Help with wine

gashead

Hi
I've tried to make a red wine from grapes but it is very sweet. I mashed the grapes and extracted the juice. I then added extra sugar to bring the og up to 1085. It has fermented (fg 995) and I racked several times to help it clear. I was about to bottle but on tasting it was very sweet. Can I try a second fermentation by adding more yeast and hopefully reducing the sugar content or will this not work. Any other suggestions would be great.
thanks

gh

BeerNut

I can't imagine it'll go much lower than 0.995. Age it and hope for the best, I'd say.

Hootanany

I ha e the same problem ageing it since May still too sweet I kept it in the big drum that I fermented it in?

gashead

Thanks folks. Think I'll bottle and stick in the back of the shed. Maybe use it for sangria next summer :-)

sharingan

Too sweet at 0.995? That should be close to bone dry.

You sure you took the hydrometer reading correctly? I would test your hydrometer in 20C water, and remember to correct for ambient temperature.

gashead

Checked my gravity reading again and i must have made a mistake somewhere. The gravity reading is 1030, so will my original suggestion work of adding more yeast ?

Cheers

BeerNut

Can you post a pic of the gravity reading?

I've certainly had wines finish at <1.000 and they've been nothing like dry at all.

sharingan

gashead wrote: »

Checked my gravity reading again and i must have made a mistake somewhere. The gravity reading is 1030, so will my original suggestion work of adding more yeast ?

Add more yeast, but hydrate it first. It will help a bit. You could also make a starter, by drawing off some of your ferment and culturing it up in a flask with some fruit juice. But that is a bit technical.

Making starters and repitching is a common technique in beer making when you are making strong beers, not sure if it completely applies to wine making.