E. C. Kraus
HOME WINE MAKING NEWSLETTER

Issue Number 7

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*About This Newsletter*

The E. C. Kraus Home Wine Making Newsletter is a FREE publication
that covers issues and topics of general interest to the home
winemaker. You may pass this newsletter on to friends and others,
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IN THIS ISSUE:

* Hydrometer Scales And What They Mean
    - The Basic Idea Behind the Hydrometer
    - Why Do We Care How High a Hydrometer Floats?
    - The Hydrometer Scales
* Handy Little Gadget
* Winemaker's Glossary
* Making Applejack
* Wine Making Quick Tips

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*HYDROMETER SCALES AND WHAT THEY MEAN*

There always seems to be a little confusion going on about the
different scales you will find on various hydrometers for making
wine. So, I thought I would take a little time here to give some
background and explain what is really going on when we take a
hydrometer reading.


- The Basic Idea Behind the Hydrometer

The whole premise behind the hydrometer is: "the heavier the
liquid being tested, the higher the hydrometer will float" - in
other words, the buoyancy of the liquid increases with the weight
of the liquid. For example, if you float a hydrometer in water,
it will float much lower than if you put the same hydrometer in
maple syrup. This is because the maple syrup weighs much more
than water.

Some people have a problem thinking in terms of a liquid having a
weight. For some it is easier to think in terms of thickness. The
same can be applied by saying, "the hydrometer floats higher in
maple syrup because it is 'thicker' than water". This is okay
too.


- Why do we even care how high or low a hydrometer floats?

During a fermentation, basically thick sugars are being turned
into thin alcohol. In other words, the juice is going from heavy
to light. This also means that throughout a fermentation the
hydrometer will float at different heights, giving different
readings.

At the beginning of fermentation the hydrometer will float at its
highest. At the end of fermentation the hydrometer will float at
its lowest. And, throughout the fermentation it will float
everywhere in between those two readings. It is with these
various readings that we are able to monitor the progress of the
fermentation and track the alcohol that has been produced.


- The Hydrometer Scales

* Specific Gravity.
This particular scale is the most commonly used among home wine
makers and is referred to in most home wine making books. It
should be thought of only as a way of keeping in step with any
recipes you may be using that make references to this particular
scale.

The Specific Gravity scale is based on the weight of water. If
you float a hydrometer in water it will read 1.000 on the
Specific Gravity scale. At the beginning of fermentation a
typical reading might be 1.090. This means, for example, that the
juice at that point weighs 9 percent more than water, or the
juice is 9 percent thicker than water.

When all the sugar is turned into alcohol you will have a reading
on the Specific Gravity scale that is less than water - typically
around .995. This means that the juice weighs less than water, or
it is thinner than water by a half of a percent.

Again, simply think of the Specific Gravity scale as just a very
common scale that allows you to follow the progress of your
wine's fermentation, and to stay on track with books and recipes
that mention it.


* Potential Alcohol.
This scale tells the winemaker how much alcohol can be made from
the sugars that are currently in the juice. A single reading on
the Potential Alcohol scale can NOT tell the winemaker how much
alcohol is already in the wine. It can only tell the winemaker
how much MORE alcohol can be made, based on the liquid's current
weight or thickness, or in other words, how much sugar still
remains in the juice.

The Potential Alcohol scale on most hydrometers usually ranges
from 0 to 20 percent alcohol. So, for example if you mixed a
recipe together and took a reading of 13 percent on the Potential
Alcohol scale before the fermentation began, this means that
there is enough sugars in that juice at that point in time to
potentially produce 13 percent worth of alcohol.

Now, not all fermentations use up every bit of sugar, so when the
fermentation has finished, you can take a second reading to see
how much "potential alcohol sugar" has been left over, if any. By
comparing these two readings, you can then determine the current
alcohol level of your wine.

Let's say for example, that a juice started out with a reading of
13 percent before the fermentation started, and had a reading of
1 percent after the fermentation stopped. By comparing the two
readings you can determine that the juice now contains 12 percent
alcohol. Another way to look at it is that the fermentation moved
12 points across the scale, resulting in 12% alcohol.


*Brix Scale (Also known as Balling).
This hydrometer scale is used mostly by grape growers and
commercial wineries. It is also referred to in more advanced home
wine making books.

The Brix scale is based on percentage of sugar that is in the
liquid by weight. Typically the scale will go from 0 to 30 on
most wine making hydrometers. If you have a grape juice that
reads 24 on the Brix scale, that means that the juice is made up
of 24% sugar by weight.

