hey guys.. newbie here. gratefully accept any tidbits you have:)

[GeorgiaWhit]

I prefer wine somewhat sweet. So my question.. to let fermentation go till fully dry, then back sweeten. Or use hydrometer and stabilize when it gets down to the sg I want. Which is more the "norm"?

 

[buzzer]

Welcome, GeorgiaWhit I'm a noob to [not much knowledge to share sorry] but I do know you came to the right place. I think you want your wine to finish dry then back sweeten. but there are others on here that know far more than I.

 

[GeorgiaWhit]

Thanks Buzzer! That's more of what I'm getting from rubbing elbows with people as in at work etc. But you're right.. this is the best place yo get the facts we need. Again thank you. And good luck to you.

 

[GeorgiaWhit]

Oh, and I did back sweeten once recently with a gallon batch of gold scuppernong. But I was foolishly rushing and did not pay attention to measurments, and added way too much camben before the potassium sorbate. You can taste it something awful:/ think that'll age out or maybe take it as a loss and free up those snazzy bottles?

 

[Yooper]

It's almost impossible to stop an active fermentation with stabilizers. While it could be possible, what happens is that sorbate doesn't kill yeast but it inhibits reproduction. So, in an active fermention the yeast don't have to reproduce (they've done that already) so adding it might simply stress them and cause off flavors. It would be more likely to work if you could put the wine near freezing, to get the yeast to go dormant, and then rack the wine (still near freezing) off of the lees and hope that there aren't that many still in suspension and add the sorbate. But I'd say it has less than 50% chance of being successful, and the risk of off flavors from stressing the yeast wouldn't be worth it.

What does work well is to wait until the wine is finished and clear. The wine should be racked (siphoned to a new carboy) whenever there are lees 1/4" thick or more, or if there are any lees at all after 60 days. Once the wine is clear, and no longer dropping any lees after at least 60 days in a new carboy, it can be stabilized successfully with sorbate and campden (campden doesn't kill yeast, either, but sorbate works better in the presence of sulfites), and after a few days it can be sweetened to taste. A few days later, it can be bottled.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Just like the air conditioner, its hard to stop a trane, its just as hard to stop yeast. Let it go and back sweeten.

 

[GeorgiaWhit]

Thanks Yooper! And yeah, I've read time and time again of what you explained about the campden and sorbate. But the feller at my brew supply for some reason has been going against tje grain and swearing I could stop it. So I've been trying to believe in him, but chemistry is chemistry. So I think I will definitely let it dry out then back sweeten.