Adding sugar to 55G drum cider - math help!

[globell]

so it’s been an apple year. Pressed about 2500 lbs so far....

I have a 55G blue oak ‘plastic’ food grade drum fermenting with wlp775. There’s about 50G in it.

The OG was 1.052
SG current is about 1.03
PH 3.31

I’d like to raise it to about 1.065

That’s 12.9 Brix to 15.9 a 3 Brix change.

.125 lb if sugar per gallon is 1 Brix increase.

(.125)(3)(55)=20.625 lbs.

Is this correct?

This is my first big ferment so I don’t have much for tools, stiring ect. Thinking I’ll draw off some cider and help get sugar in solution before adding back.

Must was NOT sulfited but the barrel was. I will use sulfite after fermentation when I rack. I normally do not use Kmeta but don’t want to lose a large batch.

Any suggestions on addition of sugar or other wise?

Not new to cider, just new to larger batches.

Thanks!

 

[bucketnative]

You have 50 gal, though... use that in your third term.

 

[ten80]

I don't quite follow your OG/SG original numbers, are you missing some decimals?

Sugar adds "35 points" per pound per gallon, so for each gallon add one pound to bring the gravity up by .035 gravity points. I use specific gravity for brewing and ciders to be consistent, so I don't have to worry about remembering brix conversions.

Adding 20.625lbs sugar should increase your gravity by 0.0131 points per gallon for 55 gallons. I think you meant to type 1.065 for your OG, not 1.65, in which case your math would be correct.

 

[ten80]

You have 50 gal, though... use that in your third term.

And you can't fit 55 gallons of cider in a drum PLUS 20 lbs of sugar. Dissolved, the sugar will take up about 1/3 of it's dry volume if I remember correctly from my tests.

 

[globell]

Yes. Error to 1.065 corrected.

True in the volume of sugar. This is why I posted! Awesome.

I don’t have to be a 1.065....I just like to be over 1.06 so it gives me a buffer

Either way around 20lbs should do the trick whether it’s 18.75-20 or 50-53G.

Thank you!!!

 

[Chalkyt]

The "belt, braces and safety pin" approach might be to take a small sample and add sugar up to the desired SG. You can then extrapolate this to the whole batch.

 

[Maylar]

so it’s been an apple year. Pressed about 2500 lbs so far....

The proverbial metric crap ton. That's a lot of apples.

And I think the correct estimate for sugar is 46 points per pound per gallon of must.

 

[madscientist451]

I have a 55G blue oak ‘plastic’ food grade drum fermenting with wlp775. There’s about 50G in it.

The OG was 1.052
SG current is about 1.03
PH 3.31

I’d like to raise it to about 1.065

Just asking....any specific reason you want to add the sugar? Will this make it taste better?
Asking the question because I usually make most of my cider without any additions and sometimes it comes out OK, sometimes it needs some help, which I usually accomplish by blending different batches or even cider from different years. I'm always up for something new so I'm asking what is it you like about the taste of the cider with added sugar.

 

[globell]

I like an ABV of 8 % or thereabouts. I age everything for at least a year in secondary and it just is more stable at least in my climate. Plus I like the flavour!

 

[ten80]

I like an ABV of 8 % or thereabouts. I age everything for at least a year in secondary and it just is more stable at least in my climate. Plus I like the flavour!

More stable indeed! Adding sugar to fortify the ABV is called "chaptalization" and is a common practice in France for ciders that will end up with a ABV below ~4.5%, which are more susceptible to infection.

I commonly add 1-2 lbs of sugar to my 5-gal fermenters to bump the abv to above 5% when necessary and there is no discernable flavor contribution from the white cane sugar I use. I've even bumped cider up to >1.100 OG using sugar with minimal flavor contribution from the cane sugar, mostly just a perception of more alcohol and a thinner body and drier cider. I won't be going that extreme again