Added too much Brown sugar, 1.082

[Restonbrewer]

So I added a bag of light brown sugar to my apple cider thinking it was going to be needed to up the gravity to get to 1.06. Unfortunately ish, I bought better stuff than I thought and my OG is at 1.082. Any suggestions as to what to do.
I am using Mangrove Jacks Cider Yeast and plan on back sweetening into a keg for a semi sweet cider.
Will 1.082 be too strong? My hydrometer says that that it will be around 10%, not that I'm opposed to that, but I do want a drinkable Cider that the Neighbors and wife will like.
Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated...

 

[Skullfingr]

I say go for it. I've made meads that started off higher than that and, though very very sweet, was very drinkable.

 

[Restonbrewer]

I say go for it. I've made meads that started off higher than that and, though very very sweet, was very drinkable.

Cool, thank you... I kinda felt that way, just trying to get a consensus.

 

[sashurlow]

Add more sugar and turn it into apple wine. You will have to age it for a year to mellow out the alcohol burn. Start over with a new batch of cider and do not add sugar to it.

 

[buMbLeB]

At the risk of revealing the depth of my ignorance, I nonetheless feel compelled to comment. I've only been doing this for a little over a month, but have made several batches of VERY young turbo cider - ie it ferments in a week or so, cold crash for a few days in the fridge and consume. I know it's heresy, but I swear it's delicious, and I'm not the only one. Anyway, I always start right on 1.080 and pull it around 1.004, and it comes out semi-sweet and pretty punchy, but without any harsh alcohol brassiness. Ok maybe I'm a bit of a lush, but the gf is a legit lightweight, and she digs it!

I'm drinking some right now, and I approve this message.

 

[1bottlerocket]

I would guess that if you use a low alcohol tolerance yeast it may not ferment to the point of becoming super high ABV. Yeast is pretty inexpensive so it may be easy to change that. I will qualify this statement that I also have not been at it that long and I am speculating.

The other idea that came to mind is to simply dilute using a store bought juice or even water to bring the gravity down.

 

[Restonbrewer]

Thanks for all the input everyone, I think I'm going to do two things;

1. add another 2 quarts / 1/2 gallon of apple cider, I've got 5 gals in a 6.5 gal big mouth bubbler so I figure I have room

2. pull it early at about 1.01 ish FG and then hit it with potassium sorbate

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for all the input everyone, I think I'm going to do two things;

1. add another 2 quarts / 1/2 gallon of apple cider, I've got 5 gals in a 6.5 gal big mouth bubbler so I figure I have room

2. pull it early at about 1.01 ish FG and then hit it with potassium sorbate

remember that sorbate doesn't kill yeast, so unless you cold crash and rack or something special, the sorbate won't do anything.

 

[Greghark]

Most apple juice will be about 1.06 without doing anything to it. Just make this batch how it is and in the future if you wanted a specific number for a recipe, measure first and then use a calculator for adding sugar. There are plenty of calculators online and in these forums.

Concur with the above that my 10%abv batches have taken a little longer to mellow. They turn out fine and round out my collection, from 6 to 18%. Cider for drinking by the pint, by the glass with food, or as an aperitif.

 

[Restonbrewer]

So i went to the store and picked up some 365 organic cider (pricey but convenient) and decided to gravity test the cider first before adding it (I'm learning). Found out my problem, the damn fancy ciders come in at 1.075 to begin with. No wonder I'm at 1.082 after a pound of brown sugar. So I decided to freeze the 365 Cider and use as a backsweetener and just pitch the yeast and go with it at 1.082.

 

[Restonbrewer]

So I added yeast nutrient and energizer, hit it with my sanitized paint mixer to get it all blended and pitched the Mangrove Jacks Cider Yeast M02.
I think I'm gonna let it fully ferment, throw it on secondary for like a month and backsweeten with my homemade concentrate I'm making with the spare 365 frozen cider and wine conditioner. Not attempt to pull early and cold crash and sorbate.

 

[Restonbrewer]

I'll keep you guys posted on how low the mangrove jacks goes.

 

[Restonbrewer]

Ok day 5 after pitching and haven't seen any action in a day. Gravity tested and it came in at 1.014 giving me 8.93% abv. Racked on to secondary and now its a waiting game. I'm thinking I'm probably looking at a month.
As far as the Mangrove Jacks M02 Yeast it was my first experience with a cider yeast and it is very different than ale yest. The krausen was only like a 1/16" and only there for like 24 hours then gone. So definitely a bottom feeder. Very vigorous and smelled great in my utility room. Pretty excited to see how this turns out.

 

[katzgejm]

keep in mind that brown sugar contains molasses, which contains unfermentables that will affect your SG. 1.082 won't be pure sugar and your potential abv won't be quite 10+%

 

[Greghark]

Brown sugar contains around 5% molasses so you could just assume that almost all of it will be fermentable. When I've used brown sugar in recipes they have finished with the same final gravity as batches without or with dextrose. The real difference I've noted has been based on the yeast and the level of attenuation they are designed to reach.

 

[Restonbrewer]

Cleared out nice, racking into a keg today.

 

[Restonbrewer]

So I tried my initial plan and added wine conditioner and some homemade concentrate. Very harsh, I then went to the store and added two cans of Apple Juice concentrate. That helped but I think I still need 1 or 2 more and to give it some time.