STEVIA and others??

[Eyeguy]

Hi, All I could not find any info on non-sugar NATURAL sweeteners in the threads and couldn't figure where to stick this so here we go:
1) Has anyone made their own F-Pac using a juice concentrate that is "sugar free" (ie it is sweetened with sucralose or similar). I was thinking of doing this to avoid ANY risk of refermentation (I would not add any sorbate with the pack). On this same note I may try and sweeten my Reisling-Gewurztraminer kit wine with only simple syrup to not alter its core flavor. But I wanted to make this simple syrup with something like Stevia or other natural sweetner for the same reason as above.
2) I would like to make my dry Reisling-Gewurt wine into 3 batches. One left dry, one at 1% residual sugar (back-sweetened sugar), and one at 2.5% RS back-sweetened. Any idea on how to calculate this using Stevia as opposed to sugar? The sweetened carboys will be 2 gallons each.
Thanks

 

[Auburn-Bob]

I have had good luck using a sucralose solution I bought from eBay. It tastes exactly like sugar when dilute, though keep in mind, it is 600 times sweeter. You literally need a few drops per bottle. Yeast won't touch it.

If you don't have the solution, you could try Splenda, which is a trace of sucralose mixed with maltodextrin, which is a partially broken down starch. I don't know if yeast eat maltodextrin, but I have used Splenda in my earlier wines with good success.

 

[mmadmikes1]

I am curious, Why?

 

[Auburn-Bob]

I am curious, Why?

Well, the yeast won't touch sucralose with a 10 foot pole. So you can make the wine exactly as sweet as you want without worrying about the fermentation starting up. Since I don't use sulfites or sorbates, this seems to be a good compromise.

 

[Wade E]

Ive heard from someone who tried this whe Stevia first came out that after a year the Stevia becomes unstable in the wine and breaks down.

 

[joea132]

This whole idea seems kind of out there. You can save yourself some trials and maybe pouring wine down the drain if you just sulfite and sorbate. Then you can add normal sugar and not have to worry at night if your bottles are going go explode.

That being said I'm using lactose to backsweeten a batch of bottle carbonated hard apple cider this year.

 

[Auburn-Bob]

There are a variety of natural and artificial sweeteners out there that will not ferment. I have considered alternate sugars such as lactose and mannitol. To my knowledge, dilute sucralose comes the closest to sugar's taste. ( I think it's pretty much exact. )

 

[RLWinemaker]

I've talked with people who say sucralose is fine if you're using a very, very small amount to add a slight sweetness to your wine, as in just taking away a bit of dryness. However, if you're making a "sweet wine" or dessert wine, then the aftertaste is noticeable and you might want to take an alternate route.