Sweetening for a non-dry wine

[RCGoodin]

Hello Out There,

I have 6 gallons of Barbaresco fermenting. I plan to rack, clear, and stabalize this weekend.

My tastings reveal that I feel it's a little to dry for me but my wife says, "Leave it alone.". I plan to rack to two 3 gallon carboys. One to leave alone and the other I plan to sweeten it to make it a little less dry.

I plan to sweeten with simple syrup.

My question is: For three gallons, does anyone have a formula for adding simple syrup without creating too sweet of wine. Do you add like a cup and taste, then add more if needed, or does adding a cup and it still tastes a little dry, the dryness will go away with aging?

I know one of you knows some good advice on this subject, and with that said, thanks to all who have helped me on many occasions.

 

[Julie]

That is what I would do, add a cup or two to the wine, taste and do it again if it is not sweet enough for you. Don't forget to add k-meta and sorbate before sweetening. And I would take some wine out of the carboy, warm that up to disolve your sugar, instead of making a simply syrup.

Remember the wine will sweeten slightly more after it sits for a few weeks, so stop just before what you feel is good. And take a reading so you know where you want it the next time you make it.

 

[RCGoodin]

That is what I would do, add a cup or two to the wine, taste and do it again if it is not sweet enough for you. Don't forget to add k-meta and sorbate before sweetening. And I would take some wine out of the carboy, warm that up to disolve your sugar, instead of making a simply syrup.

Remember the wine will sweeten slightly more after it sits for a few weeks, so stop just before what you feel is good. And take a reading so you know where you want it the next time you make it.

Julie,

Thank you. I really like your response.......And, I love what you've done.

 

[Runningwolf]

I totally agree with Julie. Once you get close to what you want stop. Do not go all the way, because as the sugar sits in your carboy it'll sweeten up a bit more.

 

[BobF]

I would use a smaller, measured amount. Say 1 liter. Add a gram or 2 at a time until you're almost there, as Dan said. Then do the math to scale up for the full amount.

The reason for this is to help prevent over-shooting the sweetness for the whole carboy.

 

[RCGoodin]

Making a Dry Wine not so Dry

I totally agree with Julie. Once you get close to what you want stop. Do not go all the way, because as the sugar sits in your carboy it'll sweeten up a bit more.

Julie & Dan,

Let me run this by you. Tomorrow I clear, stabalize, and de-gas the Barbaresco. Let it sit for a week. Then Ill rack to two three gallon carboys. One three gallon carboy will finish as per kit instructions. The other three gallon I will pull two cups of wine and add 4 cups of sugar to make a wine simple syrup that will be added back to the carboy and lightly stirred.

Then I taste and continue creating and adding wine simple syrup to just before I think it's where I want it. Then let it finish.

Does that sound like a good plan?

 

[Runningwolf]

Yes that does sound like a good plan. I am thinking being a big red and you wishing it to be a bit sweeter I would probably shoot for about 1.003 and go from there. Below is a link to a very easy calculator to download to determine exactly how much sugar you'll need based off your current sg reading.

http://mpesgens.home.xs4all.nl/thwp/winecalc.html

 

[Flem]

Personally, I'd go a little lighter on the sugar to begin with. 4 cups to 3 gallons is quite a bit. IMO. You can always add more, but you can't take it away. Good luck.

 

[Runningwolf]

Assuming his sg is .96 he would need 2.68 lbs (43 oz) of sugar to get to 1.003 sg.

 

[Julie]

I backsweeten a Malbec I had, not much just very slightly, It had finished ferementing at .992 and to took it back up to .998. This stuff is awesome and there are a handful on here who have tasted it. All I did was take the edge off the dryness of the wine.

I believe Dan is right in saying 1.003 but I agree with Flem, go lighter on the sugar. I would start with one cup of sugar. My reasoning is I don't know what your sweet level is, you may very well think a semi dry wine is sweet and you can very well think a very sweet wine is just sweet enough.

Go light and go slow.

 

[Flem]

I took 6 gallons of Moscato from .993 to 1.000 with 1 1/2 cups of sugar.

 

[Julie]

I took 6 gallons of Moscato from .993 to 1.000 with 1 1/2 cups of sugar.

Holy Moley, I have no idea how much sugar I added to the Malbec. So do you think he should start with maybe a 1/2 cup?

