# Using vodka to increase alcohol content?



## Dirtydog420 (Jul 26, 2009)

Read something about it either on there or on another form, cant remember.. Is this true? Making a wine from a kit for the first time and kinda disappointed with the potential alcohol content...

Thanks


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## Wade E (Jul 26, 2009)

You cold use that or brandy or Everclear which is a higher abv grain alc which would work the best as it would take less of it so would need as much and change the taste or viscosity of your wine much.


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## St Allie (Jul 26, 2009)

I made a few gallons of ginger wine and added whiskey to half the batch and brandy to the other half. The result is very worthwhile.

Allie.


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## Dirtydog420 (Jul 26, 2009)

Wade E said:


> You cold use that or brandy or Everclear which is a higher abv grain alc which would work the best as it would take less of it so would need as much and change the taste or viscosity of your wine much.



Would love to use everclear but not legal here in maine.... Wish it were cause i could use itfor a few other things too... But figured a decent vodka would work pretty well.. Wont need much..


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## Wade E (Jul 26, 2009)

There is an equation to getting it where you want called "Pearsons Square" and here is the link to it. http://mysite.verizon.net/~mshapiro_42/convhelp.html#pearson
Just remember that you want to do it o tste and not a specific # choosen from your head.


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## keystonebantams (Jul 26, 2009)

instead of fortifying your wine with liquor, why not ferment it to a higher alcohol content. Start by using a strain of yeast that can handle the higher alcohol content and keep a close watch on the sugarcontent and every time it starts dropping below a certain point like say 5% raise it up a few percent by adding a sugar water solution until the alcohol content is up to your liking. A local winery here makes a wine that has a 20% alcohol by using this method not fortifying it.


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## St Allie (Jul 26, 2009)

keystonebantams said:


> instead of fortifying your wine with liquor, why not ferment it to a higher alcohol content. Start by using a strain of yeast that can handle the higher alcohol content and keep a close watch on the sugarcontent and every time it starts dropping below a certain point like say 5% raise it up a few percent by adding a sugar water solution until the alcohol content is up to your liking. A local winery here makes a wine that has a 20% alcohol by using this method not fortifying it.



Generally a fortified wine is halted mid ferment by adding the spirits to it.. it leaves the wine sweeter and with more flavour. If you choose a brandy or a whisky based spirit, that flavour mingles into the finished wine too. The spirits addition also increases cellaring life for the wine. 

Feeding a wine with sugar til the yeast gives up and dies is a good way to up the abv as well, however you will lose flavour and mostly be tasting alcohol and little else, unless you adjust it later with an f-pac. A fortified wine is a much richer finished wine in my opinion.

Allie


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## MoWine (Jul 27, 2009)

I would agree with fermenting it to a higher level. I think the other options would change the taste of the wine too much.


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## BettyJ (Jul 27, 2009)

*fortified wine*

A month ago, I pulled a gallon of my natal plum/ banana wine (the taste was incredible) and fortified it with vodka (2 cups - I might need to add a litle brandy after a bit) - my experiment with fortified wine (some call this port) this has not stopped fermentation, just slowed considerably. The alcohol is supposed to aid clearing also - after 1 month it is starting to clear - the regular batch not so much.


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## St Allie (Jul 27, 2009)

Betty,

I added 4 cups per galllon to my wine basically a 1/5 ratio. The port stopped immediately and cleared really fast. The ginger took a bit longer to clear, maybe an extra week.. used 80 proof brandy/whiskey for ginger and vodka for the port.

Allie


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## BettyJ (Jul 28, 2009)

*Great tip*

The 1-5 ratio is a little easier than that (Pearson?) formula. I will add more - thanks Allie!


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## St Allie (Jul 28, 2009)

You're welcome Betty!

Forgot to mention, for those people wanting to feed the wine into a higher alcohol content..

You need to watch your acid levels in the wine.. As feeding it, will increase the acidity immensely.

Allie


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## BettyJ (Jul 28, 2009)

*higher acid fortified wines*

Do you know what causes this and what efforts you can use to prevent (for instance, using less acid blend on the front end)? I just have the little PH strips, but it is still ok (and tastes wonderful, BTW).


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## St Allie (Jul 28, 2009)

...as I don't feed my wines up over 12%, have never had to adjust one yet. 

Assuming that anyone is feeding their wines up, having an acid testing kit would become an essential piece of equipment. You can sweeten the wine after it's been stabilised.. it'll mask the acidity. alternatively you can add glycerine for a similar result and less sweetness.

