ribena wine..

[tully]

new to the forum but i have just started some ribena wine and when i tried to get a reading from the hydrometer it was that high it wasn't even on the scale (were you can take a reading) the hydrometer just floated and stuck out of the wine.

the wine doesn't seem to be fermenting either but it has only been going for one day, any help would be good

cheers chris

 

[winsac]

New to brewing myself but I think you are going to have to give the recipe so the sugar content can be calculated.

 

[tully]

used...

1lt ribena
2lbs sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon nutrients
1 teaspoon citric acid

boiled the ribena and sugar and then let it cool then added yeast etc and then took a reading and the hydrometer was just floating that high that i couldn't get a reading... wonder if its to much sugar or not enough???

 

[winsac]

I presume you added water to your brew, If it was a DJ 4 litres, if this is so you have added to much sugar. I will stand corrected as many more experts on this forum than I.

 

[Moley]

Insufficient data, cannot compute :geek:

I bought some Ribena at the weekend as Mr. Morrison was almost giving it away, so I can see from the label that 1 litre of cordial contains 526g of sugar.

2 lbs of sugar added = 907g

907 + 526 = 1433g total sugars.

What volume are you making, and what volume do you have at the moment?

If you currently had 4 litres that would give a gravity of 1.129 which should be within the hydrometer's scale.

If you will be topping up with water to 1 gallon your OG will adjust to 1.115
If you will be topping up with water to 5 litres your OG will adjust to 1.103

 

[tully]

i topped up with water to the shoulder of my DJ... wonder how the hydrometer is floating that high that i can get a reading

if i have added to much sugar how can i correct it??

doesn't seem to be fermenting either, how long should i leave it before adding more yeast etc?

 

[Moley]

You did weigh out two pounds of sugar, or slightly less than one bag?

If you used 2 bags of sugar your hydrometer would probably lie on its side.


Cordial wines can be slow starters, give it 1-2 days before you think of pitching more yeast.

 

[tully]

yeah put just under one bag of sugar in and the hydrometer is stick right out of the wine, i am going to try it again the day see if it has changed...

been going for 2 days now and hasn't changed at all seen on a lot of forums that it takes a while mite leave it few more days

 

[tully]

just took a new reading it has moved up very slightly to what it was on the first day...

 

[tully]

just added some yeast but mixed it up in some warm water this time and added another teaspoon of nutrients see what happens by tomorrow...

 

[tully]

seems to have a thick layer on the bottom now... could be it fermenting eventually haha :

 

[Thisledome]

How much sugar would be suitable for this?

cheers Gaz

 

[tully]

wine is coming on really good put it in a fermenting bin added water and some more ribena and then added fresh yeast and let it bubble away for a few days.

just put it back into demijohns tonight... was wondering when i should stop the fermentation and is that done by use of a campden tablet???

 

[Welshwitch]

Will watch with interest.

Mmmmmmm must dash to Morrisons and buy some ribena that is one of many wines we haven't tried. Our strawberry ribena and cider was fantastic.

 

[disco_monkey79]

Re your hydrometer (and apologies if someone's already suggested) - have you checked if it's calibrated correctly? I.e. stick it in plain water, and it should read 1.000. If not, it may be weighted incorrectly.