It will be roughly two weeks before I start backsweetening (with regular table sugar). I know that seems foolish, but how is the best method to incorporate it into the wine, in your opinion? Next, rack, place the sugar in an empty carboy. Degasser or spoon? Or dissolve it in wine and then add it again (much like when yeast is rehydrated)?
Backsweetening ?
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No, your question is not foolish. NOT asking the question? That would be foolish.
I backsweeten at bottling time, racking from the secondary storage (in my case, potentially more than 1 container) into a primary to leave behind any remaining sediment and to homogenize the wine. Once the racking is started I add sorbate + K-meta to the destination container and stir a couple of times during the rack to ensure it's well distributed.
I reserve a glass of the unsweetened wine as a base for comparison, and always start with less sugar than expected to need, as it's far easier to add more than to take some out.
Stir in some sugar. I stir the wine and pour the sugar in as a thin stream, continuing to stir for at least 60 seconds to ensure the sugar is dissolved and distributed. I typically do with this my son, with one of us running a drill-mounted stirring rod and the other adding sugar. A large spoon or paddle works fine, but I like the drill-mounted rod better. Note -- stir the wine, there's no need to "whip" it.
Draw a sample and taste it, considering not only flavor but balancing of acid. If the wine needs more, add another dose of sugar while stirring.
Repeat this until you think the wine needs just a bit more -- then stop. It doesn't. Stir for an additional minute, then bottle.
Note that I've been making wine a long time and have the experience to understand how much sugar a wine is likely to need. I typically start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar in 23 liters of wine, and given that my tastes are on the dry side, may backsweeten a lot less than other folks.
Conversely, a lot of folks recommend backsweetening small samples to various levels, and deciding which is best. Then do the math to scale the amount of sugar to the entire batch. This works -- but a mistake in the math can produce an unpleasant surprise.
No, your question is not foolish. NOT asking the question? That would be foolish.
I backsweeten at bottling time, racking from the secondary storage (in my case, potentially more than 1 container) into a primary to leave behind any remaining sediment and to homogenize the wine. Once the racking is started I add sorbate + K-meta to the destination container and stir a couple of times during the rack to ensure it's well distributed.
I reserve a glass of the unsweetened wine as a base for comparison, and always start with less sugar than expected to need, as it's far easier to add more than to take some out.
Stir in some sugar. I stir the wine and pour the sugar in as a thin stream, continuing to stir for at least 60 seconds to ensure the sugar is dissolved and distributed. I typically do with this my son, with one of us running a drill-mounted stirring rod and the other adding sugar. A large spoon or paddle works fine, but I like the drill-mounted rod better. Note -- stir the wine, there's no need to "whip" it.
Draw a sample and taste it, considering not only flavor but balancing of acid. If the wine needs more, add another dose of sugar while stirring.
Repeat this until you think the wine needs just a bit more -- then stop. It doesn't. Stir for an additional minute, then bottle.
Note that I've been making wine a long time and have the experience to understand how much sugar a wine is likely to need. I typically start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar in 23 liters of wine, and given that my tastes are on the dry side, may backsweeten a lot less than other folks.
Conversely, a lot of folks recommend backsweetening small samples to various levels, and deciding which is best. Then do the math to scale the amount of sugar to the entire batch. This works -- but a mistake in the math can produce an unpleasant surprise.
Welcome to WMT!
When I backsweeten a wine, I usually pull some measured samples and add a measured amount of sugar to the samples, then do the math. I do follow Bryan's advice about stopping when it seems like it needs JUST a bit more.
I generally rack to a primary bucket, like Bryan, adding the sorbate and kmeta and stirring everything in. Usually I then rack back to carboy(s) and let it sit another few weeks or until I get around to bottling. I have bottled directly after backsweetening before, as well. It's just a matter of how much time I have to do wine stuff on that particular day.
For my first few wines, I did make 2:1 sugar : water simple syrup, but I am too lazy to do that very often so I generally just use table sugar these days. Hubby keeps asking me to make more so I guess I'm doing something right!
When I backsweeten a wine, I usually pull some measured samples and add a measured amount of sugar to the samples, then do the math. I do follow Bryan's advice about stopping when it seems like it needs JUST a bit more.
I generally rack to a primary bucket, like Bryan, adding the sorbate and kmeta and stirring everything in. Usually I then rack back to carboy(s) and let it sit another few weeks or until I get around to bottling. I have bottled directly after backsweetening before, as well. It's just a matter of how much time I have to do wine stuff on that particular day.
For my first few wines, I did make 2:1 sugar : water simple syrup, but I am too lazy to do that very often so I generally just use table sugar these days.
Hubby keeps asking me to make more so I guess I'm doing something right!
