back sweetening

[cuz]

I am curious if honey, agave or stevia would react with yeast in the same way sugar does. I was thinking of back sweetening with one of them. I was also thinking of pitching honey with my new juice. Has anyone tried that?

 

[Scooter68]

Agave and Honey will both ferment (Tequila is made with Agave. )

Stevia, while from a plant, is also highly processed before being sold BUT the biggest thing is that many people get 'off tastes' upon consuming it in any drink or food.

Personally I would never use Stevia in a wine.

As to the other two - unless you just happen to have plenty of them around - why use them? Honey will change the taste of the wine and agave probably would as well. Using either you will still have to use K-Meta and K-Sorbate to stabilize the wine - so you don't save any work.

 

[cmason1957]

At the winemaking club I am a member of, one of the members did a test with stevia, saccharin, and some other unfermentable sugar I can't think of, off the top of my head. These were all backsweetened to the same extent and then aged an appropriate amount. Long story short, is that all of the alternative unfermentable sugars presented some kind of off taste to the majority of the folks in attendance that evening. As always YMMV.

 

[ljewels4u]

Stevia won't cause it to ferment - // I use stevia all the time in my coffee etc & I have made limoncello - and the difference from using a simple syrup with sugar vs stevia is night and day! Tastes smooth and sip-able with the sugar vs HOT and super strong alcohol with the stevia.. But here is the kicker in this experiment of mine - IF I mix that limoncello with lemonade and make a mix drink with both - you couldn't taste the difference! CRAZY..

AS to wine - havent tried yet - I'm thinking some combination of the 2 might not be noticeable but definitely not only stevia I think the sugar or juice adds something you can't replace but I have done some combos where I use 1 cup of sugar and 1t of stevia (equivalent to 1c sugar mixed with 1c of hot water = 2:1 simple syrup) and that you can't tell the difference - well I can't - I would see what you think before risking a whole batch of wine! -

test by the bottle perhaps and lmk what you think - cheers.

 

[Sally Scheibner]

My lack of proper winemaking terms are abominable, forgive me. I am new to making wine & started with frozen grape juice. Found a recipe for 4 gal. but am finding it a pale in color. Used 6 cans for 4 gallons with 4 lbs sugar. Bubbler has slowed to 1 bubble per 6 seconds from 1 per second when fist started. Can I add another 12 oz can of juice plus sugar to strengthen taste/color?

 

[wpt-me]

You really need 4 cans per gallon to get a decent wine if you are using something like
Welche's,

Bill

 

[Sally Scheibner]

Thank you for that! Will add more if it’ll fit. Ha!

 

[montanarick]

good luck