Dry, Semi-Sweet & Sweet

I noticed a comment in one post recently that Dry began at 1.007, are there generally accepted SG levels that can be associated with Dry, Semi-Sweet and Sweet wines.

John

I said that as a general comment. I wasn't sure at the time, just using it as an example. An FG of .996 has fermented out all the sugar available.

It really is relative to the OG and the attenuation of the yeast on the malt.

I'm sorry you took it for fact, but I WILL do some research to find you the EXACT ranges if they exist.

I did see a graph somewhere with the "definitions" of dry, off-dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, and sweet. I think off -dry was just a shade over 1.000 and the rest might have been in .010 increments. Still, I'm going by memory here, so don't trust that.

I'll try to look, too, but darned if I can remember where I saw it......

Thanks again, Lorena.

FWIW, According to Ken Schramm in Compleat Meadmaker:
Dry:0.990-1.006
Medium:1.006-1.015
Sweet:1.012-1.020
Dessert:1.020+

My current sweet mead is 1.032 and isn't overly sweet, to me atleast.. Guess it all depends on the person

SpamDog

okay.. I am retarded tonight... I thought this was in the Mead Forum.. I have been at work for 9.5 hrs now and really need to go home

SpamDog

SpamDog said:

FWIW, According to Ken Schramm in Compleat Meadmaker:
Dry:0.990-1.006
Medium:1.006-1.015
Sweet:1.012-1.020
Dessert:1.020+

My current sweet mead is 1.032 and isn't overly sweet, to me atleast.. Guess it all depends on the person

SpamDog

Click to expand...

That's where I saw it. I have that book also.

Well, mead forum or not, spam, it's still good information! Thanks for posting it.

The one I saw was just slightly different, having categories for "off dry". Some of this is taste, too. Anything over 1.010 tastes really sweet to me! But I love my wines and meads bone dry usually. Although I did sweeten a dandelion wine a bit to 1.000 (which is still technically dry, I guess!).

Yeah perception is key.. when I did my mead I had a side sample and slowly sweetened it till i found an SG that i liked... but guidelines never hurt

SpamDog

homebrewer_99 said:

I said that as a general comment. I wasn't sure at the time, just using it as an example. An FG of .996 has fermented out all the sugar available.

It really is relative to the OG and the attenuation of the yeast on the malt.

I'm sorry you took it for fact, but I WILL do some research to find you the EXACT ranges if they exist.

Click to expand...

Sorry if it sounded like I was trying to put you on the spot. That certainly wasn't my intention. I was sampling the results of some small batch cider experiments and started thinking about how they could be classified. I remembered your comment and thought it made a good starting point for the question.

Thanks to you, SpamDog and Lorena for the info. Taste is a very subjective thing but it's nice to have a baseline for comparison.



John

Stryder said:

Sorry if it sounded like I was trying to put you on the spot...

Click to expand...

No harm, no foul. Don't worry about it.