conversion rate for RS???

Joanne, The easiest way is to measure it is with Clinitest tablets. They were really developed for urinalysis, but are now commonly used by winemakers to measure RS; go figure.

Most wine shops have them (or access to them), you can buy a kit and then just get replacement tablets as necessary.

Here is the modified version I use for dry wines:

• Place 10 drops of wine under test in the test tube;

• Place one clinitest tablet in the tube and wait until the reaction is complete, (around 30-45 seconds)

• use the '2 drop' charts and divide the results by 5.

If my wine is over 0.3% using this method there is a good chance it may be a bit gassy by next year unless you sorbate it.

Sometimes that's a very good thing, Chenin Blanc is great as a pettilant wine. Regards, Joe

Not criticizing, just curious.

I just go by taste when I am sweetening or deciding if there is the right amount of sugar. Is there a real use for measuring RS other than to just know what it is? Does it help with some other calculation?

Ray

Hi Joanne

No rocket science this, but it is quick, cheap and easy, and ball park enough for your purpose. Use a hydrometer and a modified full range SG/Sugar chart. Based on the assumption that the alcohol in an average wine will shift the reference point on the hydrometer downward by 10 points. Thus the new point of reference becomes

0.990 for "zero sugar". Print out a copy of the reference chart (get one from one of your books) and go back to kindergarten. ;o) Cut the SG column off of the chart, shift it down 10 points and tape it back onto the chart. Fill in the missing 0.990 and 0.995. Cut another strip of paper and paste it over the PA column. You can add an "RS percent" in this blank column but it really isn't necessary. You can use the BRIX column for percent sugar, or the sugar column(s) for direct sugar readings. Just give your folks a hydrometer and a copy of your modified chart and turn them loose. They can work out any "in between" numbers by simple extrapolation (probably be able to do it in their head). But if this becomes a problem for some, just expand the chart to include each and every SG point over the expected range. Again - not entirely accurate but it should be "good enough".

And the big "IF" here is the assumption !! For really low end readings you will still have to back this up with the clinitest method. HTH

Ray, It has nothing to do with taste, ......right now. It has everything to do when organizing a wine competition. Knowing the amount of RS certainly helps to put it in the right category when judging a wine. Dry whites get served first, then sweet whites. Then a cheese break. Then dry Reds and after that, the sweet reds. Don't go from a red to a white. It takes your palate 20 minutes to recover...... Joanne

Ray, Joanne said she was organizing a state fair wine competition. I only know of one competition that doesn't differentiate between dry and sweet, and most have specific cut-offs in terms of specific gravity for what each is. If you don't keep track of your specific gravities, you've got to have another way of measuring RS. Clinitest is as good as any if you can find the tablets. They used to be available in every drugstore in America, but no longer. However, many winemaking shops now carry them.

Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page

Joanne Aw heck !! If that's all you want, don't even bother with the chart. Just take a hydrometer reading. The higher the number, the sweeter it is. Simple as that. I thought you wanted actual RS numbers. I have a hydrometer that will fit in the neck of a standard wine bottle so I just pour off enough wine to accommodate the hydrometer and slide it into the bottle itself. HTH

Jack is right, drugstores rarely stock them, but they can order them from the drug wholesaler. I work for a large one and we stock them in our distribution centers, at least the one near me. Presque Isle and the Wine Labs also sell them.

Since it's for winemaking, I prefer to get the individually wrapped ones sold in boxes of 100; they also sell them in bottles. Bayer makes them.

Ray, Sometimes you think the wine is dry by taste, but it has a bit of sugar left. That can resume fermenting in the bottle. Sometimes that's good, most times not. You can use the measurement to decide whether or not to add sorbate.

Regards, Joe

You should serve bread or crackers instead of cheese. Cheese will coat the mouth and dapen the palate. Or so many of the people on alt.food.wine say, and a few different websites I've seen... there's a quote that goes something like this "Serve cheese if you're selling wine, and eat bread if you're buying wine" YYMV :)

Hi again Joanne

Really sorry. I seem to have misunderstood your question entirely. Thought your reference to "homie" meant an untrained judging staff. Another "Senior moment". ;o) Let me try again. All the home winemaker has to do is take a final SG reading as part of their bottling procedure. Make it a *mandatory* requirement on the entry form that this number be provided. There should be no excuse for not providing it since entrants should surely have more than one bottle of the wine being submitted and can test the second bottle to obtain this information if they failed to do so at bottling. Your judging staff can then "ball park" this number as follows:

Start with the number provided. Add one point of SG for each % ABV. (Estimated alcohol content should also be on the form) Use this new number to read the RS directly from a standard (*un*modified) SG/Sugar chart using the BRIX column. Again - not entirely accurate, but it should be "good enough" as a guide, and it has the advantage of being done on paper and not requiring any actual testing by the judges at all. Hope this makes sense this time. At least it gives you some ideas. HTH

Hey Jack - If you could (would) expand the SG chart on your hydrometer page into a "full range" chart it would help folks with these kinds of manipulations. (eg. Start at 1.000 equals zero sugar, and run it all the way up to SG 1.180). Some folks have trouble "visualizing" relationships directly from formulas. For these folks, such charts are worth a thousand words. PS - Haven't checked lately. How close are you getting to the "half million" mark ?? :O))

Fred I have those in excell but itmay be a bit large to post here... Regards, Joe

Hi Joe

I have always preferred charts to the "stubby pencil" methods. What I really need here is somewhere on the web to point to for such a chart. I just thought if Jack would expand his, we could use it to help point newbees to his site. Just a thought. ;o) Thanks.