Back sweeten sugar question

I have made a few wines, but this is the first im going to back sweeten. My question is when you guys back sweeten do you usually boil your sugar in a little water and add it your wine. I think it would be a pain in the butt to try to dissolve sugar in wine that is about 60 degrees. Thank in advance for the help.

Yes to boiling with some water to back sweeten.

Thanks for the quick reply Nurmey

I also have a question on this subject, do you just add a little sugar at a time, and taste until it reaches the required sweetness?

The most consistent method is to take out a measured amount. Sweeten this to taste by adding measured amounts of whatever sugar you would like to use. Then just multiply up to get the amount needed for a full batch. Keep in mind that as the flavors mellow, you will probably be better sweetening it to just a little dryer then you like, as the sweetness will come out over time.

Tusch said:

The most consistent method is to take out a measured amount. Sweeten this to taste by adding measured amounts of whatever sugar you would like to use. Then just multiply up to get the amount needed for a full batch. Keep in mind that as the flavors mellow, you will probably be better sweetening it to just a little dryer then you like, as the sweetness will come out over time.

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+1000 on this. I did not heed this advice and now have a batch of very sweet wine.
The kicker is that I know better but I somehow did it anyway.

LOl, I do the same thing. I know that it will get sweeter over time. but do it anyhow.

i have a similar question:

do i just use sugar or do i need to add sobate also before bottling.

my wine is a riseling from a kit. it has already been stabilized and settled.

ryangws -

If your definition of 'stabilized' is the same as mine (add potassium sorbate & potassium metabisulfite to arrest yeast activity), then it should not be necessary to repeat it, if it was done properly the first time.

Pogo

well i followed the instructions in the kit. step 3 after degassing i added metabisulphate, kieselsol, and chitosan. the wine is clear and ready to bottle, just a little dryer than i wanted.

now it says i can sweeten, but to use a conditioner, i dont have a store bought conditioner.

it says "only when sweetening your wine should you add "Sorbate" after sweetening, proceed to bottling"

so if i want to sweeten i should add sorbate and disolved sugar solution

if so how much sorbate for 5 gal

I guess that we should examine this issue a little closer.

There are so many books, magazine articles, kits with instructions, kits w/o instructions, complete instructions, incomplete instructions, yadda yadda yadda...that it can get to be pretty confusing.

As far as stabilization goes, my bottle of Potassium Metabisulfite says 1/8 teaspoon per gallon = approxamately 100 ppm of free SO2. This protects the wine from turing to vinegar. As far as I'm aware, it does not inhibit the action of the yeast at all.

It is the Potassium Sorbate, at 1/4 teaspoon per gallon, to prevent re-fermentation, that allows one to back-sweeten properly. Others have posted stronger amounts of Sorbate, but my bottle of Sorbate says to use 1/4 tsp per gallon. Do a search to see what the experts advise!

I personally have never used the kieselsol or chitosan that you have mentioned. As I recall, both are clearing agents, and will have no impact on fermentation.

I am not aware of any substitute for Sorbate!

If you add sugar without Sorbate, unless it is a non-fermentable sugar, yeast will ferment it, and make the wine even dryer!

Unless someone will more experience can chime in with a better idea, I would advise stabilizing with Potassium Sorbate before back-sweetening your wine.

Pogo

Pogo is absolutely right, sorbate than sugar.

Yes, add 2 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate and about 2 1/2 cups of dissolved sugar for 5 gallons, to start. More sugar if that is what you like.

I read a long time ago that commercial yeast is bread to be tolerant to SO2 where wild yeast isn't. I haven't read anything lately on it though so I can't say for sure.

SO2 is chemical symbol for sulfur dioxide. Are you thinking of metabisulfite, also known as campden? In that case, I think you are right. Many recipes call for campden during the mix to prevent infection by wild yeast or other organisms, followed 24 hours later by commercial yeast.

I racked off a few different gallon jugs of an apple wine I made. I had an idea of how much sugar I wanted to add, but I decided to add different amounts to each gallon jug. That way, after they have been bottled and aged, I will know just how much sugar to add the next time I make this wine.
Also, since this was my first venture into wine making, I was not sure how much back sweetening I really wanted.
I also just recently noticed these were a bit "fizzy", so I decided to add capmden and sorbate to these gallon jugs, and degass them. I have been stirring them for a few days now, and will continue through the weekend, then crash chill, rack and bottled them next week.

Bombo80 said:

I decided to add capmden and sorbate to these gallon jugs, and degass them. I have been stirring them for a few days now, and will continue through the weekend.

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The campden works by producing a gas in the wine and if you keep stirring, you will degas the campden right back out of it. I found it better to rack, degas, then campden and sorbate. I would let it settle still after that.

Edit: I was thinking if you could just give the bottles an easy swirl that it would help the alcohol molecule bind with the fruit molecule. It would kinda rub them together sort a speak. In layman's terms, it would help to rapid age the wine and smooth it out. The idea being that it starts to settle from the top in layers, and stirring it would mix the layers. An easy swirl of the bottle shouldn't.

