My wine is way too sweet!

Hi, I bought a wine kit and followed the instructions to the letter. I added 4kgs of sugar which gave a SG of 1.088. A month later at a constant 20 degrees it finished at 0.994 giving an approximate 12.5% ABV. This is when I should have tasted the wine but instead I followed the instructions and added the stabiliser and finings etc. after a week I poured myself a glass. Yuk! Way too sweet. My question is what can I do? I am right in thinking that I can't add any more yeast because I have already added the stabiliser??
Any suggestions? Should I dump 5 gallons and start again?

"Wine kit" doesn't tell us much. What kind of wine did you make?

HBngNOK said:

"Wine kit" doesn't tell us much. What kind of wine did you make?

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Youngs Wine Buddy 30 bottle 7 day kit. (Cabernet Sauvignon)

Ok, thanks. Finishing at .994, one would think it wouldn't be sweet. I like sweet red wines, but I'm too far away to take it off your hands!

7 days is an very fast turn-around, seems like the yeast would hardly have time to finish. Wonder if Youngs adds some non-fermentable sweeteners to make their cab semi-drinkable at 7 days.

Yes I agree at .994 you would think it would be normal. It is definitely too sweet and undrinkable unless you screw your face and pinch you nose. Sounds like I've passed the point of no return. As a matter of interest if I added some champagne yeast before the mistake of adding the stabiliser what would the FG roughly go down to, or has it hit its limit at .994?

I would think that at .994 all the fermentable sugars have been fermented out, so adding the champagne yeast wouldn't help.

When the people who know what they're talking about start commenting, we'll both learn more!

You must be working nights!

Thanks for your help. There's a lot to learn, but it's all interesting stuff. I'll try a different make and monitor it more closely.

12pm this end.

dbrump said:

Thanks for your help. There's a lot to learn, but it's all interesting stuff. I'll try a different make and monitor it more closely.

12pm this end.

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Sorry I meant 12am

HBngNOK said:

Ok, thanks. Finishing at .994, one would think it wouldn't be sweet. I like sweet red wines, but I'm too far away to take it off your hands!

7 days is an very fast turn-around, seems like the yeast would hardly have time to finish. Wonder if Youngs adds some non-fermentable sweeteners to make their cab semi-drinkable at 7 days.

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I wonder if adding some tartaric acid would help balance out the "sweetness".

I made some Zinfandel that finished around the same SG. It is not sweet, but has a fruity taste. Some people that have had it say it tastes sweet. Could your wine be fruity but tasted sweet?

No it's definitely sweet, you can taste the sugar. I'm wondering if the instructions were printed incorrectly. Adding 4kgs of sugar seems a lot to me, but having said that I'm a novice and I can't comment too much. Youngs is a big company and I'm sure they're right. Interesting about the acid thing though. Might have to investigate.

dbrump said:

No it's definitely sweet, you can taste the sugar. I'm wondering if the instructions were printed incorrectly. Adding 4kgs of sugar seems a lot to me, but having said that I'm a novice and I can't comment too much. Youngs is a big company and I'm sure they're right. Interesting about the acid thing though. Might have to investigate.

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I've had Munton's kits before and you don't have to add sugar them. They taste ok although they do have a slight twang to the taste (not sugary) Nothing that age can't sort out.

Do not dump it.... just make a new batch and in 7 days when the new batch reaches .994 stabilize it and blend it with the sweet wine... you'll have 10 gallons of yummy wine before new years ... wineries almost (or should i say Never) never throw out a batch they just blend it

this is my recipe for my apple cider...4 kg of sugar. if you drink it with ice over a hot summer...its perfect. just my two cents.