# Backsweetening To Taste, Gallon, Ounces and ML Conversion



## dessertmaker (Apr 20, 2013)

The purpose of the chart is to be able to take a small sample of a batch, and sweeten it or flavor it the way you want without risking the entire batch. And to then know exactly how much flavoring or sweetener to add to the whole batch to make it taste exactly the same as the sample. 

The sample sizes are odd amounts to make the additions easier to calculate. The abbreviations are my own short hand. They are listed below and some are not standard.

The math is right. The math is right. The math is right. I had it checked by an actual rocket scientist and a professional chef. The math is right. So leave the poor numbers alone. They have been through a lot.

Don't try this early on. Wine tastes sweeter over time. Give the wine time to age and come around first.

BEFORE BACKSWEETENING: 

1) Ferment to dryness. Verify over a period of at least 3 days with daily hydrometer readings that the wine is done fermenting.

2) Stabilize wine using 1/4 TSP K-Meta per 5 gallons, 2 1/2 TSP Potassium Sorbate per 5 gallons

3) Wait 24 hours after stabilization to backsweeten.

4) Wait a minimum of 3 days after backsweetening to bottle. Verify that fermentation has not restarted with hydrometer reading.

5) Write down hydrometer reading so that you do not have to sample next time you make the same wine.

Abbreviations:
ML is Milliliter
TSP is Teaspoon
OZ is Ounces

SAMPLES AND SIZING:

5 GALLONS SAMPLE SIZE:
320ML OR 10.82OZ
[[[10OZ + 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons]]]

Added to
Sample = Added To Carboy 
1ML = .5OZ
10ML = 5OZ
2TSP = 5OZ


1 GALLON SAMPLE SIZE:
315ML OR 10.66OZ
[[[10 ounces plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon]]]

Added To
Sample = Added To Carboy 
5ML = 2OZ
1TSP = 2OZ

.75 GALLON TEST SAMPLE
237ML OR 8OZ
[[[8OZ]]]

Added To
Sample = Added To Carboy 
5ML = 2OZ
1TSP = 2OZ

This is the method that I use. It is very accurate. This is the easiest and SAFEST way I know to accurately backsweeten to taste. I spent hours searching forums and tutorials for something like this and couldnt find it, so I did the work on it myself.

I don't want to pitch large amounts of sugar into a carboy and take readings and guess how its going to come out. I want to do a bench test and KNOW what it will taste like.

EDIT: HELPFUL LINKS:

Dilution calculator

http://homedistiller.org/distill/dilute/calc

ABV to ABW Calculator

http://www.beertutor.com/tools/abv_calculator.shtml

Bottle carb calculator: (Added for personal reasons. DO NOT USE IF BACKSWEETENING)

http://tastybrew.mobify.me/calculators/priming.html

CONVERSIONS:
1 Gallon is 128 Ounces
5 Gallons is 640 Ounces
.75 Gallons is 96 Ounces
1 Teaspoon is 4.92 Milliliters
4.92 Milliliters was always rounded up to 5.


CONVERSION MATH: (The math is right.)
The sample size for 5 gallons was arrived at by scaling down ounces to milliliters and dividing that number in half. Adding 1 milliliter to the sample is the same as adding .5 ounces to the carboy. Adding 2 teaspoons is the same as adding 5 ounces to the carboy.

The sample size for both 1 gallon and .75 gallons was arrived at by converting gallons into ounces and dividing that number by 12. One ounce was also divided by 12 and then converted to milliliters. Adding 4.92 milliliters (or approximately 1 teaspoon) to the sample is the same as adding 2 ounces to the carboy.

5 Gallons=640OZ
(SCALE 1ML=1OZ)
For 1ML=.5 --> 640/2=320
(SCALE 1ML=.5OZ)

Test at 320ML 
(SCALE 10ML =5OZ)

1 Gallons=128OZ
1/12 scale= 10.66OZ
1OZ/12=.0833
.0833OZ=2.46ML
2.46*2=4.92ML rounded up to 5
(SCALE 5ML=2OZ)

.75 Gallons=96OZ
1/12 Scale=8OZ
1OZ/12=.0833
.0833OZ=2.46ML
2.46*2=4.92ML rounded up to 5
(SCALE 5ML=2OZ)

EDITS: This post has been edited multiple times for accuracy, to add helpful information and links and to fix some things that seemed to confuse people.

EDIT 2: Oh and did I mention that the math is right?


