new to the hobby

hello all , iam simply new to this hobby i bought my firsst kit 1 month ago it was a rasseberry fruit wine kit no suger required .it was fairly simply to put together and end result was amazing..now my question is , iam planing to buy the same kit agian in a plum flavor but would like to increase the alcohol level to 15-16 %..without needing suger in the kit how could i increase the alcohol % ,i understand suger is required but i need tips when to add and how...

sorry i should add that it is a 7-10 day wine kit

Here's a link that will help with the sugar adjustments. http://beer-wine.com/learning/how-adjust-specific-gravity Do you have a hydrometer?

thankyou alane for your rapid response gezzz i got a hydro meter i think its called a oschele scale thingy..lol iam prob best to by a hydrometer with those readings that graph shows...do i add the suger b4 fermentation begins ?

somerandomaussie said:

...do i add the suger b4 fermentation begins ?

Click to expand...

Yes, you want to add the sugar to a small amount of boiling water(to sanitize) allow to cool and stir into the must. It also would help to know the yeast strain you're using to see if it can handle that gravity.

If you have an oschele scale here's a link for conversion http://www.enotecnochimica.it/tabelle/hydrometer-scale.htm

yeast strain type is abit hard to findout , checked the kit its just written on the packet as wine yeast and yeast salt...does that help

For a wine of that gravity your yeast may or may not ferment to dryness, which might leave it sweeter than you want. You might want to use a yeast strain with a known alcohol tolerance like pasteur red.

Keep in mind that by arbitrarily increasing the ABV of the kit you have the potential to throw it off balance. Most fruit wines are best in the lower range of ABV, and I would guarantee this kit is designed for that. The success that you had with your first kit is less likely on this plum kit if you make these kinds of adjustments.

Sorry to poo poo the idea. Just proceed with this knowledge.