do use hydrometer reading before adding yeast

[Beginner_at_Work]

for the first hydrometer reading, do you test the potential abv before adding the yeast?

if so my question is how do you determine how much yeast to add in relation to sugar and the final alcohol content you want............ because the amount of sugar you add will give you your potential alcohol reading on the hydrometer, but still how would you know how much yeast to add to reach that potential?

i dont know if im making sense right now, but if u dont understand just let me know

 

[shanecb]

EDIT: Deleted because I just realized this is the cider forum and not a beer forum, and I don't know that much about cider making.

 

[Beginner_at_Work]

@shanecb-- wouldnt it make no difference, since im only asking about hydrometer readings anyways.

 

[botigol]

Yes, before adding the yeast. That said, one cup of sugar will raise the gravity of one gallon by 0.020, so you should be able to estimate the OG of your batch if you want to make a starter in advance. Of course, you would need to know the juice's SG in order to have a place to start, but offhand most seem to fall between 1.045 and 1.054.

 

[stella_tigre]

I thought the amount of yeast added does not so much affect the final attenuation, hence ABV, but the type of yeast does - for instance Ale versus Champagne types? Less yeast would take longer to get rolling, but for the same type (and given the hardiness of the population) would have the same final result, is what I understood. Newbie here, still working this out myself!
Most of the yeasts say what amount of product they will work in - for instance 3-5 gallons.

 

[bernardsmith]

Testing your must before pitching the yeast is useful for an entirely different reason and that is simply to know the potential ABV of your wine (or cider or mead). You may think that you have a ball park idea of how much sugar is in your cider but your apple juice could contain anywhere from about 1.035 - 1.055 or more. So you add (weight- not volume) sugar and you increase the gravity by a nominal .040 so what is the starting gravity? Is your cider or mead or wine going to be 8 percent ABV or 13 %? Does that matter? IMO, it does, because since everything - EVERYTHING - is about balance then the sweetness, the level of alcohol and the amount of acidity and tannin I want in my ciders and wines are all related as is the amount of time it takes to age a wine whose starting gravity was 1.090 vs one whose starting gravity was 1.100 or 1.200. .

 

[shanecb]

@shanecb-- wouldnt it make no difference, since im only asking about hydrometer readings anyways.

Well, true. So what you could do is, take the gravity measurement of your cider (+sugar if you're adding sugar), then calculate how much yeast you'd want to add for that using one of the online tools, then weigh and pitch the appropriate amount.