Vineyards use this scale to determine if the sugar level of the
grape is sufficient for harvest. Wineries use this scale to
determine if the juice has sufficient sugar to produce the
alcohol level they desire.

*Sugar Scale.
This scale tells the winemaker how much sugar is in the juice at
a given time. The readings are given in ounces per gallon. For
example, you might have a reading at the start of fermentation of
35. This means that you have 35 ounces of sugar per each gallon
of juice.

Now, this does not necessarily mean that you added 35 ounces of
sugar for each gallon of juice. Some of the sugar comes naturally
from the fruit as well. For example in the case of grape juice,
you can have a reading of 35 without adding any sugar at all; the
sugar comes completely from the grape itself.

Why is this important? This information in itself is not really
important. But, when used in conjunction with other scales on the
hydrometer it can be very, very valuable.

Let's say that you have a recipe that says to add sugar to the
juice until the Specific Gravity reading is 1.072. So, you mix
all the ingredients together as the recipe calls for, except for
the sugar. You take a reading and find that your Specific Gravity
reading is 1.046, but you need to be at 1.072.

This is where the sugar scale comes into play. By determining how
many ounces of sugar is represented in each gallon of juice now,
at a reading of 1.046, and determining how many ounces of sugar
will be represented in the juice at a reading of 1.072, you can
then determine how much sugar you need to add to a juice to take
your from a reading of 1.046 to 1.072.

When looking at a hydrometer that has both the Specific Gravity
scale and the Sugar Scale, you will see that a Specific Gravity
reading of 1.046 also equals 20 ounces of sugar per gallon.
Likewise, a reading of 1.072 equals 30 ounces of sugar per
gallon. Armed with this information you can see by comparing
these two readings that to raise the hydrometer reading from
1.046 to 1.072, you need to add 10 ounces of sugar for each
gallon in the batch - this is the difference between 20 and 30.

The Sugar Scale can also be used in conjunction with the
Potential Alcohol scale. For example, if you have a Potential
Alcohol reading of 8 percent and you want it to be 12 percent,
just look up the corresponding ounces on the Sugar Scale to
determine the amount of sugar to add.

In this example, a potential alcohol of 8 equals 26 ounces of
sugar per gallon, and a potential alcohol of 12 is equal to 38
ounces of sugar per gallon. The difference is 12 ounces of sugar
per gallon. This is the amount of sugar to add for each gallon to
increase your potential alcohol from 8 to 12.

For more information about the hydrometers we offer, go to:
Hydrometers


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*HANDY LITTLE GADGET*

Now matter how careful you are, it never seems to fail. There
will always be those times when a cork will push on into a wine
bottle when you were really trying to pull it out.

It's really a disappointing thing to see happen. Now, you have to
deal with the annoyance of pouring the wine in to a glass as it
gurgles around a menacing cork - splashing all around. You now
also have to figure out a way to get the cork out of the bottle
so that you can later put your next batch of wine in it. Your
only other choice is to throw the bottle away - not a good
option.

We have a handy little gadget that takes the disappointment out
of dealing with unruly corks - it's call a Cork Retriever. It's
designed specifically for dealing with corks that can't find
their way out of the bottle. It has three long wire prongs that
go into the bottle, surround the cork, grab it. All three prongs
are attached to one convenient handle that allows you to easily
pull the cork out of the bottle.

For more information about the Cork Retriever we offer, go to:
Cork Retriever

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*WINEMAKER'S GLOSSARY*

CAMPDEN TABLETS:
A small tablet that is crushed up and dissolved into fresh juice
at the rate of 1 tablet per gallon to destroy any wild organisms
such as vinegar or mold. It is also used in higher doses with
water to create a solution for sanitizing bottles, vessels and
other equipment that may come in contact with the wine.

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*MAKING APPLEJACK*

In the last issue of the Home Wine Making Newsletter I showed
readers how to make apple wine from fresh apple juice, a project
that certainly warrants the effort. Apple wine is different from
hard cider in that it is usually around 10-12% alcohol and is
fermented with the addition of sugar and other ingredients such
as acid blend and tannin for flavor balance. Hard cider typically
runs around 5% alcohol and is produced by simply allowing the
apple juice to ferment on the sugars that are naturally present.

In the last issue I promised to show readers how to turn their
apple wine into a delectable drink known as Applejack. The
features that make Applejack different from hard cider or apple
wine is that it has a higher concentration of alcohol. It can be
as high as 30% alcohol or 60 proof. Also, the apple flavor is
more intense or concentrated.

