sugar

[Steve B]

I am thinking that I need to add sugar my s.g. is 0.990 and not much taste its cleared nicely and looks good but i am thinking that my a.c. is about non existant so what I read in various guides I need 19 grams of sugar per litre for 1% of alcohol so to get to 12% I need to add 855 grams of sugar but my problem is this my liquid is in a one gallon carboy I no one gallon= 3.75 litres but the last time I dealt with grams is,,,, well I am not going there. so can anyone tell me 855 grams=? in cups, tablespoons or even lbs. cause I can buy a scale at the local head shop. thanks

 

[v1rotate]

I can't figure out exactly what you are doing, Steve, but since 1 KG = 2.2 lbs, 855 grams would be 1.9 pounds of sugar... Perhaps you could post a description including which kit, if it is a kit, and what your initial sg was.

 

[Tom]

I'm also confused. Your wine is dry now and pretty much finished fermenting. What are you making? You say its a 1 gallon batch?

In order to give you a better answer we need to know what you are making (recipe)and what the starting gravity is

 

[grapeman]

I agree with Tepe. If it is .990 then it is BONE DRY - as low as it will go. If it is a white or fruit wine, being that dry masks the flavors. If you sweeten it slightly, the flavors will usually reappear. Let us know what this wine is made from and we can advise better.

 

[Steve B]

ok I dont know where to start I got the recipe from The Winemakers Store. 6lbs. grapes, pec. enzime, yeast,c.tab., etc. I did everything the only things I didnt do was initial S.G. and I didnt use wine grapes I didnt no there was a difference. so now I got this stuff, have rack twice still in a one gallon jug,the wife says yuck I think it tastes like cooking sherry, my S.G. is 0.990 so I think that even if I chugged it I wouldnt get any thing more than gas, so it seems to me that if I add sugar 855grams I might get 12% A.C. or do I dump the stuff and start anew.

 

[grapeman]

I think you are confused about the .990. If you used 6 pounds of grapes in a gallon and added sugar in the beginning as per the recipe, you should have about 12%ABV. As I said before all the .990 tells you is that it is dry. The lack of flavor is due to lack of flavor or adequate acids in the table grapes.

 

[v1rotate]

And if it needs to be said, "dry" means that any sugars present at the beginning of fermentation have been completely converted to alcohol and CO2 by the yeasties. Least that's my understanding.

Try putting the batch in a dark cool corner for 6 months or so, might surprise you, Steve!

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Steve, the one mistake you made, is the one thing you say you didn't do. Take an initial S.G. reading. This number would of told you the amount of sugar present in your must prior to pitching the yeast, and the potential percent of alcohol you would have when finished fermenting , a reading of 1.00 and below. ( you got 0.990) Here is a good site explaining in some detail how a hydrometer works.


http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/8280/sugar.html

 

[grapeman]

This looks like the recipe you followed



<TABLE =table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="90%" align=center>
<T>
<TR>
<TD =pageer vAlign=top align=middle>
<DIV align=center>
Concord Grape Wine

</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>


Makes one gallon.


Ingredients:
<TABLE =table cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%">
<T>
<TR>
<TD>6 lbs. Fresh Grapes</TD>
<TD>5 pints Water</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>3 1/4 cup Sugar</TD>
<TD>


1 tsp. Pectic Enzyme</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>1 tsp. Yeast Nutrient</TD>
<TD>1 Campden Tablet, crushed</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>1 pkg. Wine Yeast</TD>
<TD></TD></TR></T></TABLE>


Keep your acid tester and hydrometer handy. As with all wild fruit the sugar and acid content varies greatly from year to year and even from one location to another. The recipe above is a general recipe to use which you may have to adjust.


