Question about specific gravity

[Teafreak35]

I came up with my own recipe for an apple wine. I didn't have a hydrometer when I started so I just did some guess work on ingredients. My primary fermentation is done and I moved it to the secondary fermenter tonight. Upon doing so I took a hydrometer reading...it is .99 specific gravity! So what does that mean? I tasted it and it tastes good and it definitely has a kick, but I'm wondering if that sg sounds right or do I need to add something?

 

[J_oey]

The specific gravity measures the sugar content in the wine. You NEED measurements both when you first started and when you finish. So usually SG reading in the beginning of 1.095 will give you around 12%~13% alcohol content ONCE the SG is lowered from 1.095 to 1.000. So without initial reading, it's hard to determine the alcohol content.


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[Pumpkinman]

Do you mean .990, or 1.099?

 

[seth8530]

Clarification, the SG is the density of your wine in units of g/cm^3. However, it is often related to sugar content of wines and is used to calculate the abv. if your FG is at .990 then I would assume fermentation has ceased. However, like Joey said it is difficult to get abv w/o the initial gravity.

 

[cpfan]

I came up with my own recipe for an apple wine. I didn't have a hydrometer when I started so I just did some guess work on ingredients. My primary fermentation is done and I moved it to the secondary fermenter tonight. Upon doing so I took a hydrometer reading...it is .99 specific gravity! So what does that mean? I tasted it and it tastes good and it definitely has a kick, but I'm wondering if that sg sounds right or do I need to add something?

You probably meant .990, and that means that your wine has finished fermenting. Since you have moved it to a 'secondary fermenter' (hopefully you mean a carboy or jug or similar, and hopefully it is quite full), there's nothing that you need to do now.

Check the sg again in a couple of days. It will probably be unchanged. At this point you should add some potassium metabisulfite (aka K-meta), and make some decisions.

1) Do you wish to use clearing agents?

2) Do you wish to sweeten the wine?

Steve

 

[J_oey]

Well... It does mean fermentation is complete assuming your recipe is accurate. However, the bottom line is if your recipe is off and you did not achieve the 12%+, it may be one of the factors that could spoil your wine in the future. That's why many people often use the hydrometer to check initial SG to make sure the specific alcohol content that can be achieved and read it at the end to ensure it is indeed achieved. May want to share some numbers with us to double check including: volume of alcohol, weight of sugar added, and the type of fruit used either actual fruit or juice. =]


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[Teafreak35]

Thanks everyone. Like I said, when I began I did NOT have a hydrometer. However, I have one now and will not be making any more wine without taking initial readings. Here's what I put in my primary fermenter at the beginning to make 1 gallon of Apple wine:

6 crushed Gala Apples
4 Cups Sugar (I added another midway through the week)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 Camdyn Tablet (this was placed in with apples/sugar 24 hrs before anything else)
2 Yeast Packets
1/2 tsp Tannin
1/4 tsp Acid Blend

As I stated, last night I moved it over to a carboy for secondary fermentation. I took an sg reading and it is 0.99. I know that's low, but the wine tastes pretty good and def has some alcohol content to it. Just wondering if I should add another cup of sugar to keep it going a bit longer. Ideas are more than appreciated!!!

 

[sour_grapes]

As I stated, last night I moved it over to a carboy for secondary fermentation. I took an sg reading and it is 0.99. I know that's low, but the wine tastes pretty good and def has some alcohol content to it. Just wondering if I should add another cup of sugar to keep it going a bit longer. Ideas are more than appreciated!!!

Not sure what you mean by "low." If your SG is 0.990, that is about as low as it will get. It is over, the party has broken up. Enjoy your new wine!

 

[seth8530]

You could add a cup more sugar to the wine and that would most likely cause it to ferment which would increase the ABV. Since you do not know the ABV I would say go ahead and go for it if you want to. Not like it could hurt anything. Also consider this a good learning experience, you kind of messed up a little bit, but it seems like you learned from it but overall it seems like the ferment went pretty well.

Keep working at it!