lowest ABV to age wine

[Bodawg]

I recently racked a peach kit wine from primary to secondary with an SG of 1.010 after 4 weeks. Starting SG was 1.071. the kit recipe called for no added sugar and would finish at just around 9.2 ABV. I assumed that fermentation was still going due to air lock bubbling and the SG. After racking and sampling I added 2 oz of sugar and 1.5 oz distilled water to raise the ABV slightly thinking I needed to be closer to 10% to long term store after bottling. After reading more I believe the bubbling may have been off gassing because there has been no activity since for over a week. My concern is can I just age under airlock with the added sugar in the 1 gal carboy or do I need to try to restart fermentation.

 

[Bossbaby]

Yes you can age under an airlock and if you didn't add sorbate the yeast may start to feed on the added sugar , you could expect to see more bubbling in the carboy and airlock.

 

[Bodawg]

Thank you. This wine making is raising my anxiety. I hope the drinking part mellows me back out.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* a well made peach wine may be good for two years.
* a well done peach cider also could be two years. ,,, run high metabisulphite, inactivate yeast, minimum headspace, tannin as a antioxidant, good cork etc etc.. There are Sierra Mist products which are six percent ABV.

. I assumed that fermentation was still going due to air lock bubbling and the SG. After racking and sampling I added 2 oz of sugar and 1.5 oz distilled water to raise the ABV slightly thinking I needed to be closer to 10% to long term store after bottling.

* adding sugar on a new wine is likely to reactivate the yeast, adding sugar on a year old wine is likely to stay sweet. Time kills yeast. K sorbate only keeps yeast from reproducing.
If you wanted more alcohol, why add distilled water? I might mix sugar into wine and add this mix or just add sugar to the carboy (but watch out for a wine volcano).
* I would assume that the yeast is active since this is a young wine.
* a fall back position is to refrigerate the wine, this will hold the yeast down BUT will not stop chemical reactions as oxidation.

 

[Bodawg]

thanks for the help. City water is heavy chlorinated. Only recently found this forum. Definitely a wealth of knowledge here.

 

[Bodawg]

Will fermentation still occur under airlock or does the yeast need O2

 

[Rice_Guy]

my note is one can remove a two ounces of wine and dissolve sugar in it,
one can add sugar directly BUT there is a risk of a CO2 volcano
one can take a neutral store wine and dissolve sugar in it

thanks for the help. City water is heavy chlorinated. Only recently found this forum. Definitely a wealth of knowledge here.

yeast need oxygen when they are in the “growth phase“, kinda like settling a new territory. After yeast have populated the new culture media they do not need oxygen. Fermentation is conducted without air and produces alcohol as a respiratory byproduct.

Will fermentation still occur under airlock or does the yeast need O2

https://capricorn.bc.edu/bi204/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/4-yeast-techniques.pptx

 

[Aiserock]

Thank you. This wine making is raising my anxiety. I hope the drinking part mellows me back out.

Don't stress, wine making is supposed to be chill, it's a procrastinator's hobby, take your time. That's all I really know about wine making at this time.

 

[cmason1957]

Don't stress, wine making is supposed to be chill, it's a procrastinator's hobby, take your time. That's all I really know about wine making at this time.

That's really the most important thing to know about making wine and the hardest to learn. Put off until next week, what you think you just must do today, except during the first week of fermentation.

 

[sour_grapes]

That's really the most important thing to know about making wine and the hardest to learn. Put off until next week, what you think you just must do today, except during the first week of fermentation.

And except for when you need to bottle properly aged wines to free up carboys for the next vintage! (Gee, not that I am in that position now, nope, no-siree....)

 

[Bodawg]

As expected this wine started fermenting again after 2 weeks. The airlock has been bubbling right along at a rate of one per minute for a month now. I took a SG of 1.016 today. The temperature in the room has been fluctuating between 60-70 degrees. I have not added any Kmeta. Do I need to wait it out due to slow ferment or finish it out at that SG and age?

 

[winemaker81]

Do I need to wait it out due to slow ferment or finish it out at that SG and age?

Stopping a ferment intentionally is much harder than doing it accidentally. The wine is under airlock -- if it takes another month to complete fermentation, no biggie! As previously commented, procrastination is your friend.

 

[Scooter68]

The only thing I would suggest is that you be a bit more careful in handling the wine now in terms of making sure your containers and equipement is well cleaned and sanitized. I'm assuming that you are not going to add K-Meta for the time being since the wine is actively fermenting albeit slowly.
Otherwise keep on rolling with what you have.
As to longevity of a low ABV, that just means you have to drink more sooner. And that is a tough situation to be in.