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flyinpig

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Originally took 8 lbs of concord grapes, mashed and placed in primary with 7 lbs sugar, agitated and airlocked. Wifes uncle makes all his wine this way, but uses a 3 gal carboy start to finish. Crap shoot on how it comes out, so I thought I would be more precise with it. Not wanting a dry wine (from previous experience) I racked into secondary. However it is rather sweet, to sweet in fact. I have not been able to check SG as I learned the hard way to not put it in the dishwasher! :/

So my question, if I add yeast nutrient to it, will it help the left over yeast take off again or should I add some yeast? (I have DC 47 and L1118 on hand)

Thanks as always.
 
Originally took 8 lbs of concord grapes, mashed and placed in primary with 7 lbs sugar, agitated and airlocked. Wifes uncle makes all his wine this way, but uses a 3 gal carboy start to finish. Crap shoot on how it comes out, so I thought I would be more precise with it. Not wanting a dry wine (from previous experience) I racked into secondary. However it is rather sweet, to sweet in fact. I have not been able to check SG as I learned the hard way to not put it in the dishwasher! :/

So my question, if I add yeast nutrient to it, will it help the left over yeast take off again or should I add some yeast? (I have DC 47 and L1118 on hand)

Thanks as always.

If the yeast isn't overwhelmed (seriously, 7 POUNDS of sugar and 8 pounds of grapes?!?! More sugar than grapes, nearly?) the original yeast should go. But what size batch is this? Three gallons?
 
To safely add yeast nutrient you need to know your starting SG and where you are now. If this is a 3gal batch, the starting SG just from the seven pounds of sugar puts you at 1.101, which puts at about 13.5% ACV if ferments to 1.000....but the sugar from the eight pounds of grapes can be quite variable.

You are aware, if three gallons, this will be insanely light on fruit flavor.

What yeast did you start with? And will you be getting another hydrometer? Plus always have a backup for those oh crap moments.

Sara
 
Had another...but of course, I cant find it anywhere! On my list to pick up next time in town.

Only yeast that was wild on the grapes. They came from a winery in Cleveland, and it was all my uncle had left. Not my primo choice but thought i wouldn't be out much. OG was 1.060. This is a 5 gal. batch, I was expecting to have to add concentrate at the end for flavor but it has plenty at this point.

Backstory, the first batch we made of Peach wine, followed all directions and waited until it stopped fermenting. It was super dry. Thus the reason for racking this sooner, but alas it was to soon I think.
 
You used eight pounds of grapes for five gallons? The 1.060--what was that from, because seven pounds of sugar in five gallons is in line with that number...no accounting for sugar from grapes. But, worse case scenario you can use SG of just the sugar. Truly unable to calculate the info from grapes since so, so variable...unless your uncle had a Brix reading and you can just run with that number.

Doing my math based on just sugar alone, the S.G. of sugar added is 1.066 (7# sugar equals 16.52 cups, divided by 5 gallons equals 3.304 cups per gallon, times 0.020 points per cup equals 0.066 + SG of water 1.000 gives starting SG of your sugar addition 1.066)

So did you rack thinking that the wine will not ferment to dry? You should still have plenty of live yeast, though since I have no idea about natural yeast..who knows. You should be able to add a yeast like EC-1118 or KV1-1116 and it will kill off what natural yeast is left and hopefully finish off the remaining sugar. If you want to sweeten it up once dry then you just dose with k-meta and sorbate and sweeten to taste.
 
saramc said:
You used eight pounds of grapes for five gallons? The 1.060--what was that from, because seven pounds of sugar in five gallons is in line with that number...no accounting for sugar from grapes. But, worse case scenario you can use SG of just the sugar. Truly unable to calculate the info from grapes since so, so variable...unless your uncle had a Brix reading and you can just run with that number.

Doing my math based on just sugar alone, the S.G. of sugar added is 1.066 (7# sugar equals 16.52 cups, divided by 5 gallons equals 3.304 cups per gallon, times 0.020 points per cup equals 0.066 + SG of water 1.000 gives starting SG of your sugar addition 1.066)

So did you rack thinking that the wine will not ferment to dry? You should still have plenty of live yeast, though since I have no idea about natural yeast..who knows. You should be able to add a yeast like EC-1118 or KV1-1116 and it will kill off what natural yeast is left and hopefully finish off the remaining sugar. If you want to sweeten it up once dry then you just dose with k-meta and sorbate and sweeten to taste.

Sorry for being confusing. The eight pounds is what i was given, grapes in a box, we smashed them minus stems in fermenter. The 1.060 is the SG from the sample I drew after adding sugar (8 lbs) and water (18 qts) just prior to placing airlock. Tasted very grapey and sweet. airlocked and it started working within 30 minutes.

I racked hoping that the wine would not ferment to dry and lose grape flavor. That is what happend with the peach we made, it lost the peach flavor and we couldnt get it sweetened back up to good flavor.

I will pitch some 1118 on it later today. Thanks for your help.
 
flyinpig said:
Sorry for being confusing. The eight pounds is what i was given, grapes in a box, we smashed them minus stems in fermenter. The 1.060 is the SG from the sample I drew after adding sugar (8 lbs) and water (18 qts) just prior to placing airlock. Tasted very grapey and sweet. airlocked and it started working within 30 minutes.

I racked hoping that the wine would not ferment to dry and lose grape flavor. That is what happend with the peach we made, it lost the peach flavor and we couldnt get it sweetened back up to good flavor.

I will pitch some 1118 on it later today. Thanks for your help.

That's a lot of water you added. Only 1.6 lbs grapes per gallon. If should ferment dry, but I think the flavor will be lacking.

In the future, add minimal amount of water to your grapes, no more than what is required to balance out the acidity.
 
I follow....you will learn what you like as you continue on with your batches. You will find that less water is best with almost all fruits. FWIW, you do need to realize that fermentation rarely carries over the actualy fruit taste. Backsweetening the wine helps to bring the fruit back forward. Your comment about the peach being dry and not tasting a bit more like peach until you backsweetened is CLASSIC example. But you will find some fruits that tend to lend more to the wine as compared to other fruits. Definitely consider buying a basic book on home winemaking, all the online shops carry them...I strongly encourage that anyone taking this hobby up gets an understanding of the terminology, the additives and the process. The forums are a great resource for thinking, troubleshooting and sharing!! Have fun.
 
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