Is my og a bit low?

[mancer62]

I took the advice and dissolved 800g white sugar to boiling water and stirred to dissolve. I then added 400g to each of the wines (Nebbiolo & Merlot) which initially went off like rockets I even had to use a blow off tube as my airlocks couldnt cope. Over a week later they appear to have stopped no more bubbling but the lid still looks a bit bulbous and feels tight and the slightest touch creates bubbles in the airlock. I put a heating belt on it all day today but again no bubles in the airlock.
I took a hydrometer reading which was a touch over 1000...........my og was only 1070 I never took another reading after adding the 400g .
so any idea what the likely abv is? and should i wait to see if it goes below 1000 or just go ahead to the next atage?

 

[johncrobinson]

Just seen your last post.
This is when the calculations CAN get a bit complicated,Because you have an unknown quantity of added water as well as sugar to the wine,
Don`t worry though you are unlikely to have done any harm to your wine as long as the syrup you made was quite strong.
1kg of sugar to 1 pint of water is the usual strength to make the syrup for these purposes.

 

[The Baron]

I would expect both those wines to ferment down to 0.990 to 0.995 approx. I would give it a bit longer to go lower. At 1.000 it will be a sweeter than normal red just wait and see if it goes lower .If not it may be to your taste or a alternative is to add a little yeast nutrient to try and stir the yeast back into action for that final bit-you can get this from Wilko in a small tub for not more than a quidish

 

[mancer62]

tyvm i will try some yeast nutrient

 

[mancer62]

any idea of approx how much nutrient to use to try restart fermentation for 5 gallons and I presume just sprinkle it on with gentle or vigorous stir?

 

[mancer62]

7 hours have passed since adding the nutrient the FV's wrapped in a blanket yet still nothing.

 

[Moonraker]

any idea of approx how much nutrient to use to try restart fermentation for 5 gallons and I presume just sprinkle it on with gentle or vigorous stir?

I add a teaspoon, or two if higher OG, per gallon and give it a good stir.

 

[johncrobinson]

I have to say with nearly a century of family winemaking behind me That one of the most difficult things to do in wine making is attempting to restart a stuck fermentation that has gone almost to completion.(See below)
Adding nutrient only will do nothing,Nish, $#@ugger all.
Its far too late to have any affect.

Worse still the unconsumed nutrient residue (and it will be unconsumed) tastes awful.

Yeast needs nutrient at the BEGINNING of a fermentation to grow the colony,NOT at the end of the fermentation.

One point to note you added 400g sugar per 5gals,Thats Nowt,Nowt at all.!!!!!
In 5gals such a small amount of sugar would ferment out in 24hrs or even less,It may have simply finished off its little "snack"

Assuming it tastes alright (nutrient wise) the best course is to clear,rack,and then drink it.(TOP TIP)

RESTARTING A STUCK FERMENTATION (method for when fermentation is nearly complete)
Make a starter from a properly re-hydrated high alcohol yeast most use ecc-1118 for this purpose,When the starter is fermenting fully slowly add SMALL quantities of the stuck wine TO the starter,repeat these small additions every few days until at the end of 2-3 weeks you have gradually added all the stuck wine.The addition of Vitamin B1 is helpful.
DO NOT add the starter to the stuck wine.

Its a real lot of bother isint it--- and even following this strict method success is NOT guaranteed.

 

[mancer62]

I have just taken a reading and even after adding the nutrient a few days ago it remains at 1000.
It started at 1070 and ended at 1000 So according to the charts its 9.19%.
Will this prob be the true final ABV after adding 400g of sugar that fermented like a bomb or will it likely be slightly higher...I'd be happy with anything over 10%

 

[johncrobinson]

According to one of your previous posts you dissolved the extra sugar in water.
what that simply means is you CANNOT use the gravity drop on your hydrometer to indicate abv anymore.

Once you add water/sugar after the start as you have done,The readings on the hydrometer scale can no longer be used to measure alc abv directly.Re my post no22.

There is a method of calculating it but the measurements have to be done at the time,not days later.

your abv will be less than expected because of the added water.