 

[Flem]

Like you said, everybody tolerates sweetness differently. 1.000 tastes extremely sweet to me, but i prefer dry wines. I'm just saying he should start slow.

 

[RCGoodin]

I backsweeten a Malbec I had, not much just very slightly, It had finished ferementing at .992 and to took it back up to .998. This stuff is awesome and there are a handful on here who have tasted it. All I did was take the edge off the dryness of the wine.

I believe Dan is right in saying 1.003 but I agree with Flem, go lighter on the sugar. I would start with one cup of sugar. My reasoning is I don't know what your sweet level is, you may very well think a semi dry wine is sweet and you can very well think a very sweet wine is just sweet enough.

Go light and go slow.

Julie,

I think I want to take the edge off the dryness of the wine, not make it real sweet. So, if I use 1 cup of sugar and a half cup of wine to add back in the 3 gallons, that would be a good start?

I'll take the sg Sunday after clarification. I'll do it again a week after adding the new sweetener. Then I'll taste again and see if it's close. If I make it too sweet, I can always dilute it with the wine in the other 3 gallon carboy and then try again.

Is there a sg correlation range between dry and semi-dry? Like .992 to .996?

Sound ok? Thanks for all your help.

 

[Julie]

RC, that other wine is your wife's, lol, you touch that and you are gonna be in biiiggggg trouble,

rough estimate is 1 cup of sugar will raise your sg .018 per gallon.

I would take it to .998, do you know what the sg is right now?

 

[RCGoodin]

I would take it to .998, do you know what the sg is right now?

I will know Sunday when I rack it. I'll post it when I take it. Is it better to take the sg before clearing, stablizing & degassing, or after, or does it matter?

 

[Julie]

Definitely take a reading after degassing and I always take a readying before a backsweeten.

 

[saramc]

sweetening trial

This is how I do my backsweetening trial, it is a starting point for me anyway.

If wine is at 1.000 s.g., 8 TBSP (half cup) sugar per gallon should taste sweet (to many)
Prepare 3 four ounce samples CHILLED and 3 four ounce samples ROOM TEMP, and to each sample add 1/8 tsp - ¼ tsp- ½ tsp sugar.
If you prefer ½ teaspoon sample then backsweeten according to the ¼ teaspoon equivalent; prefer ¼ tsp sample then backsweeten using the 1/8th tsp equivalent. (If you know this wine will be served CHILLED, then just do the trial with chilled wine).
1/8th tsp to 4 oz wine= ¾ cup sugar to 5 gallons wine
¼ tsp to 4 oz. wine = 1.5 cups sugar to 5 gallons wine
½ tsp to 4 oz. wine=3 cups sugar to 5 gallons wine

 

[RCGoodin]

Dry to sweeter

This is how I do my backsweetening trial, it is a starting point for me anyway.

If wine is at 1.000 s.g., 8 TBSP (half cup) sugar per gallon should taste sweet (to many)
Prepare 3 four ounce samples CHILLED and 3 four ounce samples ROOM TEMP, and to each sample add 1/8 tsp - ¼ tsp- ½ tsp sugar.
If you prefer ½ teaspoon sample then backsweeten according to the ¼ teaspoon equivalent; prefer ¼ tsp sample then backsweeten using the 1/8th tsp equivalent. (If you know this wine will be served CHILLED, then just do the trial with chilled wine).
1/8th tsp to 4 oz wine= ¾ cup sugar to 5 gallons wine
¼ tsp to 4 oz. wine = 1.5 cups sugar to 5 gallons wine
½ tsp to 4 oz. wine=3 cups sugar to 5 gallons wine

Great formula....Thank you.

 

[RCGoodin]

Dry to Sweeter

Julie,

I racked, cleared, stabalized and de-gassed Sunday. After all that the SG = .986. I was surprised it was below .990.

Ok, this Saturday I will filter 6 gallons and then bottle 3 gallons (per kit instuctions) while racking the other 3 gallons to a 3 gallon carboy. From that carboy I will extract some wine (using formula above from other post) and add sugar until just before I think I'll like it. Then do the calculation to add concoction back to the three gallons. Stir gently (take a new SG) and let it sit for 5 days (take a taste and if I like it, bottle it, or if I don't think it's right, repeat the process.)

I will record my notes and use that formula for the future when I move an sg of .986 to whatever I get after my finished product.

I'm looking to take a dry Barbaresco and make a semi-dry Barbaresco.

Sound like a plan?