I have a white zin kit I fermented to dryness (0.998), and want to sweeten it to a semi-sweet. Is there an SG chart showing approx readings for dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, and sweet? I know adding sugar will change the SG, but besides just tasting it I don't know how much sugar to add to get it to the semi-sweet neighborhood.
So, is there a chart?
Forget about SG. Sweeten to taste. Add enough sugar to make it taste about the way you want it to. Make some trials on a measured volume of the wine. Determine how much sugar to add to make it as sweet as you want. Then calculate how much sugar you will need to add to the entire batch. Then add about 90% of what you calculated. Be sure to treat with sorbate and sulfite to prevent refermentation. Put it back and let it age with the sweetener for a month. Then try it again. The sweetness will change a little with age. That is why I suggest you add a little less than you think you should. This will give you some adjustment room. When you taste it the second time, if you want to adjust it further, you should not need to adjust it much. Then you can go ahead and bottle.
Ray
You can give this chart a try.
Sweetening Wine
2 ounces of sugar will raise 1 gallon of wine by .005 in specific gravity; therefore, 2 ounces will raise 5 gallons by .001Dry Wine .990 - 1.000 Medium Sweet 1.000 - 1.008 Sweet Wine over 1.008
You can give this chart a try.
Sweetening Wine
2 ounces of sugar will raise 1 gallon of wine by .005 in specific gravity; therefore, 2 ounces will raise 5 gallons by .001Dry Wine .990 - 1.000 Medium Sweet 1.000 - 1.008 Sweet Wine over 1.008
G47. SWEETENING WINE
There are many ways of sweetening your wine.
A) When your wine has reached about 1.000, put in your sulphite, sorbate and clearing agent. This will usually give you only a slightly sweet wine. B) Ferment your wine dry, then stabilize it with your sulphite and sorbate, and add your clearing agent. Filter the wine. Then add a 2:1 sugar/water (or wine) syrup that contains sulphite and sorbate. C) Add some glycerine. This technically won't sweeten the wine but it will add to your perception of sweetness. D) Blend the stabilized wine with a stable over sweet wine. E) Add sugar to the wine just before serving. Two teaspoons per bottle will increase the sugar content by 1%, and 4% will approximate port.
As far as what degree of sweetness you want, add a little bit at a time, and stop when it tastes like it could use just a bit more.
Sweetness:
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