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## WVMountaineerJack (Apr 21, 2013)

1ml=.034ounces, 1 Tablespoon=0,5 ounces. Your math is a little way off. Easier way to do conversions is to just start with converting gallons to liters and go from there, then the math is easy. Also get a metric measuring spoon, cup set and a couple different sizes of graduated cylinders if you want to do a really good job. Or just dump some sugar in, stir it up and give it a taste, when its there measure on your hydrometer and record how much sugar then you can figure out how much sugar to add for each gallon based on your hydrometer recording. To bad we didnt go metric at the beginning, its so much easier. WVMJ


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## Stressbaby (Apr 21, 2013)

I tend to agree with Jack. Here is how I've been doing it:
1 cup sugar = 200g 
1/4 cup sugar = 50g 
1 gallon = 3.8 liters

So I start with 1/4 cup sugar = 50g in a gallon which increases the SG 0.0045. This adds 13g/liter or 1.3% residual sugar, a nudge from dry into the off-dry or semi-dry range if you are disregarding the nonfermentable sugars. 

Somebody correct me if my math is wrong.


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## dessertmaker (Apr 21, 2013)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> 1ml=.034ounces, 1 Tablespoon=0,5 ounces. Your math is a little way off. Easier way to do conversions is to just start with converting gallons to liters and go from there, then the math is easy. Also get a metric measuring spoon, cup set and a couple different sizes of graduated cylinders if you want to do a really good job. Or just dump some sugar in, stir it up and give it a taste, when its there measure on your hydrometer and record how much sugar then you can figure out how much sugar to add for each gallon based on your hydrometer recording. To bad we didnt go metric at the beginning, its so much easier. WVMJ



All conversions were done on a liquid scale using the BING conversion tool.

That tool shows the following 1 Teaspoon=4.92892159 milliliters. 

I didn't use tablespoons for anything but measuring out the wine sample. So how is the math off?


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## WVMountaineerJack (Apr 21, 2013)

you dont know how much a ml is


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## dessertmaker (Apr 21, 2013)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> you dont know how much a ml is



Well that was a pretty pointless comment. Instead of telling me what I don't know, why not explain "how much a ml is" so that I can educate myself.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Apr 21, 2013)

Please see 1st sentence in post # 2 and good luck with your winemaking. WVMJ


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## CBell (Apr 21, 2013)

some of your math
eg. 1ml=0.5oz
is inherently wrong
Some simple math
30ml=1oz
5ml=1tsp
15ml=1 tbsp
240ml=1 cup=8oz

I am, obviously, speaking of fluid ounces. If you are weighing some compound out in ounces, it could obviously be different.


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## dessertmaker (Apr 22, 2013)

CBell said:


> some of your math
> eg. 1ml=0.5oz
> is inherently wrong
> Some simple math
> ...



That's the scale you are looking at. Adding 1 milliliter to the sample is like adding .5 ounces to the 5 gallon carboy.

The purpose of the chart is to be able to draw a small sample and sweeten or flavor it the way you want to without risking ruining your whole batch and then know exactly how much to add to make the whole batch taste the same way.

It's only useful to do this after the fermentation has completely halted and the wine has had time to start to come around.

The conversions I did were very specific. For example 8 oz or 1 cup is not 140 millimeters, its actually 237.


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## Stressbaby (Apr 22, 2013)

OK I see what you are trying to do.

Part of the problem is that you appear to have chosen unconventional sample sizes simply to round out the conversions.
For example, you are using a 320ml sample from a 5 gal batch and a 315ml sample from a 1 gallon batch. That seems atypical. Further, I make much of my wine in 1 gallon batches and it would be very unusual for me to pull a 315ml sample from any one batch. More often 15-30ml at a time.

The only other thing I would say is that the degree of precision in your calculations exceeds the degree of precision in my taste buds. _Maybe _I could tell the difference between the addition of 1ml and 2ml to a sample, but I for certain couldn't tell the difference between 1ml added to 315ml sample and 1ml added to a 320ml sample. Everyone I know rounds 1 cup to 240ml...otherwise it just isn't "sticky" and the calculations are too hard to work with.


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## olusteebus (Apr 22, 2013)

Thanks for posting this. When I try it, I may have questions that I will Pm to you.


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## CBell (Apr 22, 2013)

My bad, I may have been over-imbibing before reading your post
Cheers


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## TahunaJR (Apr 22, 2013)

Let's say I draw 3 samples of wine at 100 ml each. 

