no sugar left and will likely result in a dry wine. K-Meta is added at the end of the fermentation process to make sure any left over yeast or drop in bugs are killed. You can add additional sugar to, as they say, back-sweeten. Here on this site you will hear about a F-Pack. If you google "How to make an F-Pack" you can get good directions. An F-Pack is a post fermentation/k-meta added procedure to add additional fruit taste and sweeterer. I like light dry wine and have not used these yet, but many like to use them.

Hopefully this provides you a bit more information about the use of sugar in winemaking.

Happy fermenting,
Paul

 

[robie]

Good advice, Paul.

That F Pack should either be preceded by a dose of sorbate or the F Pack itself should include sorbate. (Many instructions for making an F Pack say to use sorbate.) The K-Meta doesn't so much kill the yeast as it does shock them and slows them down considerably. Adding K-Meta and sorbate is the "stabilization" step that follows fermentation.

The K-Meta slows the yeast down, so they are not very much in the "mood" to eat anymore; the sorbate then prevents those yeast from multiplying anymore.

As a result, when the current generation of yeast dies, there should be no future generation to take their place to continue converting sugar to alcohol and CO2. So, when new sugar is added (from the F pack), the yeast can no longer process it.

Needless to say, if sorbate is not added to sterilize the yeast, then more sugar is added, and the existing yeast recover from the shock of the K-Meta dose, fermentation will start again and continue until either the sugar is once again all gone or the alcohol level gets so high that it kills the yeast.

Sorbate is not so critical for wine if it is not going to be back-sweetened. In this situation, many of us just never add the sorbate. However, if you are not going to bulk age your wine, but bottle it right away, I would always add the sorbate as directed.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!

Sounds like some folks already got your question answered..

Would like to add a few things - don't blindly add in ingredients such as sugar and acid.

These should be added as needed - always measure first before adding.

 

[Flem]

Welcome to the forum WORMCOACH. The preceding posts pretty well summed it up. Keep asking questions. That's why we're here.

 

[wormcoach]

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your input. Another sugar question, do I add it as is or as a syrup? Once again, I've seen it both ways.

Also, in relation to what I've read, I will add sugar in relation to the specific gravity desired. Correct?

Charles, a light carbonation would be nice. I had a homemade plum wine once that was so nice and had just a hint of carbonation. It was so nice!

 

[PCharles]

Regarding Carbonation

Carbonation in wine is a real challenge. I'd avoid it.

 

[mmadmikes1]

I use the kegging system I have for beer to carb so meads. It is easy if you have the equipment. if not total cost is about $200 to $300

 

[wormcoach]

Something to think about. I'm just gonna try a simple apple wine to start.

 

[rhythmsteve]

As a generality I usually do 2lbs of sugar to 1 gallon of liquid. then as to backsweeten- i usually do 1/2 cup to 1 gallon (this is based off of my tea making experiments) i find it to be a good median of sweetness. definitely get a device that records SG, Alc %, and what's know as brix (its a tri-level thing) as a fellow newbie this has been my most valuable learning tool, it will allow you to monitor the process and get a feel for what's actually taking place inside the must.

 

[wormcoach]

Thanks rythmsteve. I do have a hydrometer and I plan to use it.

I have a couple of additional questions, but I think I'll start a new thread called: newbee carboy question

 

[JordanPond]

Coach,

You asked about adding suger "as is" vs adding as a syrup. I usually make a simple syrup so I don't have to worry about all the sugar disolving.

 

[wormcoach]

Thanks, Greg. It seems you couldn't go wrong with a syrup.

 

[Green Mountains]

Coach,
As Greg stated, the simple syrup is the way to go. Make it by disolving the sugar you want into a small amount of water on the stove. Low heat is enough but stir frequently to avoid burning.

There are good guides out there that can tell you how much to add per gallon to raise your SG by a certain amount. Once you get those calculations it's a pretty easy process.

 

[wormcoach]

Thanks Green Mountains. Love your picture.