Sweetening wine

[tractor]

Hi All

I've pressed and fermented some grapes it's made around 9 gallons of wine, i tried some yesterday, i'm very pleased with it.

the only thing is it's a little dry, is there a way of sweetening it? i know i can't just add sugar because it'll just start fermenting again so i was thinking along the lines of the sweeteners you put in your tea.

would i need to make up a solution and add them or just add the tablets and see what happens?

thanks

[Geezah]

You can buy artificial wine sweetener from your home brew supplier / ebay that comes in liquid form.
If you killed the yeast by adding potassium sorbate, you could add a sugar solution so you dont get that sacharin taste, but there is a slight chance that a stray undead yeastie could start eating the sugar, so I would advise storing the bottles at a temperature that will hinder any yeast activity.
Stop the fermentation early is another way of holding on to a little sweetness, but again you need to store the bottles cool.

[R1ch]

To back sweeten using normal sugar you need to add sulphite AND sorbate. This will stop the current yeast, and prevent them reproducing. Wine sweetener from your HBS varies depending on type, follow the instructions on the packet. I find it leaves an artificial taste.

Try a fair amount in a glass, till you find the sweetness you are after, then measure the sg you want from that glass. Add sugar to the main batch slowly, and check as you go. It's easier to add more, way more difficult to take it away! (Unless you hold a bit of wine back to 'dry' you wine out incase you go too far.)

[tractor]

thanks guys i'll try both and see what they come out like.

thanks for your help

tractor