Well, finally after 2 freeze and thaw cycles my plum wine from last summer has cleared. Due to late rains last year the fruit was high in water, low in sugar and high in acid. I will need to sweeten it up a little.
Any recommendations on what to use? Table sugar, corn sugar?
Frank Havelock, NC
Use wine conditioner instead. Just do a google search for wine conditioner and you can find a number of places that sell it. Here's one description below. I can vouch it works well. Just pour a little to taste in your wine.
"A special blend of invert sugar which has the advantage of a more intense sweet taste than household sugar. Contains a stabilizer to inhibit refermentation. Reduces aging time in your wine. Usually 2-4 oz. per gallon"
I started a plum wine about 2 years ago, and bottled it last December. I fermented it totally dry, and sweetened it with plain old sugar. It's quite good. Although I might try that wine conditioner that someone else suggested, sugar has worked fine for me. My next plum batch, however, I plan to sweeten with brown sugar to get that molasses taste added to it. Should be good.
You can certainly use wine conditioner as suggested, but plain table suger inverts on it's own it a day or so in an acidic environmet like wine. Boiling a slurry and adding citric takes that time down to less than 30 minutes. If table sugar is used add potassium sorbate at the level recommended by the package. (Most wine conditioner is just sugar of some sort with sorbate added, it's a generic term like 'acid blend'. Everybody makes it a little differently.
Either way a trip to a winemaking supply shop is probably a good idea. If you do decide to use sugar and sorbate, just remember the sorbate has a limited shelf life, usually 6 to 8 months. Regards, Joe
My gravity was .998 So I went to my local Home Brew Shop and bought Glycerin and the Wine Conditioner. Got the gravity up to 1.008 and the sweetness also.
Thanks Frnak
My one and only attempt at wine was a plum and I also fermented till dry and then added some honey to taste just before bottling and it turned out great.
Which begs the question: Why have you not made it again? Don't you know that, by the Winemaker Law" all wines receiving the designation of Great must be made again? The Winemaker Police will be on their way. ;o) Ray
I am a fan of using honey to sweeten.
Mainly a beer brewer here but do have plans of making some more this year.
I am just waiting for the plums to become available at the local city market.
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