Raisins and specific gravity

[whino-wino]

I am going to make a 5 gallon batch of wine from Welch's White grape juice concentrate. I bought 20 cans of it last week as it was on sale but the kids are bugging me that they want some grape juice. I conceded and made some for them today so now I'm down to 18 cans. I have to hurry before my supply runs low (my kids drink this stuff fast) so I might actually start this one tomorrow. I figured I might as well save another 3 cans for the kids to drink and use 15 for the batch. I beleive this would make a little bit of a thin wine so I'm going to boost the body by using golden raisins.


Here's my question. I have 3 boxes of Sunmaid golden raisins. There are 2 1/2 cups of raisins in each box and they are 15 oz each. I'm only 3 oz shy of 3 pounds if I use all of them. I plan to chop them before I put them in the straining bag. How low should I aim for a starting S.G. if I want a final product that would produce 10 to 11% abv? With no raisins I would shoot for a starting S.G. of 1.080 -1.085. With the raisins in there will I want to set a lower target? 1.065 - 1.070 perhaps?

 

[gaudet]

http://www.finevinewines.com/wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7269&PN=1

Appleman posted this chart. Perhaps it might help answer your question.

 

[NorthernWinos]

The SandCherry/Zante wine I mixed up did gain some sweetness from those raisin/currants....but I don't know how much.

I soaked the raisin/currants in boiling hot water over night and the water was sweet the next day....I should have taken the S.G. of that water.

I mixed the must a tad low and by the next day before pitching the yeast the S.G. had gone up a few points.

Take notes and share them with us for the future.

 

[PeterZ]

For a rule of thumb I figure that 1 lb of raisins will increase the final abv of a 6 gallon batch of wine by 0.6%.

 

[grapeman]

After digging and searching, converting with equations, I came up with the 3 pounds of raisins equals 1 cup of sugar(about a half pound). So in the 5 gallon batch you will gain 1 cup of sugar equivalent in the whole batch with 3 pounds of raisins. This seems a bit low to me. I would bring the must up to about 1.075 - 1.080 as that much extra sugar won't raise the whole batch a lot.

 

[whino-wino]

I'm a little more clear on the subject, but still a bit confused.


According to Peter, 3 lbs of raisins will add 1.8%abv to a 6 gallon batch, but this is a 5 gallon batch so I'm guessing it would be closer to 2% which means for a S.G. of 1.080 I want to start at about 1.065.


However appleman suggests I start at 1.075.


Perhaps I should compromise and go 1.070?

 

[smokegrub]

I typically use Sun-Maid California Golden Raisins which come in a 15 oz box. The box states there are 11 (1/4 cup) servings in the box and that each serving contains 29 grams sugars. By simple multiplication, this indicates there are 319 grams sugar (11x29=319). A quick web search indicates that there are 190 grams per cup sugar. Thus, there are approximately 1.7 cups sugar equivalency in each 15 ounce box of these raisins (319/190=1.7). I grind my raisins in a food processor and place them in a paint strainer bag. I squeeze the bag daily until time to rack to secondary then I toss the bag. My assumption is that all the sugar is available in the primary. That is probably incorrect, but since I like my fruit wines a little on the low side for ABV that works out fine (I typically target an initial SG of 1.085 for these wines). I use similar calculations for bananas when I add them. I hope this is helpful.

 

[grapeman]

I think this brings up an interesting point. Raisins can have extremely different amounts of sugars in them depending on brand and kind of grape used. At least three of us have done calculations based on grapes we had at hand and came up with three different amounts of sugar in them.

We all did the proper calculations on the information we had provided.


Raisins are usually made out of grapes. Different makers use different grapes and their sugars vary quite a bit. Then depending on the amount of moisture left in them, the concentration of sugar can vary quite a bit.




Anyways, if you plan on using a lot of raisins in your wine, start with a lower amount of sugar, add the raisins to the must, wait the 24 hours while the k-meta does it's thing and then check the SG of the must. If it is low, adjust to the desired amount and then innoculate with your yeast.