There is however nothing stopping you from taking say 1pt of wine off mixing in as much sugar as will de-solve at room temperature then pouring that back into the wine.
Do that a couple of times and you will get higher abv.

Also from your last post it would seem you have not got a stuck fermentation,The yeast simply ran out of sugar.

 

[mancer62]

I understand that using a hydrometer at this stage is now pointless...but ''the baron" kindly advised that using approx 400g to 5 gallon should increase my wine by around 1% from around 10% to 11%.
I also only used around a half pint of cooled down boiled water which hopefully has increased the ABV a touch. Do you think I have prob achieved the goal of getting it to around 11%....
OG 1070...FG 1000....this after adding a 400g sugar water mix to 5 gallons.

 

[terrym]

I understand that using a hydrometer at this stage is now pointless...but ''the baron" kindly advised that using approx 400g to 5 gallon should increase my wine by around 1% from around 10% to 11%.
I also only used around a half pint of cooled down boiled water which hopefully has increased the ABV a touch. Do you think I have prob achieved the goal of getting it to around 11%....
OG 1070...FG 1000....this after adding a 400g sugar water mix to 5 gallons.

My take...adding say 250ml of water and 400g sugar to approx 23 litres dilutes your wine by approx 500ml, say 2%. so will reduce the potential ABV by approx 2%. (So in round numbers if it was going to be 10% it will now be reduced by 0.2% to approx 9.8%.) However if all of the 400g sugar ferments out it will produce about 200g alcohol, or 250ml alcohol, which is an approx increase of 1.1% ABV in about 23 litres total. So in round numbers adding 400g sugar in approx half a pint of water has increased your potential ABV by about (1.1 - 0.2) = 0.9%, which is pretty much what @the baron advised. But in the end it all depends on how your yeast performs.

 

[johncrobinson]

Well if you only used 1/2 pint of water that's ok.

I still think if you take out about 1pint of wine dissolve about 500g of sugar in it and return the whole to the bulk of the wine and give it a good stir you will get in the ballpark you are looking for.

I say this as your yeast still seem active.
I admit the above is not very scientific,I am just assuming you are reluctant to get bogged down with mathematics.

Since you don't seem to be trying for sky-high alcohol levels,I suggest that in future when starting a kit if the abv is not entirely to your liking you make the adjustment to your starting gravity with either extra sugar or water to go up or down respectively a few points to suit yourself.
Another method possibly a better one to increase the abv is to make the kit up short of the full 25ltrs by a liter or two or even three.
Either way at least you will once again be able to read the hydrometer directly again.
As all of the adjustment will have been at the start.

Speaking of hydrometers not all low alcohol wines will finish at much below 1.00 It all depends on how the wine is made up re, soluble solids unfermentable sugars etc,etc.etc.
So don't loose sleep about getting it below 0.995 EVERY time.

 

[mancer62]

really disappointed to note that possibly I have after taking "The Barons" kind advice actually reduced my ABV...
Hopefully not and without going into technical jargon away above my understanding I was just looking for a general consensus opinion that with the numbers of my og and fg and the adding of the 400g of sugar in half pint to the 5 gallons that hopefully I would have achieved at the very minimum 10%ABV ty

 

[johncrobinson]

Well you did not add too much water.
The 400g could have been added to the 5gallons Without any added water, still can be as a matter of fact.

As far as the Baron is concerned he is a well respected member who i know has tried to help many newcomers in the past.
Its not easy trying to diagnose over the net..

I understand that you were looking for "consensus" but to an old hands like myself and the Baron its a case of been there seen it done it.

To close your wine can still come good.

 

[mancer62]

JCR I am in no way trying to disrespect the baron quite the opposite. I appreciate everyone on here who take the time and effort to reply to my queries I really do. After starting at 1070 and ending 1000 with the addition of 400g in half pint water would you in your old hand, knowledgeable way guess I have achieved 10%??? ty

 

[johncrobinson]

I know you are not a troll.

As regards your wine,400g of sugar in 5 gallons is not going to make a huge difference either way.

Its not like you have to hit your target for tax or marketing purposes.Enjoy your winemaking
Most of my homemade wines are over 15%.
So its not exactly like you are reaching for the sky.