sweetening without sorbate??

[yetijunk]

I was curious if there is a method for sweetening wine without causing renewed fermentation without the use of sorbate?

 

[Yooper]

I was curious if there is a method for sweetening wine without causing renewed fermentation without the use of sorbate?

Some winemakers find that they can have a sweet wine by adding sugar over and over, incrementally, until the wine yeast is overwhelmed by the high ABV and then any sugar added will mean that the wine will stay sweet. Of course, that means a very high ABV wine so it takes longer to age.

 

[yetijunk]

Ive actually thought about that, however with this particular recipe, the high ABV has been overwhelming in the past.... so this batch i changed it by starting with a lower gravity. I want to sweeten it while keeping its current ABV of 9.6 but also without using sorbate.... trying to keep it as natural as possible.

 

[lukebuz]

Try a beer yeast? They die out sooner.

Or, (going against your "keep it natural") try an artificial sweetner, or stevia.

 

[yetijunk]

what about sticking my carboy in the fridge for two days or so?? would that cold crash permanently inhibit the yeast from fermenting further??

The recipe itself is great and id like to keep it is as much as possible.... been using turbinado cane sugar(i.e. sugar in the raw) and its been working miracles.... don't really care to use artificial sweeteners

 

[hannibalmdq]

what about sticking my carboy in the fridge for two days or so?? would that cold crash permanently inhibit the yeast from fermenting further??

The recipe itself is great and id like to keep it is as much as possible.... been using turbinado cane sugar(i.e. sugar in the raw) and its been working miracles.... don't really care to use artificial sweeteners

No, they'll just wake back up. You could use pasteurization to kill the yeast. There are posts in the cider forum about that method. You are risking explosions but it works often enough that it's pretty popular.

 

[yetijunk]

ok.... ill check that out! Ill just use sorbate for this batch and try something like that for future batches! Thanks

 

[WI_Wino]

Another option is to sterile filter the wine. That will strip out the yeast. But no cheap DIY method that I know of, requires non cheap equipment.

 

[yetijunk]

Im sure I could figure out something to use as a filter. I have mesh for with .000001mm spaces for the purpose of micro-filtering..... thinking i could just use that! Good idea!

 

[Yooper]

Im sure I could figure out something to use as a filter. I have mesh for with .000001mm spaces for the purpose of micro-filtering..... thinking i could just use that! Good idea!

No, not really. You want to avoid any hint of oxygen, so generally the wine is filtered by one closed container to another via c02 to push it through. A .5 micron filter would strip out all of the yeast- but the trade off is that it also can strip out flavor. Most winemakers who filter don't do sterile filtration to remove all of the yeast; instead they filter a clear wine to make it brilliantly clear. A plate filter is sort of a pain, but they are effective if done correctly. A 'mini jet' filter has a pump so you don't need c02 but they are expensive. You also need new pads (at least two sets, coarse/medium and fine/sterile) for each filtering job.