Hard Cider

[paulmichele1210]

Hi I've just made a new batch of hard cider and have floated my hydrometer in the fermentation bucket. It's reading 50. As you can tell I'm a real rookie at this but having fun trying to make something drinkable. Am I reading my hydrometer correctly as other people here talk of readings like 999 or 1000. The 50 reading is in a blue band which says Sweet wine on it. I did make a batch a 10 months ago which has just been drank. Very similar recipe but it was extremely strong. I didn't take any readings that time but 3 pints and people were drunk. Any advice Would be great thanks.


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[Maylar]

Google "how to read a hydrometer". You'll get stuff like this -



The numbers are relative to 1.000, which is the specific gravity of water. The 50 means 1.050, which is typical for a cider starting point. As the sugar gets converted to alcohol and CO2 during fermentation the SG will drop. The amount of alcohol you get depends on the difference between the original SG and the final SG, and with 1.050 start and 1.000 finish it's about 6.5%.

When we talk 999 it means 0.999 which is slightly below the 1.000 reference point.

 

[paulmichele1210]

Arrrr thanks, that makes sense. No sure how you got to 6.5 percent but it sounds good. It's started bubbling away like mad already so I'm hopeful of a decent brew.


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[WVMJ]

So what is your recipe? Another newbie question people ask is why did my cider start out at 10% alcohol and now its down to 0% on the triple scale WVMJ

 

[LakeErieMonster]

The abv is calculated from the relationship between the two gravities. Google abv calculator., there are plenty of them

 

[bernardsmith]

Arrrr thanks, that makes sense. No sure how you got to 6.5 percent but it sounds good. It's started bubbling away like mad already so I'm hopeful of a decent brew.


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You multiply the difference between the starting gravity (1.050, apparently) and the finishing gravity (approximately = 1.000, but it could be lower) by 131 and that gives you the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV). Multiplying .050 (that's 1.050 minus 1.000 = .050) by 131 = 6.5% ABV

 

[paulmichele1210]

My recipe is 24 litres of store brought apple juice, 2 litres of strong tea, 4 lb jars of honey and 3 lbs of apples grated. 2 sachets of cider yeast. In my last brew I used 2 lbs of caster sugar as well. That made a very strong cider so I've left out the caster sugar this time. I let it go for a couple of weeks until it stopped bubbling. I then transferred it into my carboy and added 4 litres of apple juice which I had boiled to reduce it by half to back sweeten it. Once I added that it started fermenting again. I left it in the carboy for 3 months before transferring it into a keg. It was very nice but very strong.


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