How did I mess this up?

I mixed up a batch of the welches grape juice wine this morning for my brother in law. I made a 1 gallon batch a while back and following yoopers recipe I did not reach the OG as posted but I left it be and fermented it out....I mixed up a 5 gallon batch today and again missed the OG and what I had was the same as it was the first time 1.060.....I read that adding 4 oz of sugar to 5 gallons riases the OG by.005.... I wanted to get to 1.090 to make up for samples and topping off...anyway i calculated that I needed to raise the OG by .030 so I added 4oz of sugar X 6 for 1.5 pounds additional sugar in the 5 gallons.........my OG is NOW 1.120....where did I mess up? I DID pour the dissolved sugar on top but I mixed it pretty well I thought. the original sugar was put in in stages and the juice added on top.

add some water and some more Welches to primary, it will be fine. I never add all the sugar at once for this exact reason, easier to add more than try to dilute later. At least it is a batch of Welches and the juice is easy to come by and wont cost much.Mix up juice like you are drinking it and add some, check gravity, then add more if needed.

A pound of sugar is 46 points, that's 0.009 in five gallons. So, your calculation is off by a factor of 2. 1.5 lbs in 5 gallons should have increased the gravity 0.015.

I think you have a mixing problem.

So you are saying I STILL need over 2 pounds of sugar?

what is you SG , if it is 1.1 to 1.080 your good. He saying mix it up good and check it again. I hope this doesnt sound like a smart ars.

Let it set a few hours and still it is 1.120..... Still can't figure out how it happened. I have 10 cans of grape juice and added 1 lb 4oz of sugar per every two cans according to directions. Topped up to 5 gallons. ( Dissolved sugar in water).OG 1.060-- added 1.5 pounds sugar and have 1.120.

I pitched the yeast. Will see where it ends up.

The OG for just the first add of sugar would have been 1.057, without the juice. I think your problem was too little mixing initially.

david_42 said:

A pound of sugar is 46 points, that's 0.009 in five gallons. So, your calculation is off by a factor of 2. 1.5 lbs in 5 gallons should have increased the gravity 0.015.

I think you have a mixing problem.

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that is pretty cool.....I tested the 0.009 thing tonight. I made a small sample of spiced tea wine a couple months back. I think it is awful BUT my wife and several others REALLY like it. My wife asked to me to make a big batch of it so I started it tonight. I only had 4 pounds of sugar so I told her I would start it and then add sugar in stages during the fermentation......Anyway I steeped the tea bags and added the 4 pounds of sugar and the OG was dead on .036...which was exactly what your 0.009 per pound of sugar added to 5 gallons comes to. I will let it go a week then rack into a clean carboy with 4 more pounds of sugar and probably once more in a month or so with 2 pounds....give or take


As for the grape wine I should have tested the OG before adding ANY sugar. I was following a recipe and like I said missed the OG by exactly the same as last time.