Specific Gravity of Fruit

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Chris Pittock

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This is a technique type question and something that I have been wondering about for a while.

When I make wines from juices, tinned fruit or packaged fruit, the sugar content is listed on the labels so I can work out how much sugar to add to get the results I want. If I am using just juices I can take a hydrometer reading to check I have the S.G. I want.

However, if I use picked or loose fruit I don't know how much sugar is contained so I have to guess. If I add this fruit to juices and/or water in a fermentation bin, using a hydrometer right at the start won't tell me how much sugar is still in the fruit as it won't have been released. Therefore I risk adding too much or too little sugar. In fact last year I did add too much sugar and ended up with an extremely sweet wine. I ended up blending with another very dry wine, which happily worked very well.

Is there a way I can do better than just guess the sugar content of a given fruit?
 
Freeze the fruit and thaw or steam juice the fruit. Wine makers take a sampling by taking a few grapes and squeezing the juice out and measuring the sugar content using a refractometer
 
This is a technique type question and something that I have been wondering about for a while.

When I make wines from juices, tinned fruit or packaged fruit, the sugar content is listed on the labels so I can work out how much sugar to add to get the results I want. If I am using just juices I can take a hydrometer reading to check I have the S.G. I want.

However, if I use picked or loose fruit I don't know how much sugar is contained so I have to guess. If I add this fruit to juices and/or water in a fermentation bin, using a hydrometer right at the start won't tell me how much sugar is still in the fruit as it won't have been released. Therefore I risk adding too much or too little sugar. In fact last year I did add too much sugar and ended up with an extremely sweet wine. I ended up blending with another very dry wine, which happily worked very well.

Is there a way I can do better than just guess the sugar content of a given fruit?
There are tables of what is typical / average. , , In the US I could pull out a hard copy of “USDA hand book 8” or for less extensive info go to a nutrition textbook / CD nutrient calculator program / weight watchers web site. The EU should have similar available.
Crops will vary and generally speaking be higher sugar the longer they are on the plant. I will juice at least 50 ml of any ingredient I debate using, to find an actual value.
For tinned/ packaged foods the nutrient info should equal handbook 8.
 
there are digital and analog versions . the should be temperature compensating. Amazon should also have some. they are internally used to measure the sugar of fruits, grape and a wine must. they can also be used to monitor the fermentation although alcohol will cause a distortion of the reading. there are spread sheets on the internet that can be used to calculate the real specific gravity. since they only need a drop of fluid to make a measurement they are a lot more handy than a hydrometer.
 

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