I have 2 gallon jugs of blueberry wine that I started mid Oct. I just racked them and saw a little sediment. I tasted it and think I will need to sweeten it a little. Is this done only just before bottling? How long is a simple syrup good if placed in a jar? Someone told me that you can tell the wine is ready if the water levels in a S valve are equal. Is that true?
when is the wine ready and sweetening question.
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Julie
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The only safe way to know your wine is done fermenting is by using a hydrometer. If you have your simple syrup in the frig it should last for several months. You can backsweeten your wines once they are done fermenting and you have stabilized your wine (i.e. adding k-meta and sorbate)
mmadmikes1
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after back sweating wait to bottle at least a week to make sure it does not start fermenting again.
Arne
Senior Member
Like Mike says, give it some time after sweetening. There are some unpleasant things that happen if it decides to referment when bottled. Occasionally you can get a nice sparkling wine out of it. that is a nice thing, when it starts popping corks and spraying a bunch of wine wherever the bottles are kept, it is not so nice. Makes for a big cleanup. You don't have to ask me how I know, LOL, Arne.
jb...I agree with all the replies on waiting and testing. Don't hurry to bottle...badddddd. I can only agree that testing, tasting & trials work all the time for me. Test the gravity, PH and acid levels at a minimum. I would not rely on the levelness of the liquid in the "S" airlock as a complete indicator of being "ready". Although I do check my airlocks daily...mainly to ensure their tight and not dry; you may see level changes not only because of active fermentation or release of gases within the container but the entire container and airlock can work similar to a Gaileo barometer. The liquid level will react not only to the container internal chemical reactions but external pressure changes as well. Just my 2 cents.
SBWs
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Agree with all of the above, one thing to remember is while you can sweeten more later it's very hard to un-sweeten a wine if you go to far. As wine ages it mello's out and sweet can become very sweet with time.
