Back-sweetening Calculator
Sweeten a finished, stabilized wine, mead or cider.
Amount to add
1.52 lb (690 g)
| Gravity points to add | 14.0 |
| Per liter | 36.5 g |
Stabilize with sorbate and sulfite first, or the sugar will ferment.
How to back-sweeten wine, mead and cider
Fermenting to dryness gives you a stable, clear drink, but many fruit wines, meads and ciders taste better with some sweetness. Back-sweetening means adding sugar or honey after fermentation has finished and the drink has been stabilized.
The calculator uses the same gravity-point arithmetic as the chaptalization calculator:
Sugar (lb) = (target gravity − current gravity) × 1000 × gallons ÷ PPG
PPG is 46 for table sugar and about 35 for honey.
Sweetness guide
| Final gravity |
Sweetness |
Typical for |
| Below 1.000 |
Dry |
Dry table wine, dry cider |
| 1.000–1.005 |
Off-dry |
Riesling-style whites, most commercial ciders |
| 1.005–1.015 |
Semi-sweet |
Fruit wines, session meads |
| 1.015–1.025 |
Sweet |
Sweet meads, dessert fruit wines |
| Above 1.025 |
Dessert |
Sack meads, ice-wine styles |
Step by step
- Confirm fermentation is finished. The gravity should be stable for at least a week.
- Stabilize. Add potassium sorbate (about 200 mg per liter, or 0.75 g per US gallon) with potassium metabisulfite (use the sulfite calculator), then wait 24 hours.
- Sweeten in stages. Dissolve the sugar in a little of the wine, add about two-thirds of the calculated amount, taste, then add more to taste.
- Re-measure the gravity so you know what you bottled.
Sorbate doesn't kill yeast. It stops them from multiplying, so it works best on a clear wine that has been racked off the sediment. If you want sweet and sparkling bottles, skip the sorbate and pasteurize once the bottles are carbonated.
Method and sources
- Sugar to add: the gap between your current and target gravity, in points, times your volume in US gallons, divided by the sugar's points per pound per gallon. Table sugar is 46, a measured value. Honey is 35, a working average.
- Volume: the result ignores the small volume the sugar adds, so take a gravity reading after it dissolves.
- Safety: stabilize first. Sugar added to a live yeast population will ferment, and in a sealed bottle that can burst the glass.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What gravity should I back-sweeten to?
Around 1.000 to 1.005 tastes off-dry, 1.005 to 1.015 semi-sweet, and 1.015 to 1.025 sweet. Dessert wines and sack meads often finish above 1.025.
Do I need to stabilize before back-sweetening?
Yes, unless you will keep the bottles cold or pasteurize them. Add potassium sorbate together with potassium metabisulfite and wait a day before adding sugar, or the yeast will ferment it and can burst bottles.
Can I back-sweeten with honey?
Yes. Honey adds about 35 gravity points per pound per gallon, against 46 for table sugar, so you need about 30% more honey by weight. It also adds flavor, which many mead makers want.