Cider help please, sooner the better...

[therealrsr]

I just made a hard cider. I researched it pretty well and was shooting for 107?sh. I gently Boiled one half gallon of apple juice, added 2# brown sugar, 8-10 oz. honey, 6-8 oz. maple syrup, and one can of apple juice conentrate. I steeped 4 cinnamon sticks and 8 whole cloves throughout. Per my research a sweet cider can take up to 1.5# sugar per gallon. This is a 5 gallon batch of mostly fresh press commercial AJ, 2 gallon "premium" AJ. All appples and ascorbic only. I prepared it like a partial mash then cooling of 1/2 gal. aj plus sugar, plus syrup, plus honey plus 1 can concentrate added to 4.0 gal apple jiuce. I am doing primary only in a carboy and with the ale yeast (Nottingham, prepared per packet) and wanted a bit of room (vs. blow tube) and will back sweeten with the last half gallon plus a consentrate if needed. I am not looking for champagne, more of a strong english traditional.
Well I got that! OG came in at 1.108 up to 14.5% ABV if I let it go all the way down (which I likely won't due to sweetness desire). Upset to say the least, I have never come anywherer close to being this far off, but this is my first cider. My questions:
1) other than diluting, is there anything I can do? 9% was my goal and don't want alchy burn.
2) Can Nottingham handle this or do I have to go to a champagne or white wine strain?
3) Where did I screw up? 1.5# per? Hard to believe I hit that!
4) Anybody want to get plastered in January?

 

[shanecb]

1) You mean, to keep the ABV down? You could try to stop fermentation early using potassium sorbate, but you wouldn't be able to carbonate it without force carbonating it in a keg. If you're keeping the cider still then knocking the fermentation out early could work. It will keep it sweet, though. Alternatively, you could try pasteurizing to kill the yeast (great post as a sticky in the cider board).
2) Not sure what the Nottingham ABV limit is. It might be able to handle it, but someone else has to chime in on that one.
3) I'm kind of confused.. what do you mean can take up to 1.5# sugar per gallon? Did you add 1.5lb sugar for every gallon, because that would definitely push the gravity pretty high. That's a LOT of sugar.
4) Hell yes!

 

[therealrsr]

thx shane,

1) yeah, I want it to be drinkable, not weak shot-able
3) I actually found out everyhting I could about the variance between a sweet an dry cider, up to talking with someone at the cider museum in Hereford, England. Yes it is a lot of sugar, but I added 2lbs. brown, honey can be swapped lb for lb and added about a half#, maple syrup? wasn't sure on that one so I winged it @~7oz.. Concentrate? no idea but lots include up to 4 in their recipe. I would try to stop at ~9% after doing the math if not too sweet, but I wanted to short carb and pasturize per the great sticky, (i.e. carb'd but not bubbly)
4) You helped me out, knock on my door anytime if you make it to St. louis.