Chaptalization Calculator — How Much Sugar to Add to Wine, Cider & Mead

Chaptalization Calculator

How much sugar to add to wine, cider, or mead — with a step-feeding schedule and a no-sugar baseline. No sign-up, no ads, all math happens in your browser.

1 Your must

Specific Gravity (SG) Hydrometer reading — or type 72 for 1.072

Brix (°Bx) Refractometer reading — updates automatically

Volume

Target ABV (%) Aim for 10–14% for most wines

Sugar source

Try a common scenario:

2 Your sugar addition

Add this much

— g

📋 Step-feeding schedule

🍇

Formula & assumptions

Potential ABV: (SG − 0.990) × 131.25 — assumes fermentation finishes dry at SG 0.990. Actual final gravity may vary from 0.990–0.996 depending on yeast, temperature, and nutrients.

Sugar addition: (Target ABV − Current Potential ABV) × 17 g/L × Volume in liters. The 17 g/L per 1% ABV factor is the standard home-winemaking rule of thumb. A more precise stoichiometric factor is 16.83 g/L — the difference is negligible at home scale.

Brix ↔ SG: Conversion uses the ASBC polynomial for accuracy across the typical must range (SG 1.000–1.120).

Sugar source adjustment: Honey, corn sugar, and concentrates contain water and non-fermentable solids, so the physical weight required is higher than for pure sucrose.