Made a cider batch for fun.

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Brefus

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I had an extra 5 gallon plastic container laying around and I figured I would try my hand at some cider since all my carboys are full right now. I got 5 gallons of great value apple juice and added 2lbs of brown sugar and some cinnamon. This thing is still bubbling away but I used a champagne yeast and im worried that the alcohol will get too high and it will come through in the flavors too much. Sadly I was being really lazy in the preparation and never took took the OG.(I had to make an airlock out of home materials right before I pitched the yeast) Has anyone used this recipe before and remember what the OG was? or can someone give me an estimate of what it should be? I believe that just plain apple juice sits around 1050 or so? idk any help would be awesome. FG right now is 1060.
 
Almost every flavor of juice I have used has been between 1030 to 1035 with only a few exceptions. I am not sure how only 2 lbs of sugar in 5 gal can bring it up that high to 1060. So I am still confused
 
All i used is 5 gallons of great value apple juice from concentrate,2lbs of great value brown sugar and cinnamon.....nothing else. I used Red star champagne yeast. There is no visible sugar at all left in the fermenter. Is there a specific temp that I should be taking a reading at? I usually use a refractometer on beer I haven't used a hydrometer in a while lol. Also never made cider before.
 
Also I took this reading by siphoning out about 1/4 of a gallon with my auto-siphon from about the middle of the fermenter. I shook it around before doing this but perhaps its not mixed well enough?
 
I am not real sure on that. Either way you should have ~8%ABV if it completely dries out. That shouldn't be bad. I just made some at 20%ABV and it's not bad but I wished I would have used just 1 stick instead of 2. Yours should be just fine.
 
Every juice is different from what I understand, but I made a mix with 2 lbs brown sugar in 5 gallons of juice and I calculated it out at 9.3% if it went to dry.

I have also heard 3 months wait for the first 5% and a month for every percent above 5.
 
You could probably say he made about 1.3% from the time he started to the time he took the first SG readings which was a puzzling question.
 
Almost every flavor of juice I have used has been between 1030 to 1035 with only a few exceptions. I am not sure how only 2 lbs of sugar in 5 gal can bring it up that high to 1060. So I am still confused

I question if you know how to use an hydrometer. I am new to making cider (made lots of beer), but have used several types of cider/juice and the gravities of all of them fell between 1.046 and 1.050. I've heard it can get up to 1.060, but not down as low as 1.030.

If the OP's juice was 1.048, the sugar will add 18 points a gallon (2 lbs = 90 points), that would give him an OG of around 1.066. If it ferments dry (to 1.000) it will get him to 8.5% abv.

I just made some at 20%ABV and it's not bad but I wished I would have used just 1 stick instead of 2. Yours should be just fine.

Not many yeasts will go that high. What did you use. You would need to ferment a 1.150 down to dry to get that. Assuming the apple juice was 1.035 (per your previous post), you would have needed to add 2.5 lbs of sugar per gallon or 12 lbs for a 5 gallon batch. That must have a hige alcohol taste.
 
I question if you know how to use an hydrometer. aste.

Really, the only scale I look at is the potential scale. When I get the juice, I check it at between 3% and 4% potential and I boost the potential with sugar until I get it to 22% to 24% potential. I ferment it back down to where I started or maybe a little less and voila. Thats all I need to know but you all use the other scale and I have to try to convert it all over.
 
You will find 1.150 SG is at the same level as 20% on hydrometer.

All the juice I have checked have been around 6.5%.

I assume you are adding bags of sugar to get that gravity (assuming it's a 5 gallon batch).

So you are getting the gravity high (up to 1.180), which is about 3 lbs of sugar to a gallon and letting the yeast (some high gravity wine yeast) ferment out as far as it can. This would leave some sweetness, and some apple flavor, but I suspect it would be 'hot', as in a lot of alcohol taste.
 
You can tell it has alcohol in it but by no means as hot as doing shots of liquor. No after burn at all.

Here take a look. It is posted in the wine side, but I am sure everyone is welcome. If you take the alcohol content of wine and the clarity of cider, that is pretty much what I make.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/just-started-my-christmas-apple-cinnamon-wine-dec-8-a-210624/

I just checked my hydro with plain water and it shows a -1.5% potential. That isn't right is it?
 
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