SG reading of my wine

[Mucbean]

I'm a newbie on wine making. This is my first batch. The recipe I used was:
6lbs of mixed berries (cherries, blueberries, strawberries)
2 lbs of sugar
1 gallon of water
1 1/2 tsp of acid blend
1/2 tsp. of Pectic Emzyme
1/2 Energizer
1 campden tablet
1 tsp. of nutrient
1 package of Montratchet Wine yeast

I mixed all of the ingredients Saturday morning except the yeast. I just added the yeast yesterday morning. My SG rating tonight was .995

Is that around were it should be or should I make some adjustment to the must?

 

[Mallerstang]

Can you tell us if you took an SG reading before you added the yeast? And what has your must been doing - fermenting and fizzing like crazy, or just sitting there? Mine take a day or two to really get going, but SG of 0.995 would mean yours is pretty much done.

Your sugar level might be a bit low. I started a batch of strawberry also on Saturday, and per gallon of water I used 6.5 lb of fruit (similar to you) but a lot more sugar - 3.25 lb to get SG 1.088. That ends up around 12.5-13% alcohol if you ferment it dry.

Also if your fruit is not in a mesh bag, and there is lots of pulp in the hydrometer jar, that might throw the reading off - just a thought.

 

[Mucbean]

I forgot to check the SG reading before adding the yeast. Its fizzing pretty good and my fruit is in a mesh bag. I was thinking of adding 1 more lb of sugar and see what it is at in the morning. Is that a good idea?

 

[Mallerstang]

We've reached the end of my expertise I'm afraid - since I've never tried that yet I'll defer to someone who has! Sounds like it would work though.

And if you're at all mathematically inclined, you can find ways to estimate your starting SG point based on your ingredients, especially the sugar-water part. I find my fruit pulp weighs about a quarter of the fruit I start with, so the rest is juice.

Time is on your side though, so no need to rush things. About a week is typical for primary fermentation in my experience (just over a year).

 

[Mucbean]

Ok, thanks for your help. I checked the SG this morning. It's at 1.032. I'm thinking of maybe adding 1/2 lb more sugar.

 

[Yooper]

Ok, thanks for your help. I checked the SG this morning. It's at 1.032. I'm thinking of maybe adding 1/2 lb more sugar.

Why? If you don't know what SG you started at, why would you boost it with more sugar? Why not wait until it's done and see how "boozy" it is, before adding more fermentables?

I'd wait and not mess with it right now.

 

[Mucbean]

Ok, I'll wait and see how it does.

Thanks

 

[bernardsmith]

Except that we know that 2 lbs of sugar in i gallon will increase the SG of the water to about 1.080. Not sure the volume of water in the fruit but you are basically talking about 1.050 per gallon of juice so if we know the total volume we can guestimate the starting gravity (if two gallons then this looks to be about 1.065 ( and so a potential ABV of about 6.55 % )