Starting S.G. 1.090-1.095


Acid Level .65%


Directions:

1. 
   <LI>Wash grapes and remove from stems. Discard modly and badly bruised fruit.
   <LI>Put grapes into straining bag.
   <LI>Press and squeeze grape juice into primary fermenter. Tie top of straining bag and place in primary fermenter.
   <LI>Add all remaining ingredients, except yeast.
   <LI>Cover primary fermenter.
   <LI>Wait 24 hours, then add yeast and re-cover primary fermenter.
   <LI>Stir daily, check S.G. and press pulp lightly to aid extraction.
   <LI>When S.G. reaches 1.030 (3-5 days), lightly press juice from bag. Then syphon juice into glass container and attach airlock.
   <LI>When S.G. reaches 1.000 (usually about 3 weeks), fermentation is complete. Syphon juice off sediment into clean glass container. Re-attach airlock.
   <LI>To aid in clearing, syphon again in 2 months and again, if necessary, before bottling. </LI>

</TD></TR></T></TABLE>



This would give an ABV of 12-13% depending on the contribution of the grapes themselves, so I don't think you would want to drin the whole gallon in one sitting!

 

[pelican]

I agree with all the above - the 0.990 is your finishig SG, it's not going to tell you anything about the percentage alcohol you have in there now, it's just one half of the equation to figure it out -- you need a starting SG value.

But using the guestimate based on the amount of fruit you have you could guess, like Appleman figures, on about 12+% alcohol.

If your wife says it tastes like cooking sherry, you certainly don't have juice left, you have wine. But it may have oxidized, giving that sherry-like flavor. Some people like that kind of taste, lots of people don't. If it really does taste like sherry, then you have a gallon of cooking sherry on hand.

With non-vinifera grapes a lot of people do like to sweeten it from a bone-dry finish, to bring out the fruit flavor a bit. But with any fruit wine, or any wine I guess, a bit of age and maturity can work wonders.

You could - leave 1 bottle as is for cooking sherry, sweeten a couple bottles and see if it taste better for early drinking, and bottle one bottle worth to set aside, tuck it away and try it in 6 or 8 months and see if its any better. With only 4 or maybe 5 bottles from a 1 gallon batch, you don't have so much to lose but why dump it out -- "it could improve".

 

[Steve B]

OK SO HOW DO i SWEETEN IT. i KNOW THAT i MESSED UP BY NOT TAKING THE INITIAL SG. i AM LEARNING AND i LEARN BY MY MISTAKES if I dont learn by my mistakes then I'm just more of an idiot than I think

 

[gaudet]

Mix up some simple syrup. Use 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. Boil the water and add your sugar to dissolve. Allow it to cool and then add it a little at a time to your wine tasting as you go. When you get to the level of sweetness you like then stop adding the syrup. Or you will be drinking an overly sweet wine. I don't think that you have screwed it up. You just need to tweak it to your liking.

 

[Tom]

Its called backsweetening. Its a 2 to 1 mix of sugar and water. Boil 4 oz of water and add 8 oz of sugar. whisk on heat till clear. Add to wine to your taste

 

[grapeman]

And please be sure like I said in your other post that you add k-met (campden- the initial dose at starting it is mostly gone by now) and potassium sorbate. Withat the sorbate, the added sugar sweetener will just form more alcohol and cause fizziness at bottling.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Don't let the mistake get you down Steve. We all make them. More when we started the hobby, hopefully less as we progress. Don't let the tags under our names fool you, we all still learn (hopefully). This is the place we share and learn from.

 

[pelican]

Steve, if this is the first wine you've made then at least it's still
THE BEST WINE YOU'VE EVER MADE! And, your second batch will be EVEN
BETTER.

 

[Fly*guy]

If he drinks it all at one time ... he will surely know that he has indeed made wine

Steve, As for your wine, these guys and gals are all correct, some of the worst things I have made in my short time making wine have now turned into some of the better ones in just a few months.

Made a Peach wine bout 6 months ago that was like rocket fuel, opened a bottle last weekend and it tastes great, flavor is returning nicely and it was really enjoyed by all that came that day!

Sweeten a bit, as they say just a bit, bottle and set it aside.... what can it hurt?

By all means learn to keep records from the start. You never know what tweak will make your best wine, but if you don't know what you did you will likely never make it again! ( or in the worst case... you might make a bad one again).

Welcome to the hobby