Please Explain the Hydrometer numbers

[zugbuggin]

I put together a 1 gal. batch of Honig-Apfelwein and I just got my first Triple Scale Hydrometer. Here's the reading I got SG 1.081, potenial Acohol 11%, sugar 21%. Will somebody please tell me what these numbers in relation to what I'm probly going to end up with. I understand what each number is measuring just not what it means in the bigger cider making skeme of things.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to help a rookie who's just starting out.
Zug

 

[Dunerunner]

1.081 is your Originating Gravity, 21% sugar, with a potential of 11% Alcohol with Attenuation of the sugar to 0% and a gravity of 1.000.

Clear as mud?

 

[zugbuggin]

yea its cloudy, can you tell me a little about what these numbers mean as to what to expect, assuming I get the 11% alcohol and 1.000 gravity, is that a strong cider/ a sweet cider I'm jsut trying to get an idea of how the numbers relate to taste.

 

[Dunerunner]

Strong Cider at 11%, full attenuation, it would be a very dry cider with no residual sweetness.

1.081 is the density of the liquid you are testing. Like the buoyancy you would feel in the Great Salt Lake due to the dissolved mineral in the water, a hydrometer floats as a representation of the density of the liquid you're testing.

Your hydrometer scale is graduated to also represent the amount of dissolved sugars in the liquid. In your case 21%. As a function of that the scale shows the maximum alcohol that could be expected should your yeast be able to attenuate all that sugar 11%.

Assume you're going to get 80% attenuation from your yeast. That would yield nearly 9% alcohol with some residual sugar or sweetness in the cider. It all depends on the yeast!!

 

[zugbuggin]

thanks I think I understand most of what you said LOL...No really that explains a lot to me, I guess what I'm really wanting to know I have to learn for myself by record keeping and anylizing results. That sounds like part of the fun though...well other than getting blizzed...LOL