Back sweeten - how?

[winemaker81]

Potassium sorbate does NOT stop an active fermentation, nor does potassium metabisulphite. The wine MUST be still before it can be stabilized.

Once you're positive the fermentation is stopped, add sorbate and kmeta according to package directions. If the wine is active, you might get lucky and get a slightly fizzy wine (had this happen) or you might start blowing corks (had this happen, too!).

Some recommend waiting a day or two before sweetening. However, most kits with an F-pack do it all at once, so I believe waiting is not necessary. That said, if you feel better waiting -- then wait. It won't hurt anything.

Good advice has been posted regarding how to sweeten. The hydrometer idea is probably the most scientific and "put in less than you think you need" is top notch!

 

[CUZN_J]

I use my hydrometer for back sweetening also but, only after I noticed that im usually good around 1.010. I Usually shoot for half, leave for a week, test, taste, adjust.
Sweeten to taste then check sg. Keep notes and review them from time to time.

Question: ok if you take SG when you are sweetening and it is your correct wanted SG, now all info read says the taste of sweetening is stronger after aged for awhile, my question if another SG reading is done [ say 4 months ] will the SG be the same but the wine taste sweeter, or will the SG also increase with the taste???

 

[Scooter68]

No need to take another SG reading. Any change in SG isn't going to be worth the trouble. Also most times, for me at least, I stabilize the wine a couple of days to a week before back-sweetening, then I try to wait another week after I back-sweeten before bottling. Any change in SG IF it did occur is not going to happen in that week. Personally once I have a wine sweetened I like to bottle asap to avoid an fading of the k-Meta and sorbate effectiveness. It's going to be a little more stable situation in the bottle at that point than in a carboy with an airlock. That means I don't do my back-sweetening until my wine as aged at least 10-12 months and is ready to bottle. Again, to me, that means the sharper edges of the wines taste have faded and my sweetening is more accurate. Again different folks do it differently.

The reason those week long delays to see if anything more may precipitate out of the wine with addition of the sorbate and then the sweetener. Unexpected things do happen, as a thread under the general wine making forum topics states. (Turned cloudy after backsweetened )

 

[meadmaker1]

I dont disagree with anything scooter just said. But i have noticed increased sweetness with time in some wines. I also find that i appreciated some traditionally dry wines more as wine making has made me more aware of what im tasting. So as part of my notes i " try " to log sg as bottled. Just gives me a refferance for latter.

I back sweeten with honey so i need to clear afterward, around 6 month's ill pre-sweeten to about 1.005. It is usually clear again in 3 months so i may or may not mess with it each racking until i deem it worthy of bottles and corking
I cant say there is a correct sg to sweeten to but i haven't cared for selections over 1.010 so i usually stop there. Strawberry the exception but cant bring myself to bottle it just yet.

 

[BigH]

Most people advise that you sweeten to taste. That is was I do, but I record that sweetness with a hydrometer so my mind (and my wife's mind) don't play tricks on me. Here is the process I follow. Note that I don't backsweeten until the wine is finished and ready for bottling (cold stabilized, completely clear, and k meta and potassium sorbate additions complete)

1. Take a decent sized sample of wine (at least a cup, probably a bit more)
2. Dissolve a small amount white cane sugar into the sample. Sip and see if you are close. If not, add sugar bit by bit until you know the wine is on the dry end of being acceptable
3. Measure the gravity with a hydrometer, pour some of the wine into a glass and set aside
4. Add more sugar to the remaining sample and measure his gravity. Add enough sugar to create a contrast. If the first sample was 1 brix, then this one might be 3.
5. Cool the glasses to serving temperature and let the Mrs sample.

