Very Little fermentation

[Midwest Vintner]

I do not want it to be harsh. I would like a semi sweet wine. How can i achieve this? What specific gravity should i be looking for? When and how can i stop the yeast? Campden Tablet?

the campden won't work fast, so it's hard to tell when to put one in. this is why i like to start with a 1.085 sg. let it get to 1.020> secondary, then rack off again when the yeast is done. 1.085 sg > full dry (~.998) nets ~11.3 % abv.

simple math calculation i found. Starting sg - ending sg * 130.
1.085 - .998 = .0087 and .087 * 130 = 11.3

basically every 1 point sg drop is about 1.3% abv. not exact, but pretty close.

http://www.geocities.com/mipeman/sugar.html

for sweetnesses of wine
http://stason.org/TULARC/crafts/wine-making-tips/55-Sweetening-Wine.html

now the above is not set in stone. everyone has their own tastes and IIRC, i've seen other charts put sweet at 1.025 and not 1.030 and all the numbers in between were slightly shifted also.

my take on sweetening. sweeten it till it's just a tad bit dry for you. bottle, wait 6~9 months depending on fruit. then it's ready to drink. i find that wine will sweeten and smooth itself out if you give it some time. some more than others. some don't sweeten as much, so make it just a little drier than you want, but not much. works great for me!

 

[Wade E]

There is no real way to stop a fermentation in progress with the exception of sterile filtering which you do not have the equipmet to do or by exposing it to almost freezing temps for about 2 weeks and then immediately stabilze the wine and rack off all sediment leaving behind as much as possible hopefully leaving almost all the yeast also. Even that can backfire though.

 

[panda]

There is no real way to stop a fermentation in progress with the exception of sterile filtering which you do not have the equipmet to do or by exposing it to almost freezing temps for about 2 weeks and then immediately stabilze the wine and rack off all sediment leaving behind as much as possible hopefully leaving almost all the yeast also. Even that can backfire though.

so should i just let it finish fermenting? just keep racking every few weeks. then when clear add something to make sweeter. how about the bite of high alcohol? is there anyway to stop that

 

[Wade E]

Like I said you could stop the fermentation by putting it in a freezer or fridge set on very cold or youll just have to let it finish and then sweeten back and then wait till high abv smoothes out. the omly othet choice is to blend with a weaker wine.

 

[panda]

Like I said you could stop the fermentation by putting it in a freezer or fridge set on very cold or youll just have to let it finish and then sweeten back and then wait till high abv smoothes out. the omly othet choice is to blend with a weaker wine.

ok i think ill let it finish andsee what happens i hope i didnt ruin the batch

 

[MN-winer]

Look at it this way. You learned alot in this 1 gallon of wine. Its not ruined unless you won't drink it. Now you have much greater knowledge for your next batch. Lessons learned - Keep in warmer in the Primary fermentation. Use a more grapes per gallon if it ends up that this wine does not have the body. The wine must be balanced to taste good especially for wild grapes - 14.5% alcohol will not taste good for that grape.

Keep fermenting and tweak for the next batch.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

Look at it this way. You learned alot in this 1 gallon of wine. Its not ruined unless you won't drink it. Now you have much greater knowledge for your next batch. Lessons learned - Keep in warmer in the Primary fermentation. Use a more grapes per gallon if it ends up that this wine does not have the body. The wine must be balanced to taste good especially for wild grapes - 14.5% alcohol will not taste good for that grape.

Keep fermenting and tweak for the next batch.

agreed. sometimes failer is the best teacher.