Fruit wine 23%??

[AdamRay]

I recently brewed a batch of Strawberry Wine. I was hoping to end up with a nice dessert wine flavor. OG 1.08

I knew it hadn't turn out as I had hoped when my FG reading was 0.90. Somehow it became very dry and had a very strong alcohol flavor to it.

I had let it ferment for 4 months (I've written the recipe below), somehow I have a reading of 23.6% alcohol.

I have checked and double checked the measurements washed thoroughly my hydrometer and checked for damage. I made the temperature adjustments while taking readings and was shocked to find the same reading over and over.... can it really be 23.6%?

It sure tastes like it is but is 23.6% just not unheard of

4kg strawberrys (slightly mouldy)
2.5 kg sugar (edit 1.2kg is the sugar amount I used)
1 lemon
1 cup of black tea
6 liter water
2 table spoons bakers yeast

OG 1.08
Fermentation for 4 months room temp
(21°~28°)

FG 0.90

 

[lumpher]

It could happen. 1.080 down to .90 is possible, and would be around 24%. I have some wine I kept pushing down in FG, and it's about 20%. Dry as the Sahara Desert, too. Kinda makes my mouth pucker when I drink it.

 

[AdamRay]

Hey thank you for the reply I'm still a little surprised to be honest. should be fun to drink it at least but probably with a mixer.

I assume it is something foreign perhaps an infection and not just the yeast I added which has made it possible for the alcohol to get so high?

For me it happened purely by accident, how are you managing to push down your FG?

 

[Raptor99]

To me, SG 0.90 sounds like an impossible reading for wine. I don't know of any wine yeast that can ferment to 23% ABV. How are you reading your hydrometer? Maybe the reading is actually 0.990.

If your OG was 1.08 then the potential ABV is 11%. There is simply not enough sugar in the wine to ferment higher than 12%. You are right to question the result and ask "Does this really make sense?"

 

[bracconiere]

To me, SG 0.90 sounds like an impossible reading for wine.

it's a sugar wash, with berry flavoring...but i am surprised baker's yeast would get that high!

do you have a refractometer adamray? i'd be curious what it reads.

 

[AdamRay]

it's a sugar wash, with berry flavoring...but i am surprised baker's yeast would get that high!

do you have a refractometer adamray? i'd be curious what it reads.

I will take a bottle to my friend and check on his. Good idea.

 

[AdamRay]

To me, SG 0.90 sounds like an impossible reading for wine. I don't know of any wine yeast that can ferment to 23% ABV. How are you reading your hydrometer? Maybe the reading is actually 0.990.

If your OG was 1.08 then the potential ABV is 11%. There is simply not enough sugar in the wine to ferment higher than 12%. You are right to question the result and ask "Does this really make sense?"

0.90 for sure like I said in my post I checked quite a few times.

I completely understand the scepticism.

But as bracconiere suggests I will check on a refractometer

 

[bracconiere]

But as bracconiere suggests I will check on a refractometer

i'm having a hard time figuring in a calc, what the brix would even be...and 5lbs sugar in 1.5 gallons would be a OG of like 1.15 not 1.08? looking forward to a report back!

edit: and remember with a bad boy like that, even if you split the bottle don't drink and drive

 

[SatchIce9]

My Stevenson Reeves Ltd. "Triple Scale Hydrometer for Home Wine and Beer Making" measures specific gravity between 0.980 and 1.120
I think this is typical for wine hydrometers. An SG of 0.9 (0.900) is off the scale way lower than the lowest reading possible of 0.980 and would mean my particular hydrometer would be fully submerged and sunk to the bottom! I think you don't understand how to interpret the numbers on your hydrometer.

 

[AdamRay]

i'm having a hard time figuring in a calc, what the brix would even be...and 5lbs sugar in 1.5 gallons would be a OG of like 1.15 not 1.08? looking forward to a report back!

edit: and remember with a bad boy like that, even if you split the bottle don't drink and drive

Hi you are right I checked my notes it was 1.2 kilos of sugar not 2.5

 

[AdamRay]

My Stevenson Reeves Ltd. "Triple Scale Hydrometer for Home Wine and Beer Making" measures specific gravity between 0.980 and 1.120
I think this is typical for wine hydrometers. An SG of 0.9 (0.900) is off the scale way lower than the lowest reading possible of 0.980 and would mean my particular hydrometer would be fully submerged and sunk to the bottom! I think you don't understand how to interpret the numbers on your hydrometer.

I am at work so I asked my wife to check the hydrometer in water, the hydrometer seems fine.

I've marked where the reading was when I took it for the wine

You're probably right and I've read it wrong let me know if I'm right or wrong thank you.

Could make for a very funny thread.

 

[SatchIce9]

Where you've marked the yellow line looks like a reading of 0.990. The digits they print on hydrometer scales can be be confusing and take a bit of getting used to. Below 1.000 they seem to omit the first 0.9 digits of 0.990, just printing the 90 and the first 0.9 digits of 0.980, just printing the 80. Above 1.000 they seem to omit the first 1.0 digits of 1.010, 1.020, 1.030, 1.040 etc. just printing the 10, 20, 30, 40 etc.

 

[AdamRay]

Where you've marked the yellow line looks like a reading of 0.990. The digits they print on hydrometer scales can be be confusing and take a bit of getting used to. Below 1.000 they seem to omit the first 0.9 digits of 0.990, just printing the 90 and the first 0.9 digits of 0.980, just printing the 80. Above 1.000 they seem to omit the first 1.0 digits of 1.010, 1.020, 1.030, 1.040 etc. just printing the 10, 20, 30, 40 etc.

Thank you for that. It certainly did confuse me I'm glad I was right to question it though and I'm glad there is such a great community on here to help people like me hahaha.

 

[bracconiere]

Hi you are right I checked my notes it was 1.2 kilos of sugar not 2.5

then a refractometer would read around 6 BRIX....and you have about 12% ABV, if assuming that hydro is reading 0.990 as satchice9 said.

 

[AdamRay]

Thank You for all your help.