Not Enough Sugar

[timothyap]

Hi Again, I feel like the scarecrow in the wizard of oz...If I Only Had A Brain....

I just racked my strawberry/rhubarb for the 3rd time and looks good, but the alcohol level is not there, so checked my notes and recipe, Damn, instead of 15lb sugar, I put in only 15 cups.

The primary will be empty in a few days, so can I dump it back in, add the rest of the sugar with yeast (as it has been all racked out) and re-ferment it.. should I put anything else in that the recipe called for other that just yeast?

Thanks,
T

 

[AkTom]

What was your OG? Current SG? What does it taste like? Someone who knows will be along soon. Those more knowledgeable will want to know.
My guess is add sugar and maybe more yeast.

 

[Yooper]

You should have plenty of yeast- but if it's been racked several times you may find that you risk oxidation by pouring it back into a primary. Did you take any SG readings? 15 cups of sugar is about 7 pounds, so what was the rest of the recipe? It might not be as bad as you think, but without knowing the volume and things, I'd just be guessing.

 

[timothyap]

Lets start over, it was 8lb sugar and I put in only 8 cups...Sorry about my mistake..
Well, wife just left with my notes in car but if I remember right SG now is .994, taste is really dry and a bit of acidic but not bad. I usually sweeten which takes the acidity away. All around is not bad, I calculated %ABV this morning at 6.80, thats kinda what got me checking into it more..

DO NOT USE THIS RECIPE BELOW
IT IS NOT CORRECT

5 pounds Rhubarb (cubed, meaty stalk only)
8 pounds Sugar
5 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient
5 Teaspoons Acid Blend
1 Teaspoons Pectic Enzyme
5 Campden Tablets (24 hrs. before fermentation)
Water (To total batch to 5 gallons)
1 Pkg. Wine Yeast (Lalvin K1V-1116, recommended)
5 Campden Tablets (Before Bottling)

 

[bernardsmith]

This recipe seems a little bizarre. You say that this is for five gallons but the quantity of rhubarb is 5 lbs... That's about what I would use for 1 gallon of wine. Rhubarb is very acidic, but you are adding 5 teaspoons of acid blend. That seems like gross overkill unless you have tasted the wine and you know that it tastes so bland that it needs additional acidity. Then the recipe calls for 8 pounds of sugar in 5 gallons. That's 1.6 lbs of sugar /gallon and if 1 lb of sugar will, when mixed with water to make 1 gallon, raise the gravity of 1 gallon of water by 40 points, then adding 1.6 lbs will raise the gravity to 1.064. That amount of sugar has the maximum potential to result in a wine of about 8%. Most wines are about 12%. Could be a rhubarb cider, but with 8% ABV it cannot be aged without the risk of spoilage so why 5 gallons of this cider rather than 1 gallon? But whatever floats your boat.
OK, your recipe calls for adding acid blend but is silent when it comes to tannin?

Sorry, but this recipe does not pass the sniff test, if you ask me. Seems like it was created by someone who has made very little wine and has never made a rhubarb wine and had never tested their own recipe before publishing it.

 

[timothyap]

Gees, todays not my day, the recipe is missing the 6lb of strawberries, sorry

 

[Mallerstang]

Sorry, but this recipe does not pass the sniff test, if you ask me. Seems like it was created by someone who has made very little wine and has never made a rhubarb wine and had never tested their own recipe before publishing it.

Looks like maybe it originated here: https://blog.eckraus.com/strawberry-rhubarb-wine-recipe

which involves using 2 cans of commercial fruit wine base or (in the comments) substituting 12 lb of strawberries plus enough extra sugar to get the SG up to where it should be, using a hydrometer.

 

[bernardsmith]

Possibly - but see some of the comments about how light in fruit that recipe is... and see also Kraus' comment that the OG for this wine should be somewhere between 1.080 and 1.100 (10.5 % - 13% ABV)

 

[Mallerstang]

Possibly - but see some of the comments about how light in fruit that recipe is... and see also Kraus' comment that the OG for this wine should be somewhere between 1.080 and 1.100 (10.5 % - 13% ABV)

Definitely - and if Timothy then used 6 lb strawberries and no extra sugar, to sub for the 2 cans of fruit base, that would add to his problem, no?

I think you could add the additional ingredients now, add some EC-1118 because it's an enthusiastic strain that ferments anything anywhere, and it would probably start right up again. That's what I would try, and I'd rehydrate the yeast first instead of just chucking it in like I usually do. Then next time, add more fruit if that's what you like.

 

[timothyap]

Thanks guys, I found the original recipe for this wine. I posted at the end.

It was sent to me by a friend, well he was a friend, for some reason or another he's upset with me so by messing with the recipe was my punishment. He knew I wouldn't remember, bad brain injury 8 years ago.. anyway...
From now on, if I'm not sure of a recipe I'll post it here so It can be checked out.

I dug and dug until I found the recipe I used 2 years ago, this wine was very good..not sure because my memory fails me alot, but I think it is the one I posted below with out the goofy changes that were made my the friend.

And it did indeed originate from eckraus.

Below is the one I should have used..
and will pickup some yeast tomorrow and get my screw up fixed.

Thanks for all the help..I really Do Appreciate It
T



5 pounds Rhubarb (cubed, meaty stalk only)
12 pounds strawberries
8 pounds Sugar
5 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient
5 Teaspoons Acid Blend
1 Teaspoons Pectic Enzyme
5 Campden Tablets (24 hrs. before fermentation)
Water (To total batch to 5 gallons)
1 Pkg. Wine Yeast (Lalvin K1V-1116, recommended)
5 Campden Tablets (Before Bottling)

 

[AkTom]

Take plenty of notes. Then you’ll know what you did. I know I wish I had written down more. I try to note every little thing I do.