- I add 1/8 tsp. sugar to Sample 1.
- I add 1/4 tsp. sugar to Sample 2.
- I add 1/2 tsp. sugar to Sample 3.

I then determine which sample tastes best (or draw again and keep upping the amount of sugar). 

Next I extrapolate how much total sugar will be needed for the 5 (or 6) gallons. Now what?

A. Do I just add that amount of sugar to the wine and work feverishly to dissolve it?

B. Do I make a 1:2 ratio of water to sugar and then add it? Won't the additional water affect the final taste?

C. Do I make a 1:2 ratio of the wine to sugar and then add it? 

It seems like option "C" is the best? How long do I wait before bottling? Or, am I over thinking this whole issue? As you can tell, this will be my first attempt at backsweetening (SP soon and then Strawberry). 

Joe


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## wineforfun (Apr 22, 2013)

TahunaJR said:


> Let's say I draw 3 samples of wine at 100 ml each.
> 
> - I add 1/8 tsp. sugar to Sample 1.
> - I add 1/4 tsp. sugar to Sample 2.
> ...



I just add sugar to my carboy and stir it until dissolved. With that said, I am working with 1gal. carboys so it is easier to do this. I agree with B., in that it will dilute your wine.
As far as bottling, I usually wait a few days to a week and bottle it. I usually don't have any clarity issues with backsweetening as long as it was clear to start with. This is when I am making SP or DB.


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## cmason1957 (Apr 22, 2013)

This is what my wife and I do to decide how much to backsweeten. Pull out about a half gallon of wine, take 5 cups add 1/4 tsp of sugar to the first, 2/4 tsp to the second, etc. Add 100 ml of wine to each cup. Decide which one we like the best, if none are sweet enough do five more. When we have decided which one, make up two more, one at what we think, one at less than what we think. Let them sit overnight. Almost always the one with less is better. Then scale up to the amount of wine we have. 1/4 weighs about 2 ounces. I remove about a gallon of wine from my 5 or 6 gallon carboy to a sanitized container, add enough to mix the sugar up with and make it something I can pour. Then I pour it in the top, give it a good stir with either my long handled spoon or something, then top up with the rest of the gallon of wine removed, remember that sugar is going to take up space and more than I ever think it should. I generally let it sit for at least a week before bottling. I just followed this procedure with my candy cane and chocolate covered cherry wines. Had my adult children help me decide how much sugar to add. They like much sweeter wine than I can stand.

One big thing to remember, if in doubt, use less. You can always add more later.

Here is a chart I use to figure out how much sugar to add.


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## dessertmaker (Apr 22, 2013)

wineforfun said:


> I just add sugar to my carboy and stir it until dissolved. With that said, I am working with 1gal. carboys so it is easier to do this. I agree with B., in that it will dilute your wine.
> As far as bottling, I usually wait a few days to a week and bottle it. I usually don't have any clarity issues with backsweetening as long as it was clear to start with. This is when I am making SP or DB.



When making any beverage from root beer to wine I find it much easier to use sugar syrup. When I do a 2:1 sugar syrup the "dilution" of the wine by the water is pretty negligible. Sometimes if I'm nervous about it ill make the syrup thicker.

When adding syrup it's easier to mix it in without disturbing the Lees (or dregs in beer making)

The reason I use sample sizes to even out how much i'm adding is that when I use juice concentrates to backsweeten its very easy to add too much juice. And the juice has to sit for at least a day before you can actually get an idea as to how the wine will take the flavor. I'd much rather have 8-10 ounces of wine with way too much unsweetened cranberry concentrate than 5 gallons.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Apr 22, 2013)

Aha, you have to show all your work not just start at the middle. If you just went all metric it would it would make your estimates easier. We usually just keep adding honey or sugar until its where we want it to be balancing out the acid and alcohol levels. Bench trials would be worth the trouble for like 100 gallons but for 5 gallons seems like a lot of cumpulsiveness but if it adds to your winemaking experience its worth it. WVMJ


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## dessertmaker (Apr 23, 2013)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> Aha, you have to show all your work not just start at the middle. If you just went all metric it would it would make your estimates easier. We usually just keep adding honey or sugar until its where we want it to be balancing out the acid and alcohol levels. Bench trials would be worth the trouble for like 100 gallons but for 5 gallons seems like a lot of cumpulsiveness but if it adds to your winemaking experience its worth it. WVMJ



I have people pitching in money, bottles and ingredients. They dont know anything about brewing. They just know if they bring me a bunch of fruit, or buy a butt ton of lemonade concentrate, or dig through their neighbors trash for a couple carlo rossi bottles, they get wine or beer or hard lemonade. And up to this point they know it will be good. They sometimes do this with their beer money.

