How much is too much?

[prey]

I've heard that adding too much sugar into your juice can actually stop any yeast activity.. So how much is too much sugar for about 4 gallons of apple juice?
Also, at what ABVs do nottingham ale yeast and red star champagne yeast die off?
I tried searching but couldn't find any relevant articles.
Thanks in advance.

 

[david_42]

A pound of sugar per gallon will add about five weeks to the ferment, due to increased osmotic pressure on the yeast cells and yeast deaths due to ABV. The cider will also taste like crap (I've got a friend that makes his cider this way). 1 1/2 lbs. per gallon and you'll kill the ale yeast almost immediately and the champagne yeast will take about 6-10 months to ferment it out.

If you are just shooting for very high ABV, do some research on turbo/distiller's yeast. The results won't taste very good, but most distiller yeasts can handle 20-22% ABV. Assuming you can keep the fermenter cool enough that the yeasts don't cook themselves.

Nottingham is ok for about 6-7%, champagne yeast can handle 16-17%, but it isn't very good as a primary yeast, too slow.

 

[prey]

Thanks david, nottingham is what I have been using. For this 4 gallon batch, I used about 1 lb of sugar and and a small bottle of honey, I'm guessing around 12 oz?
I'm guessing it will take about 3 weeks to ferment then based on your estimates.

 

[prey]

Great! My hard cider turned out very well and the carbonation is amazing. I didn't use priming sugar at all and it is more fizzy than a standard commercial beer.