How do you make homemade wine stronger?

Question

I have been using this recipe to make homemade wine for a couple of months now, and although i am pleased with this cheap and easy way to make wine i have been trying to make it a little stronger and don't know how.

Recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Homemade-Wine/Detail.aspx

For those unfamiliar with the recipe, it calls for a 12oz juice concentrate, 4 cups sugar, yeast, and water. Now i realize the combination of yeast, sugar and the different enzymes in the concentrate is what makes the alcohol, so would doubling the amount of sugar, yeast and concentrate make a stronger wine?

Or could you increase the amount in fractions, like add an extra 2 cups sugar, and 6oz of concentrate?

I was thinking since there is less water it would be less watered down, and there would be a larger combination of sugar, yeast and concentrate to create more alcohol.

What im getting at basically--

Is there anyway to make this homemade wine have a higher alcohol content?

Answer 1

I don't know much about homemade wine but I did find this web site for you. It reads as if letting the wine age has nothing to do with increasing its alcohol content. The problem lies in keeping the fermentation process of the yeast going for a longer period of time (with the aid of ingredients found at wine stores or on the web). A sample from this site: "Apart from the warmth of your must, you might also like to add yeast nutrients - (found in most wine supply shops and online retailers) - to the mix. These nutrients help the yeast to keep reproducing, increasing the alcohol content, until it's time has come."

I also found this:
The way to determine if sugar is required is by testing the must with a hydrometer.
The hydrometer has a scale on it that is called "Potential Alcohol."
It is simply a scale of percentages--usually from 0 to 20--that
tells you how much alcohol can be made with the sugars that are
currently in the must.

For example, if you put the hydrometer in the must and get a
reading of 5 percent, this means that the must currently has
enough sugars to produce 5 percent worth of alcohol.

Once you know where you are at, the next step is to figure out
where you want to be. To take our previous example further, if
you know that you are currently at a potential alcohol level of 5
percent and what to be at 12 percent then you need to add and
dissolve sugar into the must until the hydrometer reads 12 on the
Potential Alcohol scale.

NOTE: To help you out, as a general rule-of-thumb, for every
pound of sugar you add to a 5 gallon batch you will increase the
potential alcohol level by 1 percent. This is not exact, but very
close and will save you a lot of time in making this adjustment.

It is recommended that you do not shoot for alcohol levels higher
than 13 percent. Quite often wine yeast will not to be able to
achieve these higher alcohol levels. The result being a massive
amount of left-over sugar in the finished wine making it too
sweet for any ones taste.

It is also recommended that you shoot for alcohol levels higher
than 9 percent as levels lower than this may fail to inhibit the
growth of molds and other micro-organisms in the wine while it is
being stored.

Answer 2

Easy Homemade Wine

Answer 3

Wine, depending on the grape, can only get to a certain % of alcohol before the enzymes stop converting into alcohol. If you want to make a homemade wine with a stronger alcohol % you need to fortify it. Port wines are made this way. They usually add Brandy and sugar, which obviously makes it sweeter. You can try adding a small amount of brandy and it should raise the alcohol percentage without ruining the taste of your wine. Give it a try.

Answer 4

We are home wine makers for over 20 years... the first question is how sweet is the wine you mention (banana?)... generally, home wine makers that want a higher alcohol level add a larger amount of sugar which when fermented, converts to alcohol. There are specific measures and instruments which should be used to test things like "bricks" that have an effect on the total alcohol level in the finished product.... many home makers do not invest $ or time in these items because they prefer the higher alcohol in the finished product. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Easy Way To Make Wine

Answer 6

The simple answer is to just add more sugar. The amount of alcohol produced is directly proportional to the amount of sugar you start with. Of course, there are limits. A large portion of it is dependent on what yeast you use. Baking yeast can tolerate up to around 13% before it dies from toxic levels of alcohol. Wine yeasts can yield upwards to 16%
However, the more sugar you start with, the more yeast you should start with. Any amount of yeast will do the trick, but if there's a lot of sugar, it can get stressed and create some funk along with the other goodies you'd otherwise want. More yeast can make up for this stress.

For more tidbits and advice...especially after you have a batch or two under your belt, check with these places:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/
http://www.homewinemaking.co.uk/

Answer 7

Without adding brandy or another alcohol to fortify your wine, you might try a different strain of yeast. Lalvin 43, Lalvin DV10, Lalvin EC-1118, Lalvin K1-V1116 (Montpellier), and Red Star Pasteur Champagne are good high alcohol yeasts. Add extra sugar with those yeasts and you should have alcohol up to 18% or so.

Answer 8

Can you test to see what percent alcohol it reaches?

I believe when the alcohol level reaches 13% it kills the yeast and the alcohol level stops rising. Alcohol is after all a byproduct of respiration in yeast. The poor little yeasties can only swim in their own waste for so long before they give up the ghost.

To get wine stronger than that you have to either add alcohol or distill it.

Answer 9

No, it depends entirely on the type of yeast your using, most will die out at about 13%. If you shop around some of the home vintner shops you might be able to find a specialty yeast used to ferment port. Those yeast tend to go a little bit further but as we all know, port has to be fortified to achieve its alcohol level.

Answer 10

Add some Tequila