Often amateur winemakers cannot determine the exact amount of sugar to add to homemade wine during preparation. In this article, we will talk about how much and when to add sugar to wine, adhering to the classical production technology. This knowledge will help you create a wonderful drink with a predetermined sweetness and strength.
The amount of sugar depends on the type of wine you want to get:
- dry – up to 0,3%;
- semi-dry – 0,5-3%;
- semi-sweet – 3-8%;
- fortified – 8-35%.
- sweet – 14-20%.
Sugar is usually not added to grape wine, since its natural sweetness is already quite sufficient for fermentation (relevant only for southern regions with a warm climate). All other fruit and berry juices will have to add sugar. The amount depends on the natural acidity and glucose content of the selected juice.
At home, it is not possible to determine the sugar content in berry juice. A hydrometer (a special device for measuring sugar content) shows the correct results only for grape juice, in all other cases its readings are far from true values.
To solve this problem, we will use a table of average values for the amount of sugar, acids and tannins in fruit juices.
The average amount of sugars, acids and tannins in the juice of various crops (%)
| culture | Sugar | Acid | Tannins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple tree cultivated | 9,5 | 0,7 | — |
| wild apple tree | 8 | 1,4 | — |
| Apple trees ranetki and Chinese | 12 | 1,5 | — |
| pear cultural | 7,0-20,0 | 0,27 | 0,07 |
| wild pear | 7,6 | 1,28 | 0,29 |
| Quince cultural southern | 10,5 | 1,1 | 0,5 |
| Japonica | 5,5 | 4 0 | 0,6 |
| Rowan Burka, Liqueur, chokeberry | 8,5 | 1,3 | — |
| Rowan cube, Moravian, Pomegranate | 9, 3 | 1,9 | — |
| Rowan forest wild | 5,5 | 2 | — |
| Irga | — | 0,4-1,0 | — |
| Rosehip (fresh fruit) | 2,6 | 1,6 | 0,4 |
| Plum Vengerka | Aug.13 | 0,6-1,5 | 0,07 |
| Plum Renklod | Jul.16 | 0,5-1,4 | 0,05 |
| Cherry Vladimirskaya | 12 | 1,3 | — |
| Cherry Shubinka | 10 | 1,4 | — |
| Cherry Lyubskaya | 10 | 1,6 | — |
| gooseberry english yellow | 11 | 1,7 | — |
| Gooseberry Avenarius, Black Negus | 9 3 | 2 3 | — |
| Gooseberry Golden Flame (18-23) | 9 5 | 1,7 | — |
| Gooseberry Muscat (1-48) | 10,3 | 1,8 | — |
| Blackcurrant | 8 | 3 | — |
| Currant white and red | 7,5 | 2,3 | — |
| strawberry | 7 | 1 4 | — |
| Raspberry | 8 | 1,7 | — |
| Lingonberry | 7 | 1,9 | — |
| Blueberries | 5,5 | 1,2 | — |
| autumn cranberry | 3,5 | 3,1 | — |
| Sea buckthorn | 3,2 | 2 5 | — |
| Blackberry | 4,5 | 2 | — |
| Rhubarb | 1,4 | 1,5 | — |
To calculate the amount of water that needs to be added to 1 liter of juice, use the following formula:
X u1d (A: B – 0,6) – (Y x XNUMX);
where X is the water that is added to 1 liter of juice (in ml);
U – sugar (in grams);
B – acid, which is left in 1 liter of juice (in grams);
A – acid in 1 liter of juice (in grams).
The amount of sugar to be added to wine can be calculated using the following formula:
Y u280d (XNUMX x V) – G;
where Y is sugar (in grams);
G – initial sugar in 1 liter of juice (in grams);
C is the A/B ratio in the previous formula.
The volume of sugar in solution is determined according to the following formula:
C u0,6d Y x XNUMX.
When to Add Sugar to Wine
This is usually done in four stages: 2/3 of the sugar is added before the start of fermentation, and the rest in equal parts on the 4th, 7th and 10th day of fermentation. Technology: drain 1-2 liters of wort and dissolve sugar in it. Pour the resulting syrup back into the fermentation container.
