SG reading too much in ciders?

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psi3000

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Hey guys,
I just went to my local orchard today to get some apple cider and I found out that they sell peach and red raspberry cider as well. So I picked up a half gallon of each to make hard cider with. I found that after putting in a half lbs of corn sugar (as most recipes call for, 1lb to a gal) into the half gals that the SG read 84-90 thats 11-13% ABV. I am going to use the nottingham yeast on everything. I hope this is ok. I think Ill go get two more and of the peach and raspberry and just add yeast to it. what are your thoughts?
 
I think Nottingham is able to tolerate those ABV levels, but I'm not sure (I checked Danstar's website briefly and couldn't find any info on that). In any event, if you pitch a whole 11g packet into a half gallon or gallon of cider, that should be a high enough cell count to do the job.

You might want to re-post in the Cider forum (scroll down), you may get more responses.
 
If the sg is that high naturally, I'd skip the sugar. The only reason to add sugar is to bring the sg up and boost the ABV. I like cider around 8%. Most of the time this doesn't require added sugar.

You're actually now in wine territory! I like apple wine, too, but it's a longer process.
 
Cool thanks for the responses guys, it's much appreciated. I will re-post in the cider forums.
 
Hey guys,
I just went to my local orchard yesterday to get some apple cider and I found out that they sell peach and red raspberry cider as well. So I picked up a half gallon of each to make hard cider with. I found that after putting in a half lbs of corn sugar (as most recipes call for, 1lb to a gal) into the half gals that the SG read 84-90 thats 11-13% ABV. I am going to use the nottingham yeast on everything. I hope this is ok. I think Ill go get two more and of the peach and raspberry and just add yeast to it. what are your thoughts?
 
Should be fine. I just got my fresh unpasteurized cider during lunch, and before adding any dextrose, its SG is 1.059!!

Nottingham has gotten me 12% barleywines before, so it should be fine.
 
psi3000 said:
Cool thanks for the responses guys, it's much appreciated. I will re-post in the cider forums.

No need to repost, we can just move it there! Duplicate posts are sometimes bothersome because alot of board members click on "new posts" to read the board and then you have the same post a number of times.
 
I made a cider with 5 gallons of juice and 2 1/2 lbs corn sugar. It is around 9% and maybe it's just me but it's really smooth. I don't taste the alcohol as much as a 9% abv beer so it should be ok at 11-13%
 
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