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vinper

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Well started with 2 seperate gallons of the organic apple , added 1lb of of light brwn sugar to each gallon , then, split a packet of ale S-23 yeast between the 2 gallons & added 1/2 teaspoon of petic enzime and capped with a airlock .. I started this on Monday night it its been bubbling good .. I know I used to much sugar, Been reading ,,,I will have alot of question
 
vinper said:
Well started with 2 seperate gallons of the organic apple , added 1lb of of light brwn sugar to each gallon , then, split a packet of ale S-23 yeast between the 2 gallons & added 1/2 teaspoon of petic enzime and capped with a airlock .. I started this on Monday night it its been bubbling good .. I know I used to much sugar, Been reading ,,,I will have alot of question

It will just be mad sweet, but that might not be bad of you're making a still cider!!!
 
It will just be mad sweet, but that might not be bad of you're making a still cider!!!

Actually, you will taste none of the sweetness once it ferments out. All that large amount of sugar did was raise the final ABV percentage. Which in turn, will add more timed needed to age in order to mellow out.
 
DWavs said:
Actually, you will taste none of the sweetness once it ferments out. All that large amount of sugar did was raise the final ABV percentage. Which in turn, will add more timed needed to age in order to mellow out.

Unfortunately, guy, he used a small ale yeast in a cider that will end up being 14% or something if it fermented out, but because of the small yeast, it will never ferment all of the sugars .... Giving him sweet cider...
 
Unfortunately, guy, he used a small ale yeast in a cider that will end up being 14% or something if it fermented out, but because of the small yeast, it will never ferment all of the sugars .... Giving him sweet cider...

My name is not guy and my money is still on it being dry. One would think that half a packet split between two 1 gallon jugs would certainly ferment out.
 
DWavs said:
My name is not guy and my money is still on it being dry.

It's a huge cider and a medium gravity lager yeast.... Mmmhhhmmmmmm

Also... Amount doesn't matter with yeast... A day after its pitch there are 1billion more than what you pitched.... The abv it can survive in is the problem...
 
It's a huge cider and a medium gravity lager yeast.... Mmmhhhmmmmmm

Hey! I didn't say I am right....I just said my money is on a dry cider!

If it was so simple to get a sweet final product, why are people banging their heads against the wall about backsweetening, what to use, how much, etc? Why not just offer a recipe that takes a certain amount of sugar to a certain yeast strain which yields a sweet cider when fermentation is complete??
 
I don't care about them... I'm just telling you about this particular situation

But do you see what I'm saying? On any given day, you can find a thread about someone who wants a "sweet, sparkling cider." Instead of discussing backsweetening and bottles bombs and pasteurization, why isn't someone chiming in with a recipe that produces that based on a yeast strain if that were the case?
 
Because if the yeast is small and hits it's max, you can't bottle carb because the yeast is done therefore noooo cccoooo222222... You'd have to force carb it which most ppl can't do....
 
DWavs said:
The S-23 is a good choice for something that would hit it's max pretty easily?

Spec sheet I read doesn't say a max... Justsays medium abv. His cider is huge, and those yeasts will never be able to survive such high alcohol content
 
I see where you are coming from but just don't know if I would classify 1 pound of sugar in a gallon of cider as huge is my issue.
 
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree for a couple of months until hopefully the original poster gives up an update. :)
 
I want strong -dry-clear & quick. I am not very patient . so I know I have to start another batch of something gonna get a 5 gallon carboy ...this week looking at wine or cider recipes .
 
GinKings said:
If you're taking bets, my money is with Bhunter87.

I don't know the alcohol tolerance of S-23, but I would be very surprised if this fermented anywhere near dry. My bet is on an FG around 1.025.

+1

And as to why people bang their head against a wall to get a sweet and naturally carbed cider...

Bhunter's reason of the alcohol tolerance is spot on, but there is another, less scientific reason. Let's assume through use of nutrients, heat or something else, you could squeeze an additional .5% out of the yeast to carb. Most people don't want a 14% monster as a regular drinker. I actually like monsters like that, but as a daily drinker, it's too much. I think most would agree that if they need to go that big to get sweet sparkling cider on a regular basis, they'd likely pass.
 
dont understand everthing being said ,but paying attention. I Only put in that much sugar because I F upped . got it confused with a 5 gal. recipe
 
used that yeast because i was bouncing around on site's before i found this one alot said use champage yeast then some said dont... lots of confusing info out there ... the pampered chef website said the ale -23 came out best . but they didnt add sugar.
 
dont understand everthing being said ,but paying attention. I Only put in that much sugar because I F upped . got it confused with a 5 gal. recipe

Normally, a cider will ferment out very dry and most (that want a sweeter cider) try to figure out how to backsweeten it without starting up fermentation again. The debate we are having is that due to the high amount of sugar you added, will your yeast "peter out" prior to consuming all the sugar and turning it into alcohol. If it does, you will end up with a cider that will be on the sweet side.
 
