Newbie to Cider

5 gallons of pure Sonoma Apple Juice from the press.
2 pounds of White Sugar
2 pounds of Brown Sugar
1 cup of Blackstrap Molasses
1 Packet of Cote De Blancs - Red Star

1 month in primary
Racked to Secondary
1 month in secondary

Tonight I started to bottle. So here's my question.

I took 1/4 gallon to sample and tested with hydrometer. It is showing only 4% alcohol.... My question I suppose is how can it be so low in ABV, when I fully expected something around 10 to 13 percent?


I'm not an engineer or a English major but what the heck am I missing?

Thanks in advance

What was your Starting Gravity reading/? Final Gravity reading? How did you come up with 4%?

Your recipie sounds fairly sound BTW, did you use Yeast Nutrient?

Started at 1.06
Finished at 1.03

No nutrient

I have enjoyed about a pint. I now think.something is up with the hydrometer.

Best way is to take you OG before fermentation. After the cider has completed fermenting, take another gravity reading, this is your FG. Take the OG and minus the FG from it. Then take the total and times it by 131.25 and you'll get your ABV.

Edit: just saw your reply after I posted. To me it seems your still high in the gravity area. Your FG should be way lower.

Side note it taste incredibly tasty.

I'm nervous because I have 15 additional gallons in various stages with slightly different ingredients.

What temp did it ferment at?

Thank you evolcom.

Started first 12 days at 70 degrees.

The last 48 at 62 degrees

Something is definitely up with the hydrometer. 4 pounds of sugar plus molasses in 5 gallons should be way higher than 1.060 and closer to 1.080-1.090 range.

Dompaintme said:

Started at 1.06
Finished at 1.03

No nutrient

I have enjoyed about a pint. I now think.something is up with the hydrometer.

Click to expand...

Sounds like you have a stuck fermentation. Before I started adding nutrient, I would often get stuck around this gravity. I've added nutrient after about a month and found that the yeast picked right back up but you might also want to think about re-pitching since your yeast may not be healthy after so long.

Your temperature sounds fine but that OG does sound suspiciously low given that most cider is 1.046 - 1.050 and you added a good amount of sugar. Maybe time to check the hydrometer (test that tap water is 1.000) or maybe the scale you weighed the sugar with is wonky.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. In fact the hydrometer was faulty.

Took my jug down to local brewery. Master tested ABV 11%.

Nice, Congrats on figuring out the problem. Check on youtube for how to fix faulty hydrometer. Pretty easy to do.

Glad to hear it was just the Hydrometer!