Yeast to ferment down to 1.000?

So I'm going to make a wine from welch's frozen grape juice concentrate with just enough honey to raise the SG to a hair above 1.090. I am envisioning it finishing at 1.000. Would it matter what type of yeast I use?

wouldn't that be water?

Just about any wine yeast you use will ferment it even lower- even to .990 or so. You could try using Lalvin's D-47 (which is supposed to work up to 14%) or Red Stars cote de blanc or montrachet. Those will still probably finish under 1.000, though.

What you can do is let it finish up. It'll be a bit too tart, so then you can stabilize it by adding one dissolved campden tablet per gallon, along with 1/2 tsp of sorbate per gallon. (Here's a description of the sorbate: http://www.eckraus.com/PS210.html). It's easiest to rack the wine into the campden/sorbate mixture, and then let it sit a few days. Then, you can just pull out a sample, sweeten to taste with sugar, juice, honey, etc. I like to take the SG of the sample I've sweetened, and then sweeten the whole batch to that SG. One thing, though- it always seems to be a bit sweeter than I intended. I've learned to sweeten it just a little less than I want. For example, if I like it at 1.010, I'll sweeten the whole batch to 1.008. If I wanted it at 1.000, I'd sweeten it to .998 or so.

What about a dry mead yeast, would that hit the target?

I don't know, but I doubt it. It seems to be very hard to get yeast happy enough to ferment, but then to stop when we want. I'd plan on it fermenting out, and then backsweetening. You'd hate like heck for it to seem to be finished, and then finish up after it's bottled.

ericd said:

What about a dry mead yeast, would that hit the target?

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No.
Most "Sweet mead" yeast will still fully ferment to around 14%

I've had D-47 poop out pretty reliably at 12% in Mead....even with proper nutrients and such. That's been bad for me, but could be a good strain for you.

Well lucky me I picked some up today at the LHBS to use. Will make this tomorrow. How long does it take to finish usually?

BigKahuna said:

No.
Most "Sweet mead" yeast will still fully ferment to around 14%

I've had D-47 poop out pretty reliably at 12% in Mead....even with proper nutrients and such. That's been bad for me, but could be a good strain for you.

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My first mead has been in the fermenter for about 4 months and I used D-47. ABV is around 11.3% and it fermented down to 1.004. I was kind of hoping to break 1.000.

DrinksWellWithOthers said:

My first mead has been in the fermenter for about 4 months and I used D-47. ABV is around 11.3% and it fermented down to 1.004. I was kind of hoping to break 1.000.

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Try adding some more yeast nutrient and shaking up the yeast? Just a guess, haven't made wine before. Baring that, you could just add some vodka

Wine sounds fun. I think I'll by my mom a carboy for chrismas. I wonder if she'd enjoy it.

Well, do you think she'd really enjoy it or are you just trying to get her to do something you like?

She loves wine. I don't know if she'll like making it. For the most part doesn't it just sit for a really really long time... Then you drink it? What's a typical fermentation time? Is it good to use a secondary? what point is best to bottle it? Do you carbonate it? Meh, maybe this is a bad idea.

Ok, update, one of my fermenters (2 one gallons) is down below 1.000 and the other one is at 1.010 about after just 1 week! Should I go ahead and throw a campden tablet in the one below 1.000 and bottle it? They both are still quite cloudy, should I wait for it to clear up first? It tastes good already, just like wine!

ericd said:

Ok, update, one of my fermenters (2 one gallons) is down below 1.000 and the other one is at 1.010 about after just 1 week! Should I go ahead and throw a campden tablet in the one below 1.000 and bottle it? They both are still quite cloudy, should I wait for it to clear up first? It tastes good already, just like wine!

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No, don't bottle it yet. It's not done, for one thing. The other reason is because it will clear and more sediment will fall to the bottom, and you want to rack it off the sediment. check it in another month- it might be ready to rack by then.

So when is wine "done"? When it's clear? Why is it not like beer that's done when the gravity quits falling?

Oh, and it's a little thin, is there anything I can do now or the next time to give it more body? Thanks!