Applejack is made by storing completely finished apple wine at
below freezing temperatures. What happens is the water that is
in the apple wine freezes and rises to the top while the alcohol
stays in liquid form - a process known as fractional crystal-
lization. Each day you simply scoop off the ice that has formed,
causing the alcohol and the apple flavor that is left behind to
become more concentrated.

Each day you will notice that the amount of ice that is forming
will be less and less, until eventually no more ice will form at
all at that particular temperature. The following will give you
an idea of how concentrated the alcohol can become at a given
temperature: at zero degrees ice will form until the liquid
reaches 14% alcohol by volume. At 10 below ice will form until it
reaches 20%. At 20 below 27% can be made. And, at 30 below 33%
alcohol can be obtained.

Applejack was very popular among the New England colonies.
Barrels of apple wine would be set out in sheds during January
and February when the temperatures where blistering cold. And, by
first thaw it would be ready to drink.

If it does not get all that cold in your area, the same effect
can be duplicated by using a deep freezer. Do not use glass
containers as they as they will more than likely crack. A soft
plastic, food-grade pail with lid seems to work well for this
purpose. Just put your apple wine in the deep freezer, set the
thermostat as low as it will go. Then every day scoop off the
ice, until there is no more ice to scoop.

The alcohol level the wine starts out at is not all that
important. Whether it is 8% or 12% the same concentration level
will eventually be reached regardless. The only thing that
changes is the amount of ice you will need to remove to get to
that point.

Another thing to note here is that while traditionally this
method is applied to apple wines, it can also be applied to other
wines just the same. Other good candidates would be: Pear, Mead,
Watermelon, Peach, Strawberry - primarily fruits that do not have
a strong, assertive flavor to begin with. Have fun and experiment
with a gallon or two.


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*WINE MAKING QUICK TIPS*

- Cooler weather is coming upon us now. Time to watch your
fermentation temperatures and make sure that the cooler air is
not playing games with your yeast's ability to ferment.

You want your fermentation temperature to be at least 70 degrees
- 72 would be better - but not more than 78. Temperatures that
are cooler than this may cause the fermentation to come to a halt
before it has finished the job; temperatures warmer than this can
produce alcohol with unwanted off-flavors.

One easy way to warm up your vessels during the cooler months is
to use an old lamp with 100 watt light bulb. If you place the
bulb 12 inches off to the side of a 5 gallon batch, it will warm
the liquid's temperature by about 8 to 10 degrees. Wrap the
vessel with a towel to protect the wine from the excessive light
the bulb causes. If 8 or 10 degrees is too much of an increase,
just back off the bulb another 4 or 5 inches away from your
fermentation vessel.

- Sometimes it's hard to tell just how clear your wine is when
it's still in bulk. Trying to determine if it is clear enough for
bottling can be a difficult task. Heavier, darker wines often
need to have a sample drawn off and put into a glass before you
can really determine anything. The same goes for any wine that is
in a vessel that is not made of a clear material.

One simple idea that has worked well for me in the past, is to
turn off all the lights in the room that the wine is in, and
shine a strong flashlight through the side-wall of the vessel.
What you are looking for is to see how clearly the beam of light
illuminates through the wine. Some diffusing will occur with
darker wines because of its color pigmentation. But, you do not
want to see a murky or milky appearance to the light.


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*ADDITIONAL HOME WINE MAKING INFORMATION*

- If you are new to home wine making and would like more general
information about making wine at home, see the following article

listed on our web site:

 "How To Get Started Making Wine"

- For a listing of our home wine making recipes, go to our

"Home Wine Making Recipe Page"

- Also, for a general overview of the home wine making process
see the article

 "The Seven Easy Steps To Making Wine"


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*VISIT US ON-LINE*

Visit our web site at www.eckraus.com to view the complete line
of products we have to offer. All products are listed with
detailed information so you can learn as you shop. Purchase
products on-line with our completely secure shopping cart. Never
has shopping on the web been more safe.

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*NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES*

If you would like to look through previous issues of this
newsletter go to our:

"Home Wine Making Articles Page"

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* The E. C. Kraus Home Wine Making Newsletter is produced by:

E. C. Kraus
Home Wine & Beer Making Supplies
733 S. Northern Blvd.
Post Office Box 7850
Independence, MO 64054
Phone: 1-800-383-1906
Fax: 1-816-254-7051

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* Copyright(c) 2002, Kraus Sales, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
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