Added too much sugar?

I think I may have added too much sugar to my apple wine. I used a Jack Keller recipe but added sugar to bring it to the right gravity. I missed the mark at 1.200 and think I may be running into trouble in the primary fermentation.

I used 8 gallons water (2 for topping off), 22 lbs apples and 20 lbs sugar. My SG was at 1.200, my yeast was Cotes de Blanc(reactiveated). It's the 5th day into fermentation and it's bubbling but the SG is still 1.100.

Do I need to worry or will it still come down further. Do I need to add more yeast if it doesn't come down?

Your SG was 1.200?

I think you are misreading the hydrometer. My "specialty" hydrometer only goes up to 1.170, and it would stick almost straight up out of the liquid, with just the bulb submerged, if is was that high!

Are you certain you don't mean 1.120?

That's kind of high, but not too bad. I'd stir it up to degas and give it some oxygen, and add some yeast nutrient if you have some.

If it really is 1.200, it's a lost cause.

I think you're right it might have been 1.120. How does the ratio of water, fruit and sugar sound? Is the sugar way too high? I'll stir and add nutrient, what about adding more yeast if it stalls?

coboll said:

I think you're right it might have been 1.120. How does the ratio of water, fruit and sugar sound? Is the sugar way too high? I'll stir and add nutrient, what about adding more yeast if it stalls?

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It sounds light on apples with only 22 pounds. I'm not sure of the batch size you have there, but I use about 6 pounds of apples per gallon of wine. So, for a 5 gallon batch, I'd use 30 pounds of apples.

What about the water vs sugar level. I see recipes that add more sugar than I did.
I had 8 gallons of water and 20 lbs sugar, 1 packet of Cotes yeast. I'm hoping my yeast can handle all that sugar. It's fermenting but slowly and the SG is at 1.100 after 5 days.

coboll said:

I think you're right it might have been 1.120.

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Thank goodness! I almost fell over when I saw 1.200. Let's see, if we could ferment that down to 1.000 it would be 26% ABV. Wow! Just having some fun. We've all made hydrometer mistakes.

Yea, I didn't right it down and was going by memory. I'm new to winemaking and have three types going. I need start a journel soon. I could use some 26% alcohol wine right about now!

coboll said:

What about the water vs sugar level. I see recipes that add more sugar than I did.
I had 8 gallons of water and 20 lbs sugar, 1 packet of Cotes yeast. I'm hoping my yeast can handle all that sugar. It's fermenting but slowly and the SG is at 1.100 after 5 days.

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I have no idea what your batch size is. 20 pounds of sugar in a 10 gallon batch isn't all that much, but a 1.120 OG is pretty high so I have to assume that you have 20 pounds of apples and mostly sugar water.

With 22 pounds of apples, I'd top up to 3.5 gallons in the fermenter (making a 3 gallon batch), and try to get an OG of 1.085-1.100 with added surg.

I have no idea about adding 8 gallons of water, what size batch you have there, when you're adding more apples, etc, so I have no idea what kind of advice to give now, sorry!

I know many of Jack Keller's recipes, but I'm not at all familiar with that one.

I tried to make 8 gallons because I wanted two gallons extra for topping off. I have a 6.5 gallon carboy.
I probably didn't have enough apples for that amount of water. The primary is at 1.080 today and it's been 6 days. I added Premier Cuvee and Yeast Nutrient and hope it goes down to 1.020 in the next week and then strain it into the secondary. If it doesn't go down, I suppose I'll have to toss it.

The sugar to water/apples does sound "off" tk me. Cote de blanc is good up to about 14% abv IIRC so it will probably conk out on you. As it is, try getting some more apple flavor in there. Its most likely going to be sweet rocket fuel when done. But, you could blend it into another , more flavorful batch later, so don't dump it!

Fyi, I shoot for an SG of around 1.080 to start, usually using less than 1lb of sugar per gallon (the appples usually get me up a round 1.050 just by themselves).

Thanks for the advice. Since it didn't seem to go anywhere with the Cotes de blanc, I added Premier Cuvee yesterday and it's bubbling away. I hope I can get it down to 1.020 and then I will strain it to the secondary. If I need to top it off would you suggest an apple cider or something with apple flavor??

coboll said:

Thanks for the advice. Since it didn't seem to go anywhere with the Cotes de blanc, I added Premier Cuvee yesterday and it's bubbling away. I hope I can get it down to 1.020 and then I will strain it to the secondary. If I need to top it off would you suggest an apple cider or something with apple flavor??

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Yup, you should/can taste it to see how its coming along, but those would be good "flavoring" options.