Consider putting the two one-gallon batches into the shiny new 5 gallon carboy and topping up with 3 more gallons of juice?
 
I want strong -dry-clear & quick. I am not very patient . so I know I have to start another batch of something gonna get a 5 gallon carboy ...this week looking at wine or cider recipes .

Strong and dry don't always work well with quick. Strong, dry ciders usually benefit from aging.

If you want it dry, I'd suggest adding a dry wine yeast, such as champagne, EC-1118, K1V-1117, etc. They have a higher alcohol tolerance than most beer yeasts. Your cider should be somewhere around 12-13% ABV.
 
This recipe shouldn't be terribly sweet when it's done. A pound of sugar will easily ferment out as ale yeast has no issues with simple sugars.

I'd have to guestimate since no hydrometer readings are shown, but apple juice should be about 1.040-1.045, while brown sugar give an additional 45 points or so- so I'd guess an OG of 1.090ish, which is about where I start with apple wine. This is certainly not "huge" as I routinely start at 1.090 and go up to 1.130 for some of my wines. I would probably consider this an apple wine, and not cider, though, at this point.

Since ale yeast doesn't have much trouble fermenting simple sugars, but may die off when its alcohol tolerance is exceeded. In the case of this yeast (I believe S-23?) that could be 10-12% or so. Probably a FG of 1.000-1.010, hardly a cloyingly sweet drink when finished.

I'm going to give a little warning here. If you don't agree with some of the other things posted, that's cool.

But being a dick and namecalling and being snide will get you uninvited to this forum really, really quickly. So I'd suggest thinking before posting, and try to remember your manners. This forum has little tolerance for people who make snide and/or snarky remarks.
 
If you're taking bets, my money is with Bhunter87.

I don't know the alcohol tolerance of S-23, but I would be very surprised if this fermented anywhere near dry. My bet is on an FG around 1.025.

Being a teacher, all I have is play money since I haven't received a raise in 5 years but I am still gambling on the dry side of the spectrum. :D
 
yes, one of my questions is whats the differance between apple cider vrs. apple wine . they seem to be the same recipe
 
My definition would be that you rely only on the sugar content of the apple juice for cider. By not adding any additional fermentable sugar, you usually end up with an ABV of 5-8%.

With apple wine, you would add a lot of sugar (2 pounds for a 5 gallon batch?) and typically end up with a final ABV around 10-15%.
 
reading my hydrometer , dont know how to read yet , didnt have a seperate vial to put it in ,so i just put it in the on gallon mix and kept away from sides of glass . it was at 80 which i guess means 1.080....
 
yes, one of my questions is whats the differance between apple cider vrs. apple wine . they seem to be the same recipe

Once you have added enough sugar to get above an 8.5% (approximately) alcohol content, you are leaving the realms of cider and moving into apple wine.
 
bottle temp right now is 64 . cooler tonight so most likley been in the low 70 range
 
yes has been bubbling right from the get go ...if you look real close you seee those fine bubbles comming to the surface . going on 5th day
 
need to start asking about next step . I think when it stops bubbling approx. 2 weeks old. then i will graphity feed to (rack) to another clean container and let sit 2 more weeks till clears up.
 
just got my thief tube in last night ... meter was bottoming out in the 1 gl container .. Its at 1.020 . from 1.080 still bubling but slowing . looks like at 8% .. I wanted to rack this weekend , is still sweet tasting but good .. I want to drink . So do i wait till down to 1.000 or what
 
just got my thief tube in last night ... meter was bottoming out in the 1 gl container .. Its at 1.020 . from 1.080 still bubling but slowing . looks like at 8% .. I wanted to rack this weekend , is still sweet tasting but good .. I want to drink . So do i wait till down to 1.000 or what

Wait another few days and retest. As long as it is still going, you risk bottle bombs.
 
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