# Back sweetening SP. - A question



## BernardSmith (Jul 28, 2021)

The original recipe suggests a hefty 2 lbs of sugar to sweeten 5 gallons of SP. That's more than 6 oz of sugar per gallon and that would likely raise the FG to about 15 points should the SP finish at 1.000. All other things being equal, a wine with an FG of 1.015 is *sweet. *How sweet do you finish your SP? I prefer mine closer to 1.005 which is about 8 oz of sugar used to backsweeten.


----------



## Jovimaple (Jul 28, 2021)

BernardSmith said:


> The original recipe suggests a hefty 2 lbs of sugar to sweeten 5 gallons of SP. That's more than 6 oz of sugar per gallon and that would likely raise the FG to about 15 points should the SP finish at 1.000. All other things being equal, a wine with an FG of 1.015 is *sweet. *How sweet do you finish your SP? I prefer mine closer to 1.005 which is about 8 oz of sugar used to backsweeten.


I use 1 1/3 cups sugar per gallon to back sweeten. I also add more lemon juice after fermentation. As an early drinker, that gives the right ratio of tart to sweet for my taste. However, I haven't aged any long enough to know if that's too much long term. I have a few bottles from my last batch that I am trying to save for aging. This one is a favorite with my friends and family, though, especially with such a hot summer, so it's hard to keep some around!


----------



## BernardSmith (Jul 28, 2021)

By my calculations that is a hefty 10 oz per gallon to back sweeten so that should finish the wine at about 1.030... That is tooth tingling sweet.


----------



## Jovimaple (Jul 28, 2021)

BernardSmith said:


> By my calculations that is a hefty 10 oz per gallon to back sweeten so that should finish the wine at about 1.030... That is tooth tingling sweet.



My last batch ended up being an 8 gallon batch with 192 oz (6 - 32 oz bottles) of lemon juice and 6 gallons of water. On my first batch, after I backsweetened, I found that it tasted like slightly tart sugar water. That's when I decided it needed more lemon.

I probably should look at cutting some of the water with my next batch. I could then cut the sugar and maybe not add extra lemon with less water up front.

Then again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!


----------



## hounddawg (Oct 18, 2021)

BernardSmith said:


> By my calculations that is a hefty 10 oz per gallon to back sweeten so that should finish the wine at about 1.030... That is tooth tingling sweet.


as known,, after ferment i add 1 quart of lemon to gallon of water, and yours and my tastes do not ever come close, FG 1.030 is not sweet to me, i go a FG 1.040, ONLY REASON i posted is i died laughing at 1.030 being tooth tingling sweet, thank you for the laugh,
Dawg


----------

