Did I ruin this batch?

[newbrew86]

what i was making: apfelwein, apple juice, some sugar, d47 yeast


i had great fermentation going so i'm not sure why i messed with it, but i added some yeast energizer and had some overflow. lost approximately 4oz of liquid, so i topped it back off with apple juice/dextrose.

now for about 2ish days i had 2bubbles per second (down to 1 bubble per 2 seconds) fermentation so i'm curious... i just measured the gravity and it was at about 1.02. is it possible this has fermented down this much or did i somehow lose a lot of sugar or something... kinda confused

lesson learned by the way..

SG was about 1.07

 

[loveofrose]

Sounds normal. No worries about the overflow. It happens to everyone at some point. For some reason, apple juice tends to make for really fast ferments. Yeast love the stuff.


Better brewing through science!

 

[newbrew86]

Sounds normal. No worries about the overflow. It happens to everyone at some point. For some reason, apple juice tends to make for really fast ferments. Yeast love the stuff.


Better brewing through science!

so it's normal for the gravity to drop this quickly?

i was afraid all that carbonation contained the majority of the sugar and i'd now lost my batch
><

 

[Kingbogart]

Yup. With a healthy yeast pitch you will drop a majority of the points quickly, usually 3-5 days. The last points from where you are now, 20 to when it stops which could be 4-6 or lower for an apfelvine, takes longer in my experience. Sounds like you're fine and just need practice a little patience. The hardest part is usually waiting.

 

[newbrew86]

Yup. With a healthy yeast pitch you will drop a majority of the points quickly, usually 3-5 days. The last points from where you are now, 20 to when it stops which could be 4-6 or lower for an apfelvine, takes longer in my experience. Sounds like you're fine and just need practice a little patience. The hardest part is usually waiting.

good deal, appreciate your input

can i ask a dumb question? when you have your SG you have a good idea of the amount of sugar and therefore the alcohol content of your drink

then it drops... so.. once it hits 0.99 or 1.00, that means there is no sugar left?

why im asking is this... "can i even test the alcohol percentage of the finished product if it drops in measuring?

 

[Kingbogart]

To test the % you take the SG - FG. The reading will always be the potential alcohol. You started at 1.070, which is a potential of ~8.8%. 1.020 is potential of ~2.2%. So at this point, you've got 8.8-2.2 or about 6.6% alcohol. The .99 and 1.000 doesn't necessarily mean there isn't any sugar left, if means that the density of your liquid is now less than the density of water which is the medium hydrometers are calibrated against.

 

[newbrew86]

To test the % you take the SG - FG. The reading will always be the potential alcohol. You started at 1.070, which is a potential of ~8.8%. 1.020 is potential of ~2.2%. So at this point, you've got 8.8-2.2 or about 6.6% alcohol. The .99 and 1.000 doesn't necessarily mean there isn't any sugar left, if means that the density of your liquid is now less than the density of water which is the medium hydrometers are calibrated against.

Awesome, I didn't know you subtract the two, thanks!