I use table sugar, it works. I will do a flavor trial and then scale up to 750ml. Sugar melts in the 750ml bottle, I would not trust dry sugar to accurately distribute in a whole carboy.
Sweet vs acid taste acceptance is a predictable function so I have an idea what the target is based on TA.
Sweet vs acid taste acceptance is a predictable function so I have an idea what the target is based on TA.
* warning, sweetening with table sugar increases the risk of reintroducing fermentation. Plan on adding potassium sorbate or pasteurization or sterile filtering.
Getting anything to evenly distribute in a carboy is a bit of a trick. That's why I add K-meta (and sorbate if backsweetening) at the beginning of the final rack, and stir several times during the rack, and again after it's complete. Stirring numerous times during backsweetening helps ensure the sorbate is distributed.
Adding all ingredients in a thin stream while stirring works -- I can do it on my own, but it works far better when using a drill mounted stirring rod and 2 people to add and stir, respectively.
While I cannot say the sugar is 100% evenly distributed, I cannot recall any noticeable difference between bottles.
My best advice for any addition to wine is to stir several times while adding, and stir again when done. Then stir it again.
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You can rack the wine into a primary and not worry about exposure to oxygen?Welcome to WMT!
No, your question is not foolish. NOT asking the question? That would be foolish.
I backsweeten at bottling time, racking from the secondary storage (in my case, potentially more than 1 container) into a primary to leave behind any remaining sediment and to homogenize the wine. Once the racking is started I add sorbate + K-meta to the destination container and stir a couple of times during the rack to ensure it's well distributed.
I reserve a glass of the unsweetened wine as a base for comparison, and always start with less sugar than expected to need, as it's far easier to add more than to take some out.
Stir in some sugar. I stir the wine and pour the sugar in as a thin stream, continuing to stir for at least 60 seconds to ensure the sugar is dissolved and distributed. I typically do with this my son, with one of us running a drill-mounted stirring rod and the other adding sugar. A large spoon or paddle works fine, but I like the drill-mounted rod better. Note -- stir the wine, there's no need to "whip" it.
Draw a sample and taste it, considering not only flavor but balancing of acid. If the wine needs more, add another dose of sugar while stirring.
Repeat this until you think the wine needs just a bit more -- then stop. It doesn't. Stir for an additional minute, then bottle.
Note that I've been making wine a long time and have the experience to understand how much sugar a wine is likely to need. I typically start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar in 23 liters of wine, and given that my tastes are on the dry side, may backsweeten a lot less than other folks.
Conversely, a lot of folks recommend backsweetening small samples to various levels, and deciding which is best. Then do the math to scale the amount of sugar to the entire batch. This works -- but a mistake in the math can produce an unpleasant surprise.
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The short answer: Yes
The longer answer: Every wine, unless made totally under a vacuum system, is exposed to air. You are NOT going to prevent it. During fermentation a lack of O2 is actually counterproductive, as yeast needs O2 for reproduction.
There is also a misunderstanding of O2 and oxidation. Oxidation is not a rapid process, it's quite slow. Brief exposure to air doesn't hurt a wine significantly, and we add K-meta (antioxidant) to address O2. K-meta combines with contaminants, such as O2, rendering them harmless.
There is also the consideration of volume of air (O2) vs. volume of wine. Think of it this way, a smaller volume of wine with a larger headspace oxidizes more rapidly than a large volume of wine with a smaller headspace.
None of this means we should be cavalier about O2 exposure, but it is not the Boogie Man that it is so commonly reputed to be. Be efficient during racking operations to limit exposure, and dose with K-meta to address O2 plus numerous other things.
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Thanks! This makes sense to me now also a bit easier to back sweeten as I was using the secondary 
I think it may be wise to emphasize adding the sugar slowly. Dumping it in may cause a foaming volcano. It may help to degas a bit before adding it. Ask me how I know.
For additional info on why to only add table sugar until you think the wine needs just a bit more. In time, the alcohol and acid will break the sugar down into fructose and glucose. When broken down, which takes a week or two in the bottle, it's sweeter than it was when you sampled it. If you add table sugar until it's perfect, it will be cloyingly sweet when it breaks down. Ask me how I know.
For additional info on why to only add table sugar until you think the wine needs just a bit more. In time, the alcohol and acid will break the sugar down into fructose and glucose. When broken down, which takes a week or two in the bottle, it's sweeter than it was when you sampled it. If you add table sugar until it's perfect, it will be cloyingly sweet when it breaks down. Ask me how I know.
I just love this so much!
Using fermcalc app, you can sweeten to a SG that you like. For me 1.000 to 1.001 for most fruit wines. The app calculates amount of sugar needed based on current sg and volume. I usually do half-3/4, recommended and finish by taste.
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