Low starting sg

[TikiWine]

I just started a Merlot kit and when I measured the SG it was pretty low. 1.065ish is that ok or is it a bad kit?

 

[DIYer]

What kit is it?

 

[TikiWine]

Merlot

 

[DIYer]

I'm a beginner with wine, but that does seem low for a merlot. My first thoughts would be 1) are you sure you put in the correct amount of water and 2) did you stir well enough to thoroughly mix the concentrate with the water?

 

[TikiWine]

Yes I mixed enough water. The same way I do Everytime.

 

[DIYer]

Yes I mixed enough water. The same way I do Everytime.

The concern was with possibly adding too much (making it too diluted), not that you didn't add enough.

If you've done this kit before exactly the same way and you are sure you followed all the directions, then I would contact the kit manufacturer. In the meantime, I suppose you could add some sugar (or more juice, if you have access to it) to bump up the SG to where it should be. The kit instructions hopefully say what the OG range is.

 

[TikiWine]

Well I already put the yeast in I started last night I don't think I can add more sugar now. The directions show 1.080-1.100 starting range.

 

[cmason1957]

I would guess you didn't mix it all well enough, it really does take a fair amount of vigourous stirring to mix it well. Measure your sg tonight, if it is still low, the yeast won't have started eating the sugar much, yet. You can contact the kit manufacturer and also you can add more sugar. I calculated 3.8 pounds should get you up to 1.090, I might go 4 pounds, but that's just me.

 

[TikiWine]

Awesome thank you. I assume a sugar syrup solution?

 

[sour_grapes]

I made that kit a few years ago, and my starting SG was 1.090. Yes, please let us know what the SG is next time you check it.

If you need to add sugar, you can just add it dry without making a syrup (to avoid adding extra water), although it will take a while to know what effect it had on SG.

 

[DIYer]

Personally, I would stir really well again, re-measure the SG, and only add sugar if that SG reading is still low. I'm with cmason that it was probably not mixed well enough. And if that's the case and you add more sugar, you're going to either significantly increase the final ABV or the yeast will stop prematurely, before reaching the target FG due to the higher alcohol (depending on the alcohol tolerance of the yeast being used). Either of those will affect the final taste. Just my opinion, but I would be really sure of that SG reading before adding sugar.

 

[TikiWine]

I checked again and it's still at 1.070. I added 2 l s of dry sugar to try and bring it up to at least 1.080 which was the starting range of the directions. Hopefully conservative enough if it mixed better over night it wouldn't be too much to risk the yeast. It was showing around 1.080 after I stirrers the sugar in.