Answers.Body: <p>Sugar is always a necessary component of the brewing process.  However, adding refined sugar is not.  In the case of wine, the primary source of sugar is from the grapes themselves, which of course produce natural sugars as they ripen.</p>
  <p>The process of adding additional sugar in the winemaking process is called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaptalization" rel="noreferrer">chaptalization</a> and is often used to increase the alcohol content in wine made with grapes that don't have sufficient natural sugar to reach the desired level.  This is common with cold-climate grown grapes, for instance.  This process also does not require modern refined sugar...Any additional sugars may be used, such as the sugar in honey.</p>
  
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Xander
Answers.Body: <p>We cannot answer the question in the title without a lot more detail. How much sugar is in your grape juice? How much water have you added? What style of wine are you aiming for? Do you want something 'quaffable', or simply to get drunk quickly? And many more variables.</p>
  <p>It is best if you work out the answers yourself. To aid you in this, I suggest you invest in a hydrometer, which is a tool to measure the density (also called specific gravity) of a solution.</p>
  <p>In home wine making, it is used to measure the sugar content. Use it just before adding the yeast, then judge whether to add sugar. The more sugar, the stronger the brew up to a limit, where a lot of sugar kills the yeast.</p>
  <p>There are lots of guides online. I am sure you can find details of numbers in your local units. For example, this site <a href="https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/abv-calculator" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/abv-calculator</a> calculates the alcohol content for a given Original Gravity. You may also want to research how to calculate the weight of sugar for a given alcohol percentage.</p>
  <p>Incidentally, you remark that refined sugar is only recently available. Prior to that, honey was used as a sweetener.</p>
  
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Answers.Text: The only part of this post that answers the question is the final sentence, but it adds nothing to the existing answer by Xander.
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Answers.Text: The point to tell OP HOW to answer the question.
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Body: <p>I was asking a few people irl about brewing wine and they were all stressing the need to add sugar to grape juice.</p>
  <p>Is it really necessary to add sugar?</p>
  <p>I find it surprising since, as far as I'm aware, people started producing refined sugar only in modern times, while wine was being brewed since antiquity, if not prehistoric times.</p>
  
Tags: <wine><home-brew><home-brewing>
Title: Is it necessary to add sugar when brewing wine?
UserDisplayName: gaazkam
ThreadText: # Is it necessary to add sugar when brewing wine?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-01-02)
  
  I was asking a few people irl about brewing wine and they were all stressing the need to add sugar to grape juice.
  
  Is it really necessary to add sugar?
  
  I find it surprising since, as far as I'm aware, people started producing refined sugar only in modern times, while wine was being brewed since antiquity, if not prehistoric times.
  
  **Tags:** wine, home-brew, home-brewing
  
  
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  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2024-01-04. Score: 5
  
  Sugar is always a necessary component of the brewing process. However, adding refined sugar is not. In the case of wine, the primary source of sugar is from the grapes themselves, which of course produce natural sugars as they ripen.
  
  The process of adding additional sugar in the winemaking process is called [chaptalization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaptalization) and is often used to increase the alcohol content in wine made with grapes that don't have sufficient natural sugar to reach the desired level. This is common with cold-climate grown grapes, for instance. This process also does not require modern refined sugar...Any additional sugars may be used, such as the sugar in honey.
  
  
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  ### Answer by username_2 on 2024-12-18. Score: -1
  
  We cannot answer the question in the title without a lot more detail. How much sugar is in your grape juice? How much water have you added? What style of wine are you aiming for? Do you want something 'quaffable', or simply to get drunk quickly? And many more variables.
  
  It is best if you work out the answers yourself. To aid you in this, I suggest you invest in a hydrometer, which is a tool to measure the density (also called specific gravity) of a solution.
  
  In home wine making, it is used to measure the sugar content. Use it just before adding the yeast, then judge whether to add sugar. The more sugar, the stronger the brew up to a limit, where a lot of sugar kills the yeast.
  
  There are lots of guides online. I am sure you can find details of numbers in your local units. For example, this site <https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/abv-calculator> calculates the alcohol content for a given Original Gravity. You may also want to research how to calculate the weight of sugar for a given alcohol percentage.
  
  Incidentally, you remark that refined sugar is only recently available. Prior to that, honey was used as a sweetener.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: The only part of this post that answers the question is the final sentence, but it adds nothing to the existing answer by username_1.  
  > **username_2**: The point to tell OP HOW to answer the question.  
  
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