Wine Sweetening

[LewisA]

Is it better to stop a fermentation at the desired hydrometer reading or back sweeten ?

Also what hydrometer readings are classified as

White - Dry, Medium, Sweet ?
Red - Dry, Medium, Sweet?

Many Thanks once again guys :

 

[Peapodmaster]

it should say on your hydrometer instructions. mine says

Starting S.G. Final S.G.
Dry wine 1.085-1.105 0.990-1.000
Medium Wine 1.105-1.120 0.995-1.005
Sweet Wine 1.120-1.130 1.005-1.015

Apart from that i know hardly anything about wine. thinking about starting soon though :). Any recipe ideas ?

 

[LewisA]

it should say on your hydrometer instructions. mine says

Starting S.G. Final S.G.
Dry wine 1.085-1.105 0.990-1.000
Medium Wine 1.105-1.120 0.995-1.005
Sweet Wine 1.120-1.130 1.005-1.015

Apart from that i know hardly anything about wine. thinking about starting soon though :). Any recipe ideas ?

Thanks peapodmaster :thumb:

Well I'm going to try some elderberry (Following Moleys tutorial ), Apple, Blackberry, grape and probs some WOW Do you have any ideas? :)

I cant really vouch for any recipie because I have not tried any of them :whistle:

 

[Moley]

In my opinion it's always best to let a wine ferment out as far as the yeasties want to take it, because even though you might think they've made enough alcohol they still have clearing up to do, and they can't finish the job if you've killed them.

Sorry Peapod, your hydrometer instructions assume an alcohol tolerance for a fairly average wine yeast, and those suggested start gravities are actually pretty meaningless, I've fermented 1.130 down to 0.990 with a GP wine yeast compound (19% abv).

In terms of final gravities I would suggest as follows:
0.988 = bone dry
0.990 = dry
0.995 = medium-dry
1.000 = medium
1.005 = medium-sweet
1.010 = sweet

 

[LewisA]

In my opinion it's always best to let a wine ferment out as far as the yeasties want to take it, because even though you might think they've made enough alcohol they still have clearing up to do, and they can't finish the job if you've killed them.

Sorry Peapod, your hydrometer instructions assume an alcohol tolerance for a fairly average wine yeast, and those suggested start gravities are actually pretty meaningless, I've fermented 1.130 down to 0.990 with a GP wine yeast compound (19% abv).

In terms of final gravities I would suggest as follows:
0.988 = bone dry
0.990 = dry
0.995 = medium-dry
1.000 = medium
1.005 = medium-sweet
1.010 = sweet

Cheers Moley Helpful as always