add sugar...too much fizz

Marie · Oct 3, 2011

Hi I'm pretty ignorant about wine making but the local wild grapes were really abundant this year so I looked on line and jumped in. Mashed up the grapes, the site I read about wild grapes sugested not to leave the skins in or crush the seeds as there is too much tartaric? acid in wild grapes. Let juice sit for 2 days & siphoned off the juice (tartaric acid had percipitated out. Brought juice close to boiling, let it cool then added muscatet? yeast and 2 cups sugar for 2 gals wine.
Tasted the concoction about 4 days later, really sour! So I wanted to add some sugar but if I do the juice fizzes over. Even just a tiny bit causes a big reaction. Help??!!

UglyBhamGuy · Oct 3, 2011

i think that the "sour" taste you are tasting is the dryness of the wine paired with the "bite" of carbonation.

When you try to add the sugar it gives the suspended gas (created during fermentation) a nucleation point and causes it to un-suspend (de-suspend?)

I may be off base, if so, someone else will be along soon to enlighten us both.

Marie · Oct 3, 2011

Thanks Douglas that makes sense as it happens sooo fast. I would say that the sour is way to sour to leave be. The grapes themselves are pretty sour but drinkable as juice if you add some agave. I'm hoping the wine will be drinkable with the sugar added but how without "exploding" the mixture? Maybe I'm jumping the gun and I should let it just keep fermenting the way it is??

Marie · Oct 3, 2011

Douglas I see you make "skeeter pee" I just had to put down my daughter's first horse affectionatly known as Skeeter. I'm sure her pee was not worth putting on tap! We do miss her though.
Marie

xanxer82 · Oct 3, 2011

Ferment to dry. Maybe a couple of weeks. To degas use a spoon and mix it until it volcanoes. Keep doing that until it stops. Add sorbate then wait a few hours then sweeten. The sorb ate inhibits re-fermentation.