If she thinks both are too dry, I mix all of the sample back together and repeat the process at a higher sugar level. If both are too sweet, I dilute with another sample and start trying to home in on the right amount. Otherwise, I try to dial it in to somewhere in between. Eventually I find the specific gravity that we both like and i record it. That is my preliminary target when I backsweeten the entire batch. That process goes like this

1. Calculate how much sugar I need to add to my full batch of wine using a handy dandy web calculator
2. Make some invert sugar using a bit more sugar than what the calculator recommends. Let the invert sugar cool
3. Rack the wine into a vessel suitable for mixing (fermonster or white bucket)
4. Add about half of the invert sugar syrup to the wine, mix it in, and let it meld for a while.
5. Measure the gravity and taste the wine
6. Repeat this process until I dial in the gravity and taste that I wanted.
7. Bottle or rack back into a carboy.

It is important to go slow and make sure the sugar has been completely assimilated into the wine before adding more.

Note that invert sugar is supposed to taste sweeter than cane sugar that has been dissolved directly into the wine. For that reason, I usually don't sweeten to all the way to the recorded gravity from the original bench trial. If I was smart, I would conduct the bench trial with invert sugar, but that is time consuming.

H

 

[BigH]

I dont disagree with anything scooter just said. But i have noticed increased sweetness with time in some wines.

That perception of increased sweetness may be the result of sucrose (table sugar) breaking apart into glucose and fructose during aging. The latter two taste sweeter. This is the reason I prefer to use invert sugar for backsweetening. It preemptively breaks the sucrose down.

Ripened honey is typically only 1-5% sucrose. There is some potential for further inversion, but certainly nothing like someone who is sweetening with table sugar.

H

 

[sour_grapes]

Question: ok if you take SG when you are sweetening and it is your correct wanted SG, now all info read says the taste of sweetening is stronger after aged for awhile, my question if another SG reading is done [ say 4 months ] will the SG be the same but the wine taste sweeter, or will the SG also increase with the taste???

The SG will not change. I think what BiH said in the message above is the explanation.

 

[meadmaker1]

As much as im not a purest, willing to mix, flavor, and sweeten, not using grapes but not opposed to them, i guess i needed to laugh at myself for not sweetening with sugar.
When i think about why the answer was that it sounds cooler to say honey and fruit only than to admit i used some sugar. Made myself laugh again thinking about all the poking and adding that makes it taste good that doesnt get mentioned, and hear i stand on some moral high ground? because what? not mentioning a little sugar would just be crossing some line.
I think i need to give sugar a try. Shoot it may be better.

 

[winemaker81]

That perception of increased sweetness may be the result of sucrose (table sugar) breaking apart into glucose and fructose during aging.

It could also be the tannins softening. Granted, whites don't have the tannin level of reds ... but there is some.

There are probably other factors involved that we're not thinking of.

Regarding testing SG post-bottling ... I've never considered it. I record the SG before and after sweetening, but never after that. It's an interesting experiment, although I suspect it won't change much, regardless of the changes due to aging.

 

[Scooter68]

The 'fun' thing to keep in mind is that if you give 10 winemakers grapes from the same vineyard, same year, same exact harvest, they can produce vastly different wines from those grapes. Most of that, in commercial wineries, is due to their choices. With hobbyist wine makers the differences can be because of conditions in our homes, steps we do differently and even unintended things.

If you ever watch the reality cooking shows where the contestants are given access to the same ingredients and told to make a specific item, they approach it differently and obtain vastly different results. Even taking away the competitive nature of their process and the time constraints, they will turn out very differently.

In truth that really is the FUN part of wine making. We can change the gameplan to the way we want it and sometimes conditions change our plans for us. It all comes down to the taste test that happens each time we open a bottle of our wine.

 

[sugar]

I keep it simple...........I mix up the 2:1 simple syrup and just add to the five gallon bucket. I start out with about 1-2 cups and taste. If more is needed I add more. I also add the proper amount of potassium metabisulfite so no re-fermenting.

That's Xactly my thinking. Simple syrup to taste is perfect for me. My only thought is if you like dryer wine and your taste is taught to that... you would want to maybe more precise.