Finer Wine Kit Adding sugar to Tavola kit

[wineview]

I know it's been said that FWK carefully measure all ingredients in their kits. Would there be any harm in adding sugar pre-fermentation to raise the SG of a Tavola Chardonnay? I ask because the Tavola series has less juice and more water.

Thanks

 

[cmason1957]

Harm, as in is it going to hurt you. Nope, adding more sugar just raises the ABV of the resulting product.

Do you really want to do that? I find most kits tend to produce the "right" alcohol level for the body of the wine they are producing. I would think if you try to raise the ABV up by 2 or 4 percentage points, it might seem like a watery, boozy drink.

If you add just a bit, like go from 12-13% up to 13-14% you probably won't notice much difference.

I have increased FWK and others ABV just a bit, but I tweak almost everything a little bit, have to make it your own.

 

[wineview]

Yeah. Not thinking of going crazy with sugar. It was just a thought. I’ll check my first reading then decide. This is my first time with a White FWK and I noticed the directions say to snap the lid 48 hours after pitching the yeast. I have alway like to observe fermentation and stir once or twice a day until SG lowers to 1.020 or so. Is there a reason the directions instruct to snap closed after 48 hours?

 

[cmason1957]

I can't answer that. I know what I do. For whites, I ferment colder than the directions suggest. Generally as close to 60 F as I can get, without putting the must into the refrigerator. and I do snap the lid down, once it starts fermenting. My hope is that it helps to maintain more of the delicate aromas that whites "should" have. It also helps to prevent oxidation, which whites are more prone to than reds. I don't know if it the right thing to do or not, but it's what I do.

 

[Matt_Pruszynski]

Yeah. Not thinking of going crazy with sugar. It was just a thought. I’ll check my first reading then decide. This is my first time with a White FWK and I noticed the directions say to snap the lid 48 hours after pitching the yeast. I have alway like to observe fermentation and stir once or twice a day until SG lowers to 1.020 or so. Is there a reason the directions instruct to snap closed after 48 hours?

There is no reason that you can't add a bit of sugar to increase ABV though it really shouldn't be necessary. @cmason1957 is correct though that you don't want to go to much since it will taste hot and the alcohol may overpower the wine. Make sure to measure your SG on Day 2 before adding the sugar and yeast starter since the concentrate is cold and might read a little low since it might not have dissolved all of the way to become homogeneous.

In regards to snapping the lid on after 48 hours, there is no reason that you can't leave the lid on loose and inspect as you have mentioned you do in your previous batches. That note in instructions is really to differentiate between the reds with skins and the whites. With the reds with skins, you have to get into your fermenter and punch down your cap twice daily. With the whites, it is not necessary.

 

[wineview]

Good advice all. I will probably use a hybrid of all you comments.

 

[wineview]

I can't answer that. I know what I do. For whites, I ferment colder than the directions suggest. Generally as close to 60 F as I can get, without putting the must into the refrigerator. and I do snap the lid down, once it starts fermenting. My hope is that it helps to maintain more of the delicate aromas that whites "should" have. It also helps to prevent oxidation, which whites are more prone to than reds. I don't know if it the right thing to do or not, but it's what I do.

Fermenting at 60F sounds good but what temp do you pitch? 60F or a bit higher?

 

[cmason1957]

Fermenting at 60F sounds good but what temp do you pitch? 60F or a bit higher?

I pitch at whatever room temperature is in my basement. I mix up the juice bag/water, let sit overnight while the yeast starter is building up steam. It sits on the table near where the fermentation will happen. I haven't done a FWK white kit yet, so I don't know what yeast they are supplied with, but even RC212 is good down to 60F, EC-1118 is great all the way down to 50F. Bottom line, I don't measure the temp and don't worry about it all that much.

 

[wineview]

I pitch at whatever room temperature is in my basement. I mix up the juice bag/water, let sit overnight while the yeast starter is building up steam. It sits on the table near where the fermentation will happen. I haven't done a FWK white kit yet, so I don't know what yeast they are supplied with, but even RC212 is good down to 60F, EC-1118 is great all the way down to 50F. Bottom line, I don't measure the temp and don't worry about it all that much.

They supply D47. Range is 58F-86F. My first White FWK. They have a packet of carbon and bentonite for clearing. I’ve used bentonite before but the black carbon makes the must black. They say don’t worry so I won’t but this is an interesting experiment.

 

[wineview]

There is no reason that you can't add a bit of sugar to increase ABV though it really shouldn't be necessary. @cmason1957 is correct though that you don't want to go to much since it will taste hot and the alcohol may overpower the wine. Make sure to measure your SG on Day 2 before adding the sugar and yeast starter since the concentrate is cold and might read a little low since it might not have dissolved all of the way to become homogeneous.

In regards to snapping the lid on after 48 hours, there is no reason that you can't leave the lid on loose and inspect as you have mentioned you do in your previous batches. That note in instructions is really to differentiate between the reds with skins and the whites. With the reds with skins, you have to get into your fermenter and punch down your cap twice daily. With the whites, it is not necessary.

Now that I added the carbon, I can see why the instructions say snap the lid. Probably not a good idea to stir. The carbon is so black best to leave it be and settle out.

 

[winemaker81]

Fermenting at 60F sounds good but what temp do you pitch? 60F or a bit higher?

I do the same as Craig (@cmason1957). I create the starter with ~95 F water in my kitchen (70-75 F) and let it perk for 4 to 6 hours. The initially hot temperature makes the yeast happy, and it cools off to room temperature during that time.

Then I move the starter to the cellar (58 to 72 F, depending on time of year) next to the fermenter. Overnight the starter acclimates to the ambient temperature, so when I add it to the must, the temperature differential is at most a degree or two. I've been doing this for 1.5 years, and every fermentation takes off!

 

[wineview]

Yep. That’s been my practice for years. I went down to the basement this morning and the yeast looked pretty happy.