# Back sweeten or clarify first



## Flame145 (Feb 22, 2011)

I am making a pumkin pie spice wine. Started the batch in november 2010. Just sorbated the wine last week. I wanted to back sweeten to sg 1.02 my question is 2 fold. do I back sweeten or clarify first. 2nd part what is the normal procedure to back sweeten ??? I read one of Tom's posts on making a simple syrup, 2 parts sugar 1 part water heat up and dissolve sugar. I 'm good with that part. What starting point do I start with ?? If I have a 2 1/2 gallon carboy of wine, do I start by adding a quart of simple syrup, mix well, then check SG. Looking for some type of starting point.
When I go to clarify, what would you recommend for this type of wine ???
Bentonite, superkleer ???? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks


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## Julie (Feb 22, 2011)

backsweeten first, and pumpkin will not come into it's own for at least a year, two would be better. I would let it age for a while before I thought to clarify it . There is a good chance that it will clear on it's own.


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## Midwest Vintner (Feb 22, 2011)

i'd let it clear without any sugar. better to keep it from re-fermenting again. i usually sweeten after the last racking, and bottle a few weeks later.

there are lots of different ways to do things in winemaking.


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## winemaker_3352 (Feb 22, 2011)

I sweeten mine first - then let to sit and clear.


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## Tom (Feb 22, 2011)

Did you add Kmeta? You said nothing on that.
I would add a f pac then clear then add simple syrup to YOUR taste. 1qt to 2.5gal I think is to nuch


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## Flame145 (Feb 22, 2011)

Tom said:


> Did you add Kmeta? You said nothing on that.
> I would add a f pac then clear then add simple syrup to YOUR taste. 1qt to 2.5gal I think is to nuch



yes, I did kmeta. I also added sorbate, roughly a week ago when I racked. It tasted good. When I back-sweeten, where do I start ?? I have (2) 10 liter/2.5 gallon demijohns. Would I start with adding a quart of simple syrup, a pint ??? I know to stir it well then check SG. I was looking for a starting point. Didn't want to start with a pint of simple syrup and completely over shoot my target. The other thing I was curious about is what clearing agent should I use, if any???
My plan was to back-sweeten, Add clearing agent if I need it around August. Right now it is pretty clear. Then bottle in Late September, early October. Wanted to have it for this coming Thanksgiving.


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## ffemt128 (Feb 22, 2011)

Flame145 said:


> yes, I did kmeta. I also added sorbate, roughly a week ago when I racked. It tasted good. When I back-sweeten, where do I start ?? I have (2) 10 liter/2.5 gallon demijohns. Would I start with adding a quart of simple syrup, a pint ??? I know to stir it well then check SG. I was looking for a starting point. Didn't want to start with a pint of simple syrup and completely over shoot my target. The other thing I was curious about is what clearing agent should I use, if any???
> My plan was to back-sweeten, Add clearing agent if I need it around August. Right now it is pretty clear. Then bottle in Late September, early October. Wanted to have it for this coming Thanksgiving.




Here's what I do after stabilizing. 


Take sample (375 ml)
Check sg
Add sugar slowly until it gets to desired taste.
Check sg. (target sg)
Use wine calc to determine how much sugar to add to your quantity of wine
Use wine as liquid for simple syrup.
Add simple syryp to wine, add slowly.
Check sg after mixing well.
Taste and add remaining if needed.

Let age and clear if not already cleared.


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## Tom (Feb 22, 2011)

Doug has it ok
I would rack all to 1 container. Add syrup to your taste and add clearing agent. Ck gravity and write it down so you can repeat it again. Rack back to carboys. Age


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## BMILLER (Feb 23, 2011)

I found this awhile back on here posted by PPBART and I think this way works perfectly! It was confusing at first, but after I took the time to read through it a couple times and even draw it out, it was simple. I enjoyed doing it like this because you end up with 4 or 5 small samples that ppl can give you their opinion on.

I hope I am giving the original poster the correct props on a great post.

PPBART:


> Here's my method. I don't remember what was the source, but it works well:
> 
> First, be very sure the wine is stabilized before adding sugar to it or it will start fermenting again. One crushed and dissolved Campden tablet and 1/2 tsp of K-sorbate (also dissolved) per gallon of wine will do the trick.
> 
> ...


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