I have a few brews going that I fear may turn out much drier than intended, and was wondering if, in general, it is ok to add sugar after ferm has stopped to kick it to the level one wishes.
If you're afraid of it being too dry, then you'll want to use a non-fermenting sugar. Something like lactose, or the sugar substitutes that won't ferment.
Personally, I would just let the batch finish, bottle/keg it up and see how it is when it goes to glass. You can always brew it again with tweaks to the recipe.
Was this extract base or all grain (or partial mash)??
To sweeten a wine (this is the wine making forum) that is too dry you need to stabilize it first. You can use potassium sorbate and potassium sulfite then sweeten to taste. Or you can use wine conditioner and potassium sulfite. Wine conditioner has sweetener in it.
What I meant was to add sugar until the yeast's alcohol tolerance is met and sugar remains un-fermented. And its a semi sweet red wine with some black tea in there for astringency, the last batch was amazing!
What yeast did you use? Some yeast are capable of 18-21%, much too high for a table wine. If you used a 14% yeast it still may go higher depending on nutrient levels.
But that is one way of making a sweet high ABV wine.