Winemaking question...?!
Do you have any suggestions as to toning down the sugar?
Answers: I am having a problem with my second batch of elderberry wine. It has ceased fermenting and still has a real sugary taste with an alchohol content I find reasonably acceptable.
Do you have any suggestions as to toning down the sugar?
Add more yeast. You may consider buying active liquid wine yeast from a specialty store. The dried yeasts are sometimes not as active and tend to die at a lower alcohol content. Specialty liquid yeasts are more potent and can sustain fermentaion to a higher alcohol content. If you must use dried yeast, pitch it in two cups of your wine warmed to about 75F for about 20 minutes - make sure it smells doughy and begins to bubble before adding it to your batch. Also, be sure your wine is kept in the ideal temperature range for your particular yeast type. If it is too cool, fermentation will not complete.
If further fermentation will push the alcohol content too high for your taste, then your only option is to dilute before fermentation.
you could blend it with another batch, i do that with all my batches. i only use grapes or apples though, never tried elderberry.
It could be a stuck fermentation. Try repitching your yeast, or if your yeast pooped out due to the wine reaching that strains alcohol tolerance, try using a yeast with a higher alcohol tolerance. If I am making a high gravity batch, I'll generally use Red Star Champagne yeast. That strain is tolerant up to 18% according to the company, but I've gotten it up over 20% with some of my meads.
Fermentations stick for several reasons. The main ones are
1 - too cold, most yeasts stop working below 60 F.
2 - too much sugar/alcohol. The yeast you use must be able to live at alcohol levels higher than those attainable with your sugar level, as a rough guide divide starting sugar % by 2 to get end alcohol, 24% sugar = 12% alcohol.
3 - insufficient nutrients/oxygen in the must for the yeast to stay healthy.
So what to do. If your alcohol is above 11% maybe you just made a sweet wine this time. If your alcohol is below 11% buy some yeast hulls and a yeast called UVAFERM 43 and follow the guidelines on Vinquiry's website for restarting a stuck fermentation and keep it above 60 F till it is finished.
Best of luck