Sweetening Homemade Wine - This Is Going To Be A Personal Choice...

If you are wondering about sweetening homemade wine then wonder no further. This really is going to be a personal taste preference.

Personally I don't much care for a really dry tanniny wine. It makes my tongue feel weird. I also though don't like a really sweet wine... I am one of those people who only likes a little frosting on my cake and prefer the glazed donuts over the ones with a bunch of goop on them... So again... a personal preference...

The time to think about sweetening homemade wine is after the fermenting process is done and you are ready to bottle your homemade wine.

You simply add a little bit of sugar at a time until you have the taste you are looking for. But.... You will also want to make sure you add some potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite so that your wine does not begin to ferment again... you don't want your corks to blow off or your bottles to explode!!

I mix my sugar in with a bit of water to make sure the sugar is dissolved completely and then add the sugar water mixture to my wine.

Keep good notes on how much sugar you are adding... that way when you make this type of wine again you will already know how much sugar you need to add to get the perfect taste for you. But the first time is pretty much trial and error.

On the potassium sorbate... this is a yeast inhibitor. You will want to add 1 to 1 1/4 grams per gallon or 1 1/2 teaspoons per 5 gallons. For the potassium metabisulfite you can either add 3 crushed Campden tablets or 1/4 teaspoon of potassium metabisulfite powder to your wine.

Soooo... Know that you are going to be the sole judge of sweetening your homemade wine. You can't use a hydrometer for this purpose... because it is all about the taste at this point... your taste.