If you use sorbate without metabisulfite, and there are still active yeast, those yeast will eat the sugar you add. They just won't be able to multiply is all. I am currently using this fact to make my plum wine into sparkling plum wine without a beer-like yeast cake at the bottom of the bottle.


UPDATE: this was a terrible idea. Worst hangover EVER. Try it for yourself if you like, but don't use a whole lot of wine doing it.

ok sorry im a newbie and i like to sweeten my wine up so are you talking about adding a sugar solution right before you bottle to make it sweeter?

bonsaimonkeymom21 said:

ok sorry im a newbie and i like to sweeten my wine up so are you talking about adding a sugar solution right before you bottle to make it sweeter?

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Yes.

First, you wait until the wine is clear, and rack off of the lees so that fermentation is finished and there is a minimum of yeast left. Then, you rack onto some sorbate and campden (one crushed campden tablet per gallon, and 1/2 teaspoon sorbate per gallon, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water) into a clean carboy. Wait a few days, and then sweeten to taste. I wouldn't bottle immediately, as there aren't any guarantees that the sorbate/campden will stop any further refermentation. I'd wait three days, and if fermentation didn't restart, then it'd be ok to bottle.

This works great with aged wines, but with a wine that just finished fermentation there is plenty of yeast that can still ferment. Sorbate doesn't kill yeast (and neither does campden) but it keeps it from reproducing. So, the idea is that there is very little yeast still in suspension after a period of time, and racking off of the lees helps remove spent yeast, and the sorbate keeps the yeast from reproducing and adding the fresh sugar/sweetener that is added.

Anything can be used to sweeten- some of the leftover and frozen must from the original recipe, a simple sugar/water syrup, honey, apple juice, etc.

I racked off a few different gallon jugs of an apple wine I made. I had an idea of how much sugar I wanted to add, but I decided to add different amounts to each gallon jug. That way, after they have been bottled and aged, I will know just how much sugar to add the next time I make this wine.
Also, since this was my first venture into wine making, I was not sure how much back sweetening I really wanted.
I also just recently noticed these were a bit "fizzy", so I decided to add capmden and sorbate to these gallon jugs, and degass them. I have been stirring them for a few days now, and will continue through the weekend, then crash chill, rack and bottled them next week.

Click to expand...

I think that will get you an rough idea, but since the fruit year to year may have different sugar content and other variables, I would lean a little on your hydrometer. Sweeten a sample to you liking, and record you hydrometer reading. You could do some above and below to compare but I like looking at figures from my hydrometer vs. amount of sugar used last time.

I'm just getting into the wine making but am under the impression that in both wine making and beer brewing consistent use of the hydrometer helps minimize mistakes, and help make a repeatable beer/wine.

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum and to wine making. I recently finished a California Riesling Kit. I did a taste test and added suger to my desired taste (2 cups). I them proceded to bottle.

At the time my instructions didnt say anything about added sorbate if you back sweeten. I could've sworn that I added a finishing agent at step 3 just not sure what it was called.

Here lies my problem. While taste testing the wine it was a little harsh but not terrible and got better with the addition of sugar. About 5 days after bottling I opened my first bottle and it was rough. Tasted good going down then left a serious after taste.
Can this be because it re-fermented or is it just cause its too young?

I've never done an actual wine kit, just country wines with fruit other than grapes. That being said, the result will be the same if you didn't stabilize before bottling...your corks will pop. I imagine it was part of your kit and it should be ok. I always stand them up for the first few days before resting them on their side.

After bottling I usually wait at least a month before opening that first bottle. Even if it tastes perfect at bottling I've read that right after bottling it often doesn't taste the same, people call it bottling sickness. It will get better with time. I have always been patient with beer and wine and have never opened early. I waited over 6 months to sample my first blueberry wine, glad I did.

I think your wine is young yet and you should forget about it for at least 3-4 more weeks. Put it in a cool dark place and leave it be, start another and another so that eventually you have enough going and can wait because you have to much other wine to drink.

Nasdrowie:
I thank you for your insight. Its been over a week and no popped corks so I guess I'm ok. I hope it is just bottling sickness.

Its my first batch so I guess I'm a little impatient, but I will try to forget about them for a while, hopefully they'll be ok.

Hey guys...just joined this site and thought I'd chime in. A more precise method that I've found for back sweetening is by using your hydrometer. Pull some wine out and dissolve a small amount of sugar (I don't use water because that dilutes my wine too much) then pour that back in and stir well then use your hydrometer to see where you are on sweetness...for an example:
Medium sweet: 1.000-1.010
Sweet: 1.010-1.025
Very Sweet: 1.025 and up.

This works well for me and gives me consistent results everytime. Hope this helps!

Oh BTW...I have a Red Muscadine and Blush Muscadine and a Norton going at the moment.