super high OG

i am making some cider (2 identical batches with a friend) and the recipe i followed called for 5lbs of a mix of white, brown, and raw sugars, as well as honey and molasses for the 5 gal of cider. it didn't state the ratios. so i did 2.5 lbs of white sugar, 1lb of brown, 1/2lb of raw, and 1lb of honey mixed with a bit of molasses. the gravity of the cider alone was 1.05, which the recipe stated as normal, but the gravity after the sugars were added was 1.2! the conversion chart only goes to 1.065. i'm using champagne yeast, so i imagine it will top off at 18% and the rest will be residual sweetness.

i did do the OG measurement before adding the yeast nutrient and pectinase, but i don't image that would do much. should i just wait and see what happens. don't want to waste 10 gals of hand-pressed juice...

By 1.2, I assume you mean 1.200. What did you use to measure the gravity? Most hydrometers and refractometers don't even go that high.

You may not have mixed it well when you took your sample. I'd guess your gravity is more like 1.090. That should give you around 12% ABV and champagne yeast can easily ferment that to dryness.

5 lbs of sugar/honey/molasses in 5 gallons of cider is basically one lb per gallon. Pure sugar has 45 points of gravity per lb. So, one lb of sugar in one gallon of cider would be around 1.095. (Cider is 1.050 or 50 points of gravity, sugar is 45 points, 50+45= 95 or 1.095) Your OG should actually be a little less than 1.095. Honey is not 100% sugar, so that will drop your OG a point or two. Also, the sugar and honey increases your volume a bit, so you now have a bit more than 5 gallons in each batch.

hopefully it was just a mixing issue. i'm just going to ride it out and see where it goes.

@ Ginkings. Where can I go to read up on these points and gravity. I had a little mishap and broke my hydrometer. I wasnt able to take a SG. Can I figure out an approx FG even without a hydrometer reading?