FG 0.995 tastes sweet?

[eigua]

1. I'm very new to homebrewing (unless making 2 batches of Mr. Beer 5 years ago counts...)
2. I'm just experimenting with pretty much anything I can find to ferment at this point.

I just tested the gravity of a simple "wine" I started exactly 3 weeks ago. It's similar to Yooper's Welch's Grape Juice Wine recipe:

96 oz concorde grape juice
2 cups white sugar (boiled in water) [may have added a bit more, I forget]
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme (I think that was the amount I used)
Cote Des Blancs yeast
A bit of water to top it up to near 1 gallon (with a fairly large headspace)

OG: 1.112
FG: 0.995
ABV: 15.36%

It fermented fairly quickly, but I didn't bother checking the gravity until today. It came out at 0.995. Great! Complete fermentation. Then I tasted it ... pretty sweet and grapey still and I don't notice it being particularly alcoholic tasting (I would think 15.36% would taste pretty strong, especially this young.)

Does that make any sense that a "wine" could ferment out to this FG and still taste sweet? I'm not complaining, mind you -- I rather like sweet wines. It's just that it doesn't seem logical. I checked my hydrometer with tap water and it shows 1.000 exactly.

 

[buMbLeB]

Quick answer - no, it doesn't really make sense. I've made this once or twice, the most recent is climbing down from 1.106 and is at 1.012, tasted it yesterday. Obviously it's very sweet and grapey, but it clearly has an alcohol kick at 12.8%. Previously I did it without added sugar and got it down below 1, and it seemed pretty dry, but still grapey. Is it possible you're interpreting grapeyness as sweetness out of habitual association?

Still doesn't explain the lack of bite though. Anyone else??

 

[eigua]

Quick answer - no, it doesn't really make sense. I've made this once or twice, the most recent is climbing down from 1.106 and is at 1.012, tasted it yesterday. Obviously it's very sweet and grapey, but it clearly has an alcohol kick at 12.8%. Previously I did it without added sugar and got it down below 1, and it seemed pretty dry, but still grapey. Is it possible you're interpreting grapeyness as sweetness out of habitual association?

Still doesn't explain the lack of bite though. Anyone else??

I suppose it's possible I'm just interpreting it as sweet because of the concord grape flavor. I'll have to taste more when I bottle it.

I just bottled another experiment I did: Raisin "cider" (just raisins and water and Safale S04) that finished at 9.45% ABV (OG:1.072/FG:1.000). It also tastes a little bit sweet, but not as sweet as the grape. I know people say S04 leaves a fruity taste, so perhaps that's it. (BTW, I really like the way the raisin "cider" tastes even at this stage! I'm bottling and carbing it, assuming the S04 can handle it.) I can taste the alcohol in this one more than the grape at 15%.

 

[buMbLeB]

I'm interested in your raisin cider, sounds like something I'd like to try. Any chance of a recipe?

 

[eigua]

I'm interested in your raisin cider, sounds like something I'd like to try. Any chance of a recipe?

Sure! It's really super simplistic. Raisins, water, and yeast. It's not precise but this is how I did it:

Raisin "Cider":
Water - about a gallon
2lb organic raisins (bought at Costco for $8/4lb)
Safale S04 yeast

1. Blend water and some raisins in the blender (preferably a very powerful one like a Vita Mix or Blendtec) in batches until finely blended.
2. Boil raisin puree for a few minutes (basically just to kill anything in it and maybe get some extra sugars out of it).
3. Strain the water out of the pulp.
4. Fill fermenter with raisin water.
5. Follow yeast directions and add yeast. (I used like 1/2 tsp I think... Basically a 5th of the package)
6. Ferment. (Mine was in 3 weeks and 5 days, but it was done long before that.)
7. Rack to bottling jug.
8. Bottle carb: Boil 4.5 tsp sugar + a small amount of water, cool, then add to bottling bucket.
9. Bottle.

OG: 1.072
FG: 1.000

I only got 108 ounces of liquid in the end by bottling time because I left too much head space. There was no significant krausen, so I could have easily added more water, but it would have lowered the OG.

It's also a rather ugly drink since I boiled the raisin juice and the pectins set. You could probably get it clear if you were process the raisins, don't boil them, and then do it like wine with a campden tablet, etc. and add pectic enzyme.

