How to up the alcohol % on a white wine kit

[Brendan O'Donohue]

Hi everyone,

I have made 3 red kits so far, but while they're all maturing away, I wanted a cheap and cheerful white wine kit that I could drink sooner to keep me happy!
I picked up a Solomon Grundy platinum Pinot Grigio to fill this gap and in about to get it going.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to up the alcohol content slightly without upsetting the balance of everything in the kit?
Cheers
Bren

 

[DoctorCAD]

Add 2 cups or so of sugar to bring the SG up to 1.092 - 1.095.

If you get much higher than 1.095, your wine will be very alcoholic and not taste right.

Some will say 1.100 is OK, but not in my opinion. Too hot...

 

[Brendan O'Donohue]

Thanks.
Regular old granulated white sugar melted in some warm water added at the very start?

 

[Doug’s wines]

Yes. It's preferred to use simple syrup imo. I make 2:1 (sugar to water) simple syrup on the stove, allow to cool, then I float my hydrometer, add and stir, add and stir until I get to the SG I want. Commercial PG is usually in the 12-13% range so I would target that range.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

 

[Brendan O'Donohue]

Great thanks.
Is it common enough practice to add sugar to white kits?
I tend to lean towards whites with higher ABV in the shops.

 

[Doug’s wines]

Yes. It is called chapitalization and done commonly to adjust SG prior to ferment. I've never done that kit as I'm in the US and don't think it's available here, how many L of juice is it?

You may want to read the thread by @joeswine on tweaking cheap kits. Looking at this on amzn UK I might make this to 5.5 gallons and chapitalize to 1.090 - 1.095 depending on your preference then add the zest of 1/2 of a grapefruit to primary. Joe might have a different take on it.

 

[GaDawg]

In mist wine kits I have adder 4 pounds of sugar as simple syrup.You can also add Golden Grain to finished wine. I have done this to port style wine to get it to 20%. It'd 190 proof and doesn't add taste to the wine.

 

[Brendan O'Donohue]

Yeah Doug it's a cheap kit but not junk. Cheap enough that I don't mind experimenting!
Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Doug’s wines]

Hey. I have been doing several of these "cheap" kits. It's fun to toy with them and they are designed to drink earlier so no offense intended!

 

[bkisel]

Maybe a can of frozen white grape juice concentrate and then some sugar to hit your target starting SG? My thinking is that the juice will help hold the balance.

 

[Brendan O'Donohue]

Haha.. no offense taken.

 

[Brendan O'Donohue]

Maybe a can of frozen white grape juice concentrate and then some sugar to hit your target starting SG? My thinking is that the juice will help hold the balance.

Any reason it should be frozen?

 

[sour_grapes]

Any reason it should be frozen?

That is generally the way concentrate comes in the US. Also, it is important that the thing you add, whether concentrate or juice, does NOT contain certain preservatives, like a sorbate. These things are designed to prevent spoilage by microorganisms, and, welll, that is exactly what you are trying to do. Generally, frozen concentrates are less likely to have a lot of preservatives, as they rely on temperature to prevent spoilage.

 

[Doug’s wines]

While adding frozen juice concentrate (or any other juice) would work, unless you have PG concentrate it will also affect the flavor profile (likely a minor amount, but depends on the type of juice you add). I personally would chapitalize with simple syrup as that is much less risk to the flavor and pg is a pretty simple profile that migh or might not respond well to other flavors.

 

[bkisel]

That is generally the way concentrate comes in the US. Also, it is important that the thing you add, whether concentrate or juice, does NOT contain certain preservatives, like a sorbate. These things are designed to prevent spoilage by microorganisms, and, welll, that is exactly what you are trying to do. Generally, frozen concentrates are less likely to have a lot of preservatives, as they rely on temperature to prevent spoilage.

Exactly how I would have answered the question... [Yeah, right. ]

 

[Brendan O'Donohue]

Well, I've started it..i added 1kg of sugar (2.2lbs) which brought the SG up to 1.090 .. we'll see how it goes.
Thanks all.

 

[Brendan O'Donohue]

Update: Bottling today and this stuff is perfect. Finished at around 12.5% to 13% and is crystal clear 10 days after starting.
Chilled a sneaky bottle in the freezer and had with dinner and this stuff is up there with a really nice bottle of PG from the store even at this point!

 

[Country]

I love a story with a happy ending!

 

[Brendan O'Donohue]

I love a story with a happy ending!