How do you know ??

Hi,

By using clinitest tabs to see if the wine is dry, rather than a hydrometer. You can't (maybe you could with a fair amount of math, but I doubt it) use a hydrometer to see if a wine has sugar in it. You have to do it chemically, and clinitest tabs are the easiest way.

Dave

**************************************************************************** Dave Breeden snipped-for-privacy@lightlink.com

Hello

BTW - I have been informed that Clinitest kits are/will be soon discontinued. They have been replaced by a strip that changes color at the very tip. I believe the new product is called Dynastick. The Bayer site will have the exact spelling and info if I am wrong.

I have no data relative to the accuracy of this new strip in wine. I have used them a bit to compare with Clinitest tablets, and the results were not constant -- some reading matched Clinitest results and some not. Neither consistently match laboratory tests for residual sugar in wine when we redid samples that had been tested in a large winery laboratory.

Regards

Jerry

Hi Dave

I also use clinitest but only as an occasional "sanity check" to confirm that my own estimates are reasonably accurate.

So far as I know, estimating sugar is about all you_can_use a hydrometer for. ;o) All the other stuff is then based on the sugar estimate. (but yes, I know what you mean here)

But that's not what I am after here. What I am looking for is ways that make use of something_other_than one's own experience factor or chemical testing. Like you, I don't really know of any other ways and am hoping that someone can give me a more "modern" method.

Thanks Frederick

Hi Jerry

I would be very much interested in further info on this or maybe some links where I can read up on it. TIA

Frederick

Assuming this chart was correct, how would I use it (and my hydrometer) to determine if one of my wines was dry or got stuck ?? TIA

Frederick

You read the OG (before fermenation) across the top and the FG ( down the side) and find the correct square. That will tell you your alcohol by volume and grams/litre sugar remaining. It doesn't tell you whether it's fermentable sugars however.

Send a sample to a lab and have them run it for you. I think they do it enzymatically. Probably not worth the money though if it's only a carboy's worth.

Tom S