I'd also warn that filtering the raisin pulp out was a miserable job. I tried sieves, paper towels, coffee filters, etc. I honestly can't remember which worked best. If I were to do it over, I'd probably just leave the pulp in and use a bigger fermenter and let it settle out.

Also, I'm not sure if it will carbonate or not since the ABV is already so high. S04 can't go much higher than that from what I've read.

Apart from the above two experiments, I've also got a random 1G high gravity all malt extract + hallertau hops beer going, a 1G plain apple juice cider, a 1G cinnamon apple juice cyser, a 1G caramel apple grape rose mead, and a 1G ginger ale bubbling away. I got carried away with beginners excitement. The yeast are happy at my house!

 

[buMbLeB]

Thanks! I think I'll try something similar but with EC-1118. I don't mind an ugly wine, so pulp stays in. It's on my bucket list, so to speak.

 

[Paps]

Raisins act as a yeast nutrient.
Cider by itself lacks nutrients that yeast crave/need to be healthy.
I suggest using raisins if you cannot get ahold of yeast nutrient/energiser.
Just an FYI and not trying to derail the thread.
Carry on.

 

[eigua]

Raisins act as a yeast nutrient.
Cider by itself lacks nutrients that yeast crave/need to be healthy.
I suggest using raisins if you cannot get ahold of yeast nutrient/energiser.
Just an FYI and not trying to derail the thread.
Carry on.

That would explain why the raisin cider fermented out pretty quickly and my apple cider is still bubbling away almost a month after I started it. Nice.

 

[eigua]

I bottled my finished "wine" yesterday and had another small taste, this time a bit more than the first time. I can definitely taste the alcohol this time -- it's almost like port, being only 4% lower. And the sensation of sweetness I'm getting probably is just because it's really (really) fruity tasting for wine. I'm curious to know how the taste will change a year from now. Fun first wine experiment!

 

[fuelish]

I seem to have the same experience (FG well below 1.000, still tastes slightly "sweet") Thinking on it, I think it's all in my mind, as it's usually melomels, maybe it's the fruit flavor tricking my feeble mind into thinking it's "sweet" even though it's not by my hydrometer(s), both of which read 1.000 with 60*F H2O....I have a 13% plain mead that also seems "sweet," but guessing it's just the residual honey flavor.....dunno if I'd want a backsweetened mead, personally.... Worst mead I've ever tried was a Chaucers....SICKENINGLY sweet, my wife even hated it. Driest thing I've ever produced has been a couple of cysers fermented with either 1116 or 1118....nice and dry, crisp, refreshing, and bottle carbed.

 

[eigua]

I seem to have the same experience (FG well below 1.000, still tastes slightly "sweet") Thinking on it, I think it's all in my mind, as it's usually melomels, maybe it's the fruit flavor tricking my feeble mind into thinking it's "sweet" even though it's not by my hydrometer(s), both of which read 1.000 with 60*F H2O....I have a 13% plain mead that also seems "sweet," but guessing it's just the residual honey flavor.....dunno if I'd want a backsweetened mead, personally.... Worst mead I've ever tried was a Chaucers....SICKENINGLY sweet, my wife even hated it. Driest thing I've ever produced has been a couple of cysers fermented with either 1116 or 1118....nice and dry, crisp, refreshing, and bottle carbed.

Good to know I'm not the only crazy one!

About the mead, I guess I'm glad I never tried the bottle of Chaucer's I bought a few years ago that's still sitting in my closet. You're not the first one who I've heard that from either. I've never had mead before and it would have been a shame if I had tried that and been turned off of it before experiencing better mead. I'm making some mead also right now, but this being my first time for anything but Mr. Beer, I don't know if that will be any better than Chaucer's.

 

[rtrent2002]

Every homemade wine I've made with the exception of Apple has had a residual sweet taste. I did learn the reason for this in my kits is due to sorbate so I stopped using it.

 

[fuelish]

About the mead, I guess I'm glad I never tried the bottle of Chaucer's I bought a few years ago that's still sitting in my closet. You're not the first one who I've heard that from either. I've never had mead before and it would have been a shame if I had tried that and been turned off of it before experiencing better mead.

LOL....give that Chaucers away...to someone you don't like Yeah, it would be a big turn-off if ya didn't know what to expect....apparently there are many fine meads commercially available, just not around here So DIY it is, which is more than OK by me