Terek
"Did I just drop down a rabbit hole?"
I have been making one gallon batches of cider for a few years now, and love it. Usually have 4-6 going at any given time. I got a refractometer for xmas, so i have been testing everything (i have never really taken a OG on cider before)
Anyway, i was transfering a cider to secondary, and pitching a new one on the yeast cake. I took an OG reading of the juice, and it came in at 1050 on the dot. I then added the juice to the fermenter. I boiled up a bit of water, mabe 2 cups. Steeped some black tea in it, and added 1/2 cup brown sugar. I poured this in the fermenter and shook vigorously. Remember i pitched on the old yeast cake. I then took another OG reading to see how much the 1/2 cup of brown sugar would boost the OG. This reading came in at 1045.......
So my question is, can the yeast from the yeast cake alter the gravity readings in a refractometer? Because there is no way adding sugar to my cider made the gravity drop 5 points
Anyway, i was transfering a cider to secondary, and pitching a new one on the yeast cake. I took an OG reading of the juice, and it came in at 1050 on the dot. I then added the juice to the fermenter. I boiled up a bit of water, mabe 2 cups. Steeped some black tea in it, and added 1/2 cup brown sugar. I poured this in the fermenter and shook vigorously. Remember i pitched on the old yeast cake. I then took another OG reading to see how much the 1/2 cup of brown sugar would boost the OG. This reading came in at 1045.......
So my question is, can the yeast from the yeast cake alter the gravity readings in a refractometer? Because there is no way adding sugar to my cider made the gravity drop 5 points