TOP 10 REASONS

FOR FERMENTATION FAILURE

Reason #2
Adding Too Much Sugar At The Beginning Of Fermentation:

When a fermentation occurs what is really happening is the yeast
is consuming sugar and turning it into alcohol. So the amount of
sugar that is available to the yeast controls how much alcohol
that can be made. But contrary to reason, it is possible to have
too much sugar in a fermentation.

If the sugar concentration level of the must becomes too high at
any given point--either at the beginning or during the
fermentation--it starts to have an inhibiting effect on the
yeast's ability to produce alcohol. In other words, the higher
sugar concentration starts to act as a preservative effecting the
fermentation in a negative way.

Before you add sugar to a batch, it is necessary to know how much
sugar is already being provided by the fruit. This can vary
dramatically from one fruit to the next. For example, in the case
of most California grown grapes, no sugar is required at all to
produce a wine with a reasonable level of alcohol--say 10 to 13
percent--but when making berry wines a considerable amount of
sugar is required to obtain those same levels.

If you have a good recipe from a reliable source, such as a book
on winemaking, you can normally depend on the amount of sugar the
recipe is calling for. Or certainly if you are following
directions that were provided with a wine making kit, your sugar
level should be no issue whatsoever, just follow the directions.

But if you have a recipe from a questionable source or you are
going it alone, it is strongly recommended that you control your
sugar levels with the aid of a hydrometer.

The hydrometer can tell you how much sugar is already in the must
as well has how much sugar to add to end up with a potential
alcohol level that is desirable.

It does this with a scale that is called "Potential Alcohol." The
more sugar that is in the must, the higher the percentage reading
will be on the Potential Alcohol scale.

For more information about the hydrometer and its use, see the
following article on our web site:

"Getting To Know Your Hydrometer"

At the beginning of fermentation having "Potential Alcohol"
readings higher than 13% will usually interfere with the yeast's
ability to start fermenting. Realize that most all wines you buy
commercially are between 10% and 13%, so this is really no big
issue.

But there are some of you out there--and you know who you are--
that seek to drive the alcohol as high as possible. This is okay,
but it is necessary to feed some of the sugar throughout the
fermentation instead of adding all of it to the must up front.

By feeding sugar in this way you will be able to achieve higher
alcohol without getting your sugar concentration levels too high.
You are giving some of the original sugars time to turn into
alcohol. This in turn will make room for the additional sugars
you are feeding.

If you do not feed sugar in this way when attempting to achieve
higher alcohol levels, you will be setting yourself up for
potential fermentation problems.

- For more information about making high alcohol wines, see the
following article listed on our web site:

"Making High Alcohol Wines"

- For more information about the hydrometers we offer, go to the
following link on our web site:

Wine Making Hydrometers

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E. C. Kraus

Home Wine & Beer Making Supplies

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