Puzzling Hydrometer reading

[Mikhail Bulgakov]

Hi folks, total beginner so be patient :)
Was having a bash at a straight up wurzel following the recipe, calculated the sugar I would need (was aiming for 12%), weighed it out, added everything to the DJ,mixed well and took a hydrometer reading however it was telling me there was a lot less sugar in there than I knew I had added.
I had calibrated the hydro and it seemed fine

Any ideas as to what I've done wrong?

 

[Pakman]

Has all the sugar dissolved or do you have a white layer in the bottom of the DJ?
Graham

 

[Mikhail Bulgakov]

Made it into a syrup buddy as I thought the reading would be off with sugar poured straight in, could that have affected it?
I had considered if I had stirred it enough though I really made the effort to and gave it a good shake

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Hi folks, total beginner so be patient :)
Was having a bash at a straight up wurzel following the recipe, calculated the sugar I would need (was aiming for 12%), weighed it out, added everything to the DJ,mixed well and took a hydrometer reading however it was telling me there was a lot less sugar in there than I knew I had added.
I had calibrated the hydro and it seemed fine

Any ideas as to what I've done wrong?

How much sugar did you add?

How much was in the cartons?

Where did you fill the DJ to?

Did you put the sugar in boiling water to dissolve it or add it to cold water?

 

[Mikhail Bulgakov]

There was 228g of sugar in the juices so I used this chart http://www.brsquared.org/wine/CalcInfo/HydSugAl.htm to calculate I needed to add 860g of sugar.

I did add boiling water to it and heated it on the stove. Is the boiling water an issue?

DJ was filled to just below the shoulder

 

[MattN]

What was the hydrometer reading?

 

[Mikhail Bulgakov]

Reading was 1.068, I was expecting 1.090 or close

 

[MattN]

The calculations look ok, so assuming that it is a standard dj, everything is mixed/disolved and your hydrometer is accurate. The only other thing I can think is that you have weighed the sugar including the bowl or whatever vessel you used in the total weight.

Is that a possibility?

 

[Mikhail Bulgakov]

Yeah mate, standard gallon dj. So the 1.068 looks right? So there's a flaw with the chart I used?

The measure was spot on, digital scales that set themselves at zero when you turn em on with the bowl on top.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I did add boiling water to it and heated it on the stove. Is the boiling water an issue?

DJ was filled to just below the shoulder

Adding the sugar to boiling water (or hot water) makes it dissolve easier and saves it all lying at the bottom of the DJ.

There was 228g of sugar in the juices so I used this chart to calculate I needed to add 860g of sugar.

I aim for a total sugar content of 1100g, this gives approximately 14%. (a little less when you top up) You have roughly the same in your DJ so it will not be 12% when finished.

 

[MattN]

The hydrometer reading with those ingredients would be 1088.

 

[Mikhail Bulgakov]

Cheers chippy mate
I shall allow it to finish then let it down with a little water and grape juice to sweeten and hope it takes the % down a little.

How much sugar would you suggest for 12%?

I trust your advice more than the chart I used which must be wrong

 

[oldbloke]

Every degree above the calibration temperature, you want to add about .002 to the reading (that's nothing like exact)
So if you measured at 40, you need to add about .04; at 60, .08

For 12%... 1200gm, assuming a demi of about 4.75l and a bit of racking loss.
Most demis are over 4.5l (1gallon) but less than 5, so to allow for racking loss you can sugar as if for 5l. And 100g in 5l is 1% - all very approximate, but makes the sums easy, and won't be off by more than a half % at the end of the day

 

[Mikhail Bulgakov]

Nice one oldbloke
chippy says 1100g for 14%

Who to trust?!?! Hahaha :thumb:

 

[oldbloke]

If you did 1100g in 4.5l and lost none to racking, my rule-of-thumb calcs give 12.2%. Was he not counting your sugars from the fruit?
But you will lose some and your demi will be more than 4.5l

 

[oldbloke]

How do you work that out, Chippy? My most optimistic chart only gets 12.7 from that amount of sugar.

I can get 13.7 though, if I convert the sugar to an sg of 1091, assume fermenting down to a very dry 0990, and using the 7.36 conversion factor

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Nice one oldbloke
chippy says 1100g for 14%

Who to trust?!?! Hahaha :thumb:

I did say you lose when you top, here are the two calculations i have used in the past, TBH i don't use my hydrometer i just throw 1100g in and top up to the base of the neck after clearing, i don't really know what the ABV is but if its 12% or above i am happy. (i used 4.9 litres as that is how much my DJ's take to the base of the neck)

 

[Mikhail Bulgakov]

I shall measure the capacity of my dj when it's empty, then use the 20g per litre = 1% rule I think oldbloke told me last time I was asking for help. Appreciate it thanks mate!

Chippy you're a legends

Well you both are, cheers fellas! Spot on

 

[oldbloke]

Mine is ONLY a rule of thumb, and the fact my favourite chart (http://www.brsquared.org/wine/CalcInfo/HydSugAl.htm) has 5 different columns of ABV for every sugar level shows there's still some dispute about how best to measure this stuff. I can say my wines tend to be slightly strong, but not crazily so, so I'm probably underestimating slightly - but the math is easy my way!
Also - I've found my refractometer agrees with my rough calcs from known sugars better than my hydrometer - the hydrometer seems optimistic!
It's a minefield

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Also - I've found my refractometer agrees with my rough calcs from known sugars better than my hydrometer - the hydrometer seems optimistic!
It's a minefield

Spot on and that is why i use the method i mentioned earlier -

TBH i don't use my hydrometer i just throw 1100g in and top up to the base of the neck after clearing, i don't really know what the ABV is but if its 12% or above i am happy.

From the wurzels orange wine thread -

Trust me, if you’ve used the sugar quantities I’ve suggested you will have an OG around 1.085 - 1.090 and should be heading for a wine of 12-13% alcohol.

To make 1 gallon:
around 800g Sugar

To make 5 litres:
As above but around 900g sugar.