LeBreton said:
Yes, 1 oz of dry priming sugar ~= 8oz of juice, resulting is roughly the same carbonation. The main difference is when priming or backsweetening with juice v. AJC v. sugar (besides taste preference) is the change in ABV as a result of the carbonation, with sugar resulting in the most increase in ABV, then AJC, then finally juice.
Thanks - I am looking for this kind of info as well. I have 3 one-gallon glass jugs of cider currently fermenting. I am using notty in all three (which I've read doesn't get as dry as champagne/wine yeasts, and leaves some sugars behind). If it is dryer than I like when done fermenting, though, I do plan on back sweetening. I don't want to use xylitol or lactose or something else non-fermentable, and instead want to use the three things mentioned above. One gallon I only had juice in, the second I added 1/4 can of AJC, and the third I added 1/4 cup brown sugar (I didn't want to overdo it for my first try at cider, so didn't add more than that, but did want to try three different options to compare flavors - the OGs were 1.050, 1.052, and 1.054, respectively, so they shouldn't be too different in abv, either).
I was thinking I'd like to carbonate up using the same sugar-type I added to ferment with (and then doing the stovetop pasteurizing to stop carbing when ready), but am not sure how much of each to add. This thread gets me on the right track. So 1 oz of dry priming sugar is about 8 oz juice... That means I'd add 8 oz juice to #1. But for #2, what would be an equivalent amount of AJC to prime with? Would I just have to read the amount of sugar per ounce from the nutritional info on the side, and divide accordingly to see how much equals 8 oz of sugar? Doing this, it says 1 serving is 2 oz of concentrate (or 8 oz of reconstituted juice), and this has 27 g sugar per serving. 27 g is just about 1 oz, so I guess this would be just about the same amount of sugar for carbonation. It's a 12 oz can, so 2 oz of AJC would be 1/6 of the can... Does that seem like enough? And for #3, would brown sugar work the same way as normal priming sugar/dextrose (ie, 1 oz)? And what does that equal in terms of cups or tbsps? I do have a little scale I have for hops, I guess I could just measure out 1 oz into that and see what volume it takes up...
Do those amounts seem correct/reasonable for a "normal" amount of carbonation? What has worked for any of you in the past using AJC or brown sugar for priming? I do plan on using the plastic bottle method to gauge "doneness", and then pasteurize by the method in the sticky. (And I understand about the extra abv from each style, as mentioned above... That's not a worry). Thanks!