Question about finished SG.

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JDRAutoworks

Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
I have a question about finishing wine...

I've been reading about dry vs. sweet wine and the in between. Lets say I would like a finished wine to be at 1.005-1.000 how do I obtain that?

Do I add sorbate and campden when I hit my SG mark to stop the fermentation or can I backsweeten and raise the SG. I've been told not to stop the fermentation and go back after it has been done for a few days and back sweeten.

Have I been informed correctly?

Thank for the help,
Jerry
 
I'm pretty sure you want to let fermentation run to completion, then backsweeten after you've stabilized.
 
Bazin is right.
Let it go dry and then add simple syrup to YOUR taste.
What are you planning on doing it to?
 
Bazin is right.
Let it go dry and then add simple syrup to YOUR taste.
What are you planning on doing it to?

I have a watermelon/strawberry batch in the secondary that I know will be a bit to dry for me (based on a few tastes so far). I was told/read that a good route to go is one part juice, one part water, and one and one-half parts sugar and make a simple syrup. Then backsweeten to taste, sound about right?

Thanks,
Jerry
 
Just an add to the vote. Ferment to dry, verify, stabilize and back sweeten to taste.
 
I have a watermelon/strawberry batch in the secondary that I know will be a bit to dry for me (based on a few tastes so far). I was told/read that a good route to go is one part juice, one part water, and one and one-half parts sugar and make a simple syrup. Then backsweeten to taste, sound about right?

Thanks,
Jerry
Thats to thin. Use 1 part juice (boil) to 2 parts sugar. Cool and add to YOUR taste
 
What you wrote may be right about the sweetening dependingon what you use for the juice but I would back off the water to about 1/2. I agree with everyone though about letting it go dry first and then check a few days in a row to make sure the sg is stable and still not going down. Trying to stop a fermentation in progres is risky at best and usually would require more k-meta then anyone would care to use nevermind drink afterwards.
 
Thanks guys for the input!

I think I am going let my air lock (s shape style) equalize and then back sweeten with one part juice and one part sugar (not to disregard anyones input). I do not want to make it too sweet and being a one gallon batch I would imagine that it will sweeten up very quickly. Once the airlock tells me it's done I'll add the campden and sorbate and wait a few days and back sweeten and let sit a few more and taste before I bottle.

Again thanks, I've learned more here in a week or two than listening to family and friends for years. They only advanced from bakers yeast a few years ago....LOL.

Thanks,
Jerry
 
quick note;
The airlock will not tell you its done a hydrometer will.
 
I've been thinking about this post Jerry,

and you haven't actually said what your SG is for your start of wine, just that you want to finish sweeter at about 1.005.

When people advise you to finish dry and backsweeten.. Expect to lose a half to 1 percent by dilution of your wine with the f pac.

If it's a fruit wine .. don't go beyond a 1.085 SG, ferment out to dry and backsweeten. I know a 10 to 11 percent finished wine sounds a bit girly.. it will taste a whole lot better without a massive ABV though.

Allie
 
Allie is right about being too high in alcohol will alter the taste. Most like to boil down the juice to about half its original volume to reduce the amount of water they add to the wine while retaining all the flavors. Start low on the sugar you can always add more but once there is too much you are stuck.
 
I am thinking that I should of titled my post "help me salvage my watermelon vodka". By my mistake or lack or research this batch has way to much alcohol and is closer to gasoline that wine.

As I said in a few other posts that I am very very new to wine making. I family member got me started and listened to him.

Quick break down on this batch we (him and I) went approx 13 cups watermelon juice and 3 cups strawberry juice. My SG before adding the yeast was just a bit shy of 1.105. Now I added a small amount of sugar on the second day on the primary (I now learned that this was a big mistake).

Now my SG is at .991 and my airlock is about dead. This leads me to my next question. He told me I can bottle once my airlock becomes dead (for a few days) no matter what the SG is and after doing a bit of reading I am taking this is not true at all. So I should be only relying on the SG reading to determine if the wine is done, correct?

I have also read two different things on the .net one is bottle at .095 the other says at .990. I am thinking that .990 tells me all of the sugar has been fermented and now it's all aging from there correct?

Thanks,
Jerry

On a side note... My second batch (still in the primary) I think is going to be great! I wish I would of sat down on these forums before making my first. I did and am learning a boat lead about wine making. This a very addictive hobby to say the least!
 
You cant bottle from the primary.
You must degas add finnings and clear the wine. That can take a couple of months.
 
Yes your friend has left out the months in between start and bottle. General rule of thumb is primary 5-7 days, secondary 3-4 weeks, rack -degass-sweeten and back into secondary for 1-2 months or more if you have the patience. The longer it ages the better the wine. Again this is not a set rule just an example.
 
Why back into the secondary for 1-2 months after sweetening?
I haven't heard of this and am interested.
I was under the impression of Primary, secondary till done, rack and rerack until clear, sweeten, then bottle.

Could you explain a little more?
THanks.
 
You should always give it some time after sweetening to make sure it doesnt start to ferment again as exploding or corks popping are not good, trust me!!!!!!!!!! at least give it a week after sweetening.
 
Thanks guys.... I am freaking out because of the dull taste and very, very strong alcohol content and don't want to waste this batch. It's a personal thing to me...LOL.

See my family claims to be "jail house" wine makers as so they profess. Not one of them have been able to make any melon wine as it all comes out undrinkable. Trust me I tried it... :s

So being my first batch being one none of them can make, well need I say more...

On a side note just finished loading up the secondary with my white grape/raspberry blend and loaded the primary with a cranberry/raisin blend.

WOW! I think I am going to become the family drunk in no time...:b
This is the most fun I've had in awhile, and I build 'hot rods' for a living :h
 
You also want to make sure all the sediment has settled out. Some times adding anything clouds the wine. Bottle too soon and you will see something in the bottom of the bottle that will tick you off. I have been there.
 
You also want to make sure all the sediment has settled out. Some times adding anything clouds the wine. Bottle too soon and you will see something in the bottom of the bottle that will tick you off. I have been there.

I actually racked back into another secondary about two and a half weeks in due to the 3" of sediment in the first round (and it's only a 1 gallon secondary). Now there is only about a half an inch at the bottom and the air lock is still working. I thinks I need to either use 'fruit chunks' or a nylon bag next round of melon. I used a juicer this time and the 'pulp' was ungodly to say the least....

Thanks,
Jerry
 

Latest posts

Back
Top