Sugar in wine making

[Green Gerkin]

Hi all. My OH has taken to home brewing everything!! I think it's to counteract my growing everything!
We have had the beer and now it's into wine.
He is just about to do first batch of white wine and would like to know what kind of sugar you add to it?
I am hoping to drink it so would like it to taste it's best 😀


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[Hazel at the Hill]

Normal granulated sugar, GG.

Is he making it from a kit? You must get him onto making it out of what you grow!

[Green Gerkin]

Thanks hazel.
It's a kit for now, but i do fancy a tipple made with raspberries from the garden.
We have a grape vine planted last year so hopefully we will have our own grapes next year!


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[Two_Sheds]

i do fancy a tipple made with raspberries

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ase_59183.html

[Green Gerkin]

Thanks two sheds 🍷🍷
the sweet wine sounds good, we are going to give it ago. 😀


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[simon12]

Just to add, brewing sugar (dextrose I think) just ferments more easily than ordinary sugar (sucrose) as the yeast doesn't have to break it down so much which is not a problem for a normal wine. Other sugars like honey or darker sugars have a non fermentable element so can add sweetness & other flavours.

[Alison]

It has never occurred to use anything other than ordinary sugar, you learn something new every day

[sequoia]

Well there are two school`s going on here,if you are using a kit there is no need to add any sugar as the grape juice is the sugar,and has all the nutrients needed to make the wine. If you want to make wine from freebies say rhubarb/gooseberry/elderberry/raspberry,etc then you need to add sugar granulated is OK that is the norm,but you have to remember home made wines are harsh unless kept for around a year before drinking,so it is better to brew in bulk,say 5 gallons to make it worth while. When you can brew a kit and drink after around three weeks. Makes sense to do both so you have a steady supply

[snakeshack]

normal granulated sugar can leave a residual slightly bitter aftertaste ,I always use brewers sugar (dextrose) and can confirm it definitely makes a difference in flavour especially with light beers and wines,for beer I usually add dried spraymalt if I need to add extra fermentable sugar as it adds more body to the beer.It actually works out about the same price to buy a cheap (1.8Kg) beer kit and spraymalt or brewers sugar as it does to buy a more expensive (3 kg) kit.the more expensive kits give better results than the cheap kit + additives.You get what you pay for.
I often add spraymalt to 3kg kits then dry hop with my own hops when barrelling to produce a winter warmer brew ,very nice but a bit pokey at about 7.5 percent

[ohbeary]

There are two main types of kit for wine, some have a can of concentrated grape juice and glucose syrup that you need to add extra sugar and water to make up to the required quantity, the better type is just concentrated varietal grape juice that only needs water to the right volume, both types come with yeast, nutrient, stabiliser and finings.
When making wine from juices, fruit or anything else, invert your sugar by dissolving in some of the water to be used, add 1tsp citric or tartaric acid per pound and heat stirring to 80-90C for 10-15 mins, much cheaper than buying brewing sugar.