andyn11

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If my SG reading is high by the end of fermenting (but still in the green zone of my hydrometer) would that indicate a high alcohol content ? Or am i thinking nonsence ?

DarkBrood

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You got it backwards. The greater the difference between your original gravity (before fermenting) and the final gravity (after fermenting), the more alcohol there will be. If all you are looking at is the final gravity, the lower the number, the more potential alcohol there is.

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andyn11

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Ok thanks its a cranberry wine for my GF and dont think she would like a strong wine ... She dnt drink much anyways

saramc

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If your S.G. is still close to what it was when you started your ferment, then you have a problem such as a stuck ferment. You TYPICALLY see a drop almost by 2/3 within 5-10 days from the time of pitching the yeast. Though some yeasts are fast fermenters and will ferment to dry in 3 days, so much does depend on the yeast and the temperature.

You want the ferment to cause the S.G. to drop, meaning as the number drops there is alcohol being produced from the available sugar. For example: if your starting S.G. (also documented as O.G.) is 1.090 and your final reading (also documented as F.G.) is 1.008 (you've checked it every day for 3 days and there is no change at all), then you can calculate your actual ACV (or if you really want this wine to be dry, you could try to tackle this as a stuck ferment and see if you can get the ferment to resume). I personally like this site to calculate my potential and actual ACV: http://dd26943.com/davesdreaded/tools/convert.htm

If you want a low alcohol content wine then you need to know what your starting S.G. should be for the ACV you desire, based on the assumption that the wine will ferment to dry. What was your starting S.G. and what day did you pitch the yeast, temperature of ferment & what yeast are you using.

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andyn11

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Nah it fermented fine dropped good enough and got it to like0.99 sumthin

Was just checking how backwards my backwards thinkin is lol means the other wines i have must be high alcohol content since they dropped really low (unless am wrong)

oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer

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Got to have both numbers..... a start and a finish reading or it is useless. Mike

andyn11

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I know i was simply if you could gather any info with only the FG

oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer

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I am gonna back track. There is a way to check finished product acv. Measure an even pint of product and bring to boil then let cool. Alcohol will evaporate before the water comes to boiling point. Take a reading with hydrometer. Then put back in the pint and top with water to same level as before you started. Take an sg reading again with hydrometer. Subtract reading 1 from reading two. This is called the spirit indication.

Table
Spirit Indication %by volume

1.5 1.0
2 1.3
3 2
4 2.7
5 3.4
6 4.1
7 4.9
8 5.6
9 6.4
10 7.2
11 8.0
12 8.8
13 9.7
14 10.5
15 11.4
16 12.3
17 13.2
18 14.1
19 15.1
20 16
21 17
22 18
23 19
24 20
25 21
26 22

This will work without a beginning sg. Mike

oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer

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Sorry about the table numbers running together. I had them all spaced out neat when I typed it up. Anyhow the numbers on left from 1 to 26 are the spirit number. The ones to the right are the acv numbers. Mike