Allie


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## Wade E (Jul 28, 2009)

Allie, Ive never heard of the acid multiplying like you stated and have only chaptalized once and that was with a kit so didnt check the TA on that. Who did you hear this from as it really doesnt make sense as acidity usually goes down during fermentation in my experiences.


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## St Allie (Jul 28, 2009)

I was reading up on ports a month or so back Wade.. can't recall the link.. it was talking about high tannin and high acidity causing really astringent wines... and feeding the port up to 16%-18% before the addition of the spirits.

I always thought the acidity went down when the alcohol went up.. anyway the whole article put me off feeding a wine up to a higher abv as a result.



Allie


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## Wade E (Jul 28, 2009)

Another note about feeding sugar(chaptalizing) is that you should use corn sugar when doing this as its easier for the yeast to consume so as not to stress the yeast too much.


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## Wade E (Jul 28, 2009)

Ok, you sparked my interest so Ive been doing my reasearch to try and justify this and not finding any info backing it up. What I have read is that "the actual chemical benefit of adding sugar to must was an increase in alcohol to balance the high acidity of a must". Another article speaks of Chaptalizing using typically high acid grapes that arent quite ripe so the sugar content is lower then norm also meaning that the acid wont be so high and then chaptalizing to make up for the lower sugar content so as not to make a wine with an acid problem. 
chaptalization (leads to unbalanced wines because acidity is not increased)


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## keystonebantams (Jul 28, 2009)

when you say corn sugar do you mean like corn syrup like karo?


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## St Allie (Jul 29, 2009)

I have been hunting for the article unsuccessfully Wade.. sorry..

I know I read through an awful lot of websites for information before starting the lum eisenmann port recipe.. one of the reasons I stopped the port at 12 percent and upped the spirit addition was due to the negative comments in that particular article. 

I'd be pleased to know that I was misinformed. Would be more inclined to give feeding a wine a chance in future then.

Allie


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## smurfe (Jul 29, 2009)

keystonebantams said:


> when you say corn sugar do you mean like corn syrup like karo?



Corn sugar is not quite the same thing as Karo. Corn sugar is what most use to prime beer for carbonation. Now I am not sure if corn sugar is just dehydrated Karo. Heck, it might work but Wade was referring to the powdered sugar used for priming.

To the original poster, let us know what you go with and how it turns out. I am not a fan of boosting the ABV of kits as I feel they are very balanced as is but I learn something new every day. Plus I normally have a pretty good buzz after drinking a bottle of wine the way it is with no boost of ABV


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## myakkagldwngr (Jul 29, 2009)

Yep, that's my way of testing the alcohol content. Drinking a bottle and see how well I sleep.


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## Dirtydog420 (Jul 31, 2009)

Thanks for all he help everyone.. Next time, i am going to add some sugar to the kit i use to increase the alcohol. As for this batch, since it is already close to bottling, I am going to add some vodka to maybe half the batch and see what the taste difference is...


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## 3rdMangHigh (Dec 16, 2009)

I am heavily considering this option, but have a few questions/concerns.

Now say i want to boost a kit wine from around 13.5% up just a little and add a 750 ml bottle of smirnoff...

do i do this when i first rock to a carboy or do i wait a bit?

how noticable will it be on final taste? i'm sure this depends on aging, original kit,etc

has anyone tryed this? 

as always any help/guidance is greatly appriciated.


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## 3rdMangHigh (Dec 16, 2009)

Just to let you know i am thinking about trying this with an upcoming batch to be determined later but likely an amarone...


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## Midwest Vintner (Dec 16, 2009)

we have used many liqours to add abv. works great! although, we tend to usually make them extra special. examples: pecan becomes pecan maple bourbon and raspberry merlot becomes rasp merlot chocolate liqour (chocolate w/vodka made from nibs). only apricote was fortified w/ brandy. it was still very good!

the key is to pair up a liqour with the right flavor. vodka and everclear don't really have flavor, so you can mix them with pretty much anything. brandy, whiskey and bourbons are better with certain types of fruits. i would imagine apple would be good with a whiskey or bourbon. 

the best thing about making home made wine. it's for YOU! buy a few semi-cheap liqours and mix them into a glass of the wine. find out what YOU like. you'll be suprised and glad you did. i HATE brandy, but the apricote brandy is tasty!


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## Wade E (Dec 16, 2009)

Yes, do smaller bench trials like by using a 750 bottle of wine and taste till you get it right and then multiply by what you have left to fortify. I would do tjis after it has aged a little as the wine will taste better and different in time.


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