Help with back sweetening

[n4cer]

Just wondered if anyone can help by explaining how you back sweeten wine.
Its my first attempt at making wine and it tastes a bit dry.
Thanks in advance

[seymour]

blend with beer?

[n4cer]

thanks but im dumb and don't understand

[seymour]

thanks but im dumb and don't understand

Sorry, I was just being sarcastic. In reality, you should first stop the yeast with some sorbate, then you can stir-in frozen grape juice concentrate until it's as sweet as you like. A few drops of lemon juice is a nice way to cheat some extra sparkle into it at this late stage, too.

Best of luck!

[n4cer]

Cheers Seymour LOL

[Geezah]

I use 1 campdem tablet and 1 tsp of Potassium sorbate to inhibit the yeast, then back sweeten with sugar.
100g for a medium, 200g for a sweet wine as a rough guide.

You could use an artificial sweetener also such as sacharin, but I cant stand the taste of it.

[n4cer]

Thanks guys
When you say 100g for medium do you put it in the demijohn when racking off ?

[fatbloke]

Thanks guys
When you say 100g for medium do you put it in the demijohn when racking off ?

Yes. That way, it mostly dissolves as the wine level increases. It's possible that you may have to swirl the DJ a bit to get the last bit to dissolve or you can just leave it and it will dissolve naturally but that takes a bit of time because sugar doesn't dissolve so readily in alcohol as it does in water (it will still dissolve though).

Equally, you can just use a pan on the cooker and use a tiny bit of water with the sugar, stirring until it's dissolved. Then take it off the heat and let it cool before adding it that way.

[n4cer]

can I add grape juice as an alternative, if so how much for 5 gallons

[fatbloke]

can I add grape juice as an alternative, if so how much for 5 gallons

Now there's a "loaded" question.......

depends on the grape juice....... Most supermarket type grape juice is produced from eating grapes, so not as sweet as what you'd get from wine grapes.

Ergo, it's likely to be easier to use red or white concentrate from the HBS. Sure you don't see the different ranges of juice types here, like if you look through the US suppliers etc, more like just "red" or "white" grape juice concentrate. Either way, it's likely to have a higher sugar ratio than just supermarket grape juice drinks, so lend itself more to back sweetening.

Or you could even get a cheap kit, and use the concentrate/grape juice from that........

You'd likely have to do small tests, to get the flavour and sweetness levels you enjoy, then extrapolate the test to the full batch........

[n4cer]

Thanks for that everyone, think I will stick with the sugar rather than the wine.
will let you know how I get on.