New Cider Development .....

I had started my Spiked Hard Cider with the following:

5 gallons fresh pressed cider
2 pounds Honey
1 pound Molasses
1 sactchet Safeale S-04 yeast

I had a SG of 1.065 and was planning on bottling when it hit ~1.015. Unfortunately the fermentation went so fast that after 5 days it was down to 1.002.

I racked off 2 gallons into my bottling bucket, and added in 1.5 cups sugar, which brought the FG up to 1.014, then I bottled it and will monitor the carb level. When it reaches an acceptable carb level, I will do the stove top pasturization, to kill the yeast.

The remaining 3 gallons I added 1# 8oz of honey, which brought it up to FG of 1.014 also. I then bottled it and will use the same procedure as the first 2 gallons.

My problem is trying to calculate the ABV. I'm not sure how the addition of the extra sugar and honey will affect that. I suppose I could take a SG reading when it reaches the proper carb level. I'm not sure if I should add the extra sugars into my Beer Smith program, or not. I'm getting more confused as I think about this.

Any suggestions ??? I know it will taste great, and that is the most important thing (to me).

I'm pretty sure you would add them to Beer Smith to calculate what your OG would have been if you'd added them then. You'll also want an accurate SG after carbonation is complete, although I think there may be a way to calculate it if you don't want to measure it after bottling and pasturization. (e.g. knowing you started at 1.014 at bottling and are carbonating to approximately 2.5 volumes [for example] means your FG is 1.012 [I'm pulling my numbers out of thin air as an example...not sure of the formula, but I'm pretty sure there is one...])

Or, you could always do what I when I forget to take an OG.

1. Drink one beer, and wait a minute.
2. Note how drunk you feel.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have a rough estimate.

OK, so I added the additional honey/sugar in Beer Smith, and it raised the SG by 10 points. Bringing the ABV to 8.2%. And this was using the 1.012 for the FG. I will take a measurement after I pasturize them.

On a side note with this newly bottled cider, it was less that 48 hours and I had a bottle bomb. Thankfully I was smart enough to place the beer cases in a plastic tub, just in case something like this would happen. I plan on checking the first bottle for proper carbination tonight, and get the turksy fryer going if I have to pasturize them.