If something gets messed up and I end up giving my buddy 5-10 bottles of wine or 10-20 bottles of beer/hard lemonade that ends up tasting like crap, an embarrassing moment would be created for me. And since all of us are paramilitary or active military, that embarrassing moment would never die. It would grow and mutate for weeks and get worse every time somebody told the story.

So even a .75 gallon microbrew is worth the effort of a bench test for me.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Apr 23, 2013)

Well at least you guys would know how to handle bottle bombs from restarted fermentation! You probably just throw them at each other  WVMJ


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## Julie (Apr 23, 2013)

TahunaJR said:


> Let's say I draw 3 samples of wine at 100 ml each.
> 
> - I add 1/8 tsp. sugar to Sample 1.
> - I add 1/4 tsp. sugar to Sample 2.
> ...


 
Joe, I go with C. I always take some wine out of the carboy add sugar to that and warm it up until sugar it dissolved. You should have a good idea of how sweet you like your wines and yes I understand that different wines taste better at different levels of sweetness but you should have a general rule such as 1.010. If this is where most of your wines are at, then backsweeten to 1.006, let it sit 24 hours and taste it, if not sweet enough then raise it to 1.008 and so on until you are where you are satisfied with. I always start with a lower sg because your tastebuds will change and you will slowly begin to like more wines on the drier side.

General rule of thumb, 1 cup of sugar will raise sg .018 per gallon


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## TahunaJR (Apr 23, 2013)

Julie (and others),

Thanks so much for the hints and tips and chart and ROT. I feel more confident proceeding with my first backsweetening experience (using Option C)!

I also plan on racking just before I start the process. And the main thing I have gleaned is, regardless of how confident I am of the accepted taste, back it off and wait a little before re-tasting, just to make sure!

Joe


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## Julie (Apr 23, 2013)

TahunaJR said:


> Julie (and others),
> 
> Thanks so much for the hints and tips and chart and ROT. I feel more confident proceeding with my first backsweetening experience (using Option C)!
> 
> ...


 
You got it Joe!!!! Good luck and let us know how it comes out.


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## dessertmaker (Apr 24, 2013)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> Well at least you guys would know how to handle bottle bombs from restarted fermentation! You probably just throw them at each other  WVMJ



I wouldn't know. Only bottle bombs I've ever had were from overcarbonating a small beer batch. And they weren't technically what I'd call a bomb because they didn't blow up. But the bottle caps literally bounced off the ceiling when we cracked them open over the sink. (We used a non traditional stopper for a cap that batch.) It sounded like a gunshot and was very entertaining. Bottle carbonation is fun to learn!


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## WVMountaineerJack (Apr 24, 2013)

There you go, most people would have thrown them all out after the first one popped open like that and scared them. I would have just opened them outside. Corks on the other hand make a fun nonlethal projectile, but if it launches over a wife and coats her head to toe in wine it might turn lethal to the winemaker, first from laughing yourself to death and then from the wife trying to beat you with the empty bottle! WVMJ



dessertmaker said:


> I wouldn't know. Only bottle bombs I've ever had were from overcarbonating a small beer batch. And they weren't technically what I'd call a bomb because they didn't blow up. But the bottle caps literally bounced off the ceiling when we cracked them open over the sink. (We used a non traditional stopper for a cap that batch.) It sounded like a gunshot and was very entertaining. Bottle carbonation is fun to learn!


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## dessertmaker (Apr 24, 2013)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> There you go, most people would have thrown them all out after the first one popped open like that and scared them. I would have just opened them outside. Corks on the other hand make a fun nonlethal projectile, but if it launches over a wife and coats her head to toe in wine it might turn lethal to the winemaker, first from laughing yourself to death and then from the wife trying to beat you with the empty bottle! WVMJ



That was the beauty of it. The stoppers didn't blow out on their own. My younger brother pulled a bottle out of the fridge at a family party. It wasn't cold enough to drink yet and I tried to tell him to leave it alone and he shot me a dirty look and popped the cap anyway.

!BOOM!

His stunned and hurt look would have won $10k on AFV for sure. The wife was standing next to him, caught most of the splatter, and was laughing so hard at his reaction she couldn't be mad at either of us.


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