Adding sugar incrementally

[Mallerstang]

It's peach season! So I'm going to start my first peach wine using Jack Keller's "Peach and Banana Wine" recipe.

The recipe calls for adding the sugar incrementally - half at the beginning, a quarter when transferring to the secondary, and the rest after a further five days.

So far with fruit wines I've added all the sugar at the beginning before pitching the yeast, and I'm wondering if someone can tell me:

1. What adding the sugar incrementally achieves?
2. What about the initial SG readings?
3. Would it be OK if I follow the recipe otherwise but add all the sugar at the start?

Thanks!

 

[Owly055]

It probably achieves nothing concrete in normal brewing. The idea of adding gradually is to keep the osmotic pressure low, where yeast is less stressed, and "happier". The instructions for rehydrating dry yeast for example call for plain cool water, and the percentage of active yeast that results is very significantly greater than if hydrated in wort, or a sugar solution. In real world terms, making wine at 12% or so with a wine yeast, it's probably irrelevant. I'm currently doing a brew targeted at 18%, and it makes sense to "baby" the yeast, as the high alcohol content is a stress factor in and of itself.

H.W.

It's peach season! So I'm going to start my first peach wine using Jack Keller's "Peach and Banana Wine" recipe.

The recipe calls for adding the sugar incrementally - half at the beginning, a quarter when transferring to the secondary, and the rest after a further five days.

So far with fruit wines I've added all the sugar at the beginning before pitching the yeast, and I'm wondering if someone can tell me:

1. What adding the sugar incrementally achieves?
2. What about the initial SG readings?
3. Would it be OK if I follow the recipe otherwise but add all the sugar at the start?

Thanks!

 

[Mallerstang]

It probably achieves nothing concrete in normal brewing. The idea of adding gradually is to keep the osmotic pressure low, where yeast is less stressed, and "happier". The instructions for rehydrating dry yeast for example call for plain cool water, and the percentage of active yeast that results is very significantly greater than if hydrated in wort, or a sugar solution. In real world terms, making wine at 12% or so with a wine yeast, it's probably irrelevant. I'm currently doing a brew targeted at 18%, and it makes sense to "baby" the yeast, as the high alcohol content is a stress factor in and of itself.

H.W.

Thanks HW - that's some good information. I think I'll use JK's recipe for the ingredients but follow my usual method and add all the sugar at the beginning. That way I can take an SG reading at the start too.

 

[Billy Thompson]

For myself and others, how do we measure the ABV if we are adding sugar incrementally? The OG on a pumpkin wine that's bubbling in my kitchen was 1.070. If my calculations are right, with an FG of 0.990 I will be looking at an ABV of 10.50%. If I check it tomorrow (after 24hours of bubbling) and it reads 1.050 and then add enough sugar to raise it back to 1.070, what will my ABV at the end? Or would this just be the same as calculating OG 1.090 to FG 0.990? Thanks in advance...

 

[Yooper]

For myself and others, how do we measure the ABV if we are adding sugar incrementally? The OG on a pumpkin wine that's bubbling in my kitchen was 1.070. If my calculations are right, with an FG of 0.990 I will be looking at an ABV of 10.50%. If I check it tomorrow (after 24hours of bubbling) and it reads 1.050 and then add enough sugar to raise it back to 1.070, what will my ABV at the end? Or would this just be the same as calculating OG 1.090 to FG 0.990? Thanks in advance...

Yes- the 'points' from the sugar are added to the OG. For example, one pound of sugar in one gallon gives you 46 points, or 9 points in 5 gallons. So, for a pound of sugar added to five gallons, your OG goes up by 9, from say, 1.050 to 1.059.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Billy - Ignore the changing gravity figures. You started with a certain SG, namely 1.070 and so for every 1 lb of sugar you then add to a gallon you will be raising the gravity another 40 points. (the basis of SG is per gallon unit) . If you want to know what the total SG is you simply add up each addition of sugar in the context of the total volume of wine. So if you added 1 lb to 5 gallons then 40 points is dissolved in 5 gallons and that adds 8 points /per gallon. If you added 2 lbs and your total volume is 2 gallons then you divide the additional 80 points by 2 (gallons) or 40 points and so the new total would be 1.070 (your starting SG) + 40 (the additional sugar) = 1.110.