Hi,

I've never posted here before, and have just come back to amateur wine
making after many years - now I'm retired. I have some equipment, but
forgot almost everything I ever knew (which wasn't much). This seems
like the place to get advice, and share experience. I'm the North West
of England.

I'm making a trial gallon of an all-in (no sugar to add) 'Californian
Connoisseur' Cab/Merlot kit. I'm pretty sure that I followed the
instructions to the letter in mixing the must, but instead of the
expected target 1.080 to 1.095 starting SG, I have 1.065 (1.067 when
corrected for temperature). This seems to me to suggest that I need to
add about 6 oz of extra sugar, otherwise I'm not likely to get above 8%
or so Alcohol. Question 1, have I got this right?

As I was impatient (not a good trait in a wine maker !) I started the
fermentation this morning anyway, and it's going well. So Question 2,
if you advise me to add sugar, how should I do it? There is about a
pint of room in the demijohn, so I could dissolve in hot water and add
that as the first ferment dies down. The alternative seems to be to
draw off a pint and dissolve the sugar (cold) in that before adding
back.

Thanks in advance,
R.

In many cases, low SG readings are caused by the concentrate not being
fully mixed with the water. Grape juice concentrate is pretty dense,
and will tend to sit on the bottom of the container (bucket, carboy,
etc.). Vigorous stirring is required to make sure the concentrate and
water are completely mixed. If the water and concentrate have been
very thoroughly stirred and mixed, then you probably need to add some
sugar (or more concentrate). Add the sugar in whatever manner is
convenient. If you add sugar after some period of active
fermentation, you'll probably want to dissolve it in some water or
must first. Adding sugar crystals to the must (which likely has a lot
of dissolved CO2) can produce a lot of foaming and bubbling, as the
crystals act as nucleation sites for the dissolved CO2 to form
bubbles. If you are fermenting in a demijohn (a gallon jug on this
side of the pond), foaming of this sort is likely to make a bit of a
mess, so is best avoided. Other than that, whatever is convenient
for you is likely to be fine.

Doug

On Sep 5, 12:20*pm, TheOldFellow > wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've never posted here before, and have just come back to amateur wine
> making after many years - now I'm retired. *I have some equipment, but
> forgot almost everything I ever knew (which wasn't much). *This seems
> like the place to get advice, and share experience. *I'm the North West
> of England.
>
> I'm making a trial gallon of an all-in (no sugar to add) 'Californian
> Connoisseur' Cab/Merlot kit. I'm pretty sure that I followed the
> instructions to the letter in mixing the must, but instead of the
> expected target 1.080 to 1.095 starting SG, I have 1.065 (1.067 when
> corrected for temperature). This seems to me to suggest that I need to
> add about 6 oz of extra sugar, otherwise I'm not likely to get above 8%
> or so Alcohol. Question 1, have I got this right?
>
> As I was impatient (not a good trait in a wine maker !) I started the
> fermentation this morning anyway, and it's going well. *So Question 2,
> if you advise me to add sugar, how should I do it? *There is about a
> pint of room in the demijohn, so I could dissolve in hot water and add
> that as the first ferment dies down. *The alternative seems to be to
> draw off a pint and dissolve the sugar (cold) in that before adding
> back.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> R.

Did you use imperial gallons or US gallons, which is less volume.