Added the wrong bag first
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You really can’t go back, so go with it, lots of us that don’t like sweet wine use the f pack the same way. It will boost your alcohol a bit in the long run, but it should be fine. If you decide you’d like to sweeten it a bit once its done, you can use a little sugar to do so. Just make sure to use the provided potassium sorbate before adding sugar.
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This may mute the flavors to some extent if the wine is left dry. Adding some sugar back after fermentation will sweeten the wine and help the fruit flavors to rise back into the spotlight. Most, if not all, fruit wines will reveal more of their fruit flavors when back sweetened. They key is to get the amount of sugar just right for your taste.
We started this wine on 2/26, so its been 7 days and its still not bubbling in the airlock. I do see tiny "fizzy" type bubbles around the top of the wine in the firmwnter, should we delay the next step until it starts bubbling in the airlock?
You need to check your Specific gravity with a hydrometer to see if you can move to the next step. I accidentally added the Fpac at the beginning as you did. I let it ferment to dry and then did a bench trial with different amounts of added sugar until we liked the taste. It turned out as good if not better than previous versions - although at a higher alcohol.
If you’ve been monitoring fermentation by tracking your specific gravity, you should be below 1.000 by now, unless you’re fermenting very cool. What is your SG today?
If it remains there for two more days unchanged, you’re done!!
0.992 is definitely dry. Like most fruit wines it will benefit from a bit of sugar. I normally backsweeten just before bottling. If it's a 4 week kit you can bottle now, but I suggest racking off the sediment and letting it set another 2 to 4 weeks, to ensure it's clear. Then backsweeten and bottle.
To make sugar syrup, boil 1 part water, stir in 2 parts sugar until it's clear. Let cool to room temperature.
There are several schools of thought on sweetening, this is the one I use: Rack the wine into a primary fermenter. Add sugar in small increments, stirring well and tasting after each addition. When you think it needs just a bit more -- stop.
How much sugar to use depends on personal preference. I prefer less sweet so I make 1 cup syrup (1/2 cup water, 1 cup sugar) and use 1/4 cup increments in 5/6 gallons. If you like sweeter, make 2 cups syrup and use 1/2 cup increments.
@hounddawg, how much syrup do you make for sweetening 5 gallons?
Dawg's taste are on the other end of the scale and he can better advise if you want your wine sweeter.
To make sugar syrup, boil 1 part water, stir in 2 parts sugar until it's clear. Let cool to room temperature.
There are several schools of thought on sweetening, this is the one I use: Rack the wine into a primary fermenter. Add sugar in small increments, stirring well and tasting after each addition. When you think it needs just a bit more -- stop.
How much sugar to use depends on personal preference. I prefer less sweet so I make 1 cup syrup (1/2 cup water, 1 cup sugar) and use 1/4 cup increments in 5/6 gallons. If you like sweeter, make 2 cups syrup and use 1/2 cup increments.
@hounddawg, how much syrup do you make for sweetening 5 gallons?
Dawg's taste are on the other end of the scale and he can better advise if you want your wine sweeter.
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Don't forget to add the K-sorbate, or it will ferment back to dry. Sorry if I missed that part of the discussion.
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for banana & pineapple my FG is 1.030 everything else i go FG 1.040, I've never made a simple syrup, i use dry sugar and stir with a drill and a carboy stirrer, a long stainless steel rod with 2 folding plastic blades on the bottom, adding a little dry sugar till like @winemaker81 said till just below your taste, it will get sweeter as it ages, and all your flavors come together....
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I'm a bit more paranoid. I would rather not over-sweeten an entire batch, so I take an 80 ml (1/3 cup) sample. Every 1/4 tsp sugar added is equivalent to 1/4 cup per gallon. Get it how you like it, then subtract 10 to 25% to account for the changes as it spends time in the carboy/bottle. You can always make it sweeter, but it's more complicated to unsweeten it.
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