Curious to know?

[Irish]

Hi guys,
Quick question.....

So if I make a wine, it finishes fermentation....

What if I added more sugar and yeast?
Will it start up again?
Will it higher the alcohol content?

So I'm that was essentially 3 questions rather than a quick 1.

 

[Pirate_Pete]

I was going to try and make something more alcoholic than usual.
This is how I see it

Once it's finished fermenting you can add more sugar. If you've used enough yeast in the first place there should be no need for more.
Once the alcohol level reaches about 18% the yeast should die.

 

[Irish]

See that's kinda what I'm wanting... But don't want to screw up a wine!

 

[Soton]

The answer is a sort of yes with a but!
It will depend on the yeast, as the alcohol the yeast produces will eventually kill it, some yeasts can tolerate higher alcohol levels but if you kept adding more sugar eventually all that would happen is the wine would stop getting "stronger" and just end up getting sweeter, after a point to increase the alcohol content you will need to concentrate what you already have in some way

 

[Pirate_Pete]

The answer is a sort of yes with a but!
It will depend on the yeast, as the alcohol the yeast produces will eventually kill it, some yeasts can tolerate higher alcohol levels but if you kept adding more sugar eventually all that would happen is the wine would stop getting "stronger" and just end up getting sweeter, after a point to increase the alcohol content you will need to concentrate what you already have in some way

I ordered a yeast the other day that supposedly goes up to 18%.
What you say is correct and it's something I'm looking at.

How much sugar can be added before the yeast dies?

I don't want to end up with a really sweet wine / alcoholic beverage.

 

[Tau]

You'll find that the higher abv yeast can take some time to reach 18% or above, usually the last 1.5% will take months. It's best to start with the right amount of sugar in the first place rather than add after it's completed to dry. Restarting a wine after 10% is difficult, after 14% almost impossible and a very slow (taking 6 months) ferment to do anything.

 

[tonyhibbett]

The strongest dry wine (fino sherry) I made was 15% abv. It was very dry at sg 900. Anything above 15% tends to end up progressively sweeter. The trick is to add sugar in small doses until fermentation has stopped, so you don't end up with an excessively wine.

 

[Irish]

Wow, great answers guys thank you