A few questions from a new Apfelwein brewer.
-If I go 3 months in Primary does it have to be pasteurized?
-I'm looking to make rocket fuel and age it until next winter. Will doubling the sugar accomplish this?
-The plan is to use EC 1118 because it seems more tolerant to upper abv numbers but, I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks, Jason
1. No.
2. That would depend on your definition of rocket fuel. I would say that an ABV of 16.5-17.1% could be termed rocket fuel. Though, IMO, that's more on the strong side for wine is all. For that you would want a gravity of about 1.120. Commercial applejuice has a typical gravity of about 1.050. You want to increase the gravity by about 0.070. So , you would want about 350 gravity points for the 5 gallon batch. That means about 8.3lbs of dextrose, or about 7.6lb of table sugar. 42 and 46 gravity points per lb respectively.
3. For the above setup ec-1118 would be fine. If you want really strong stuff you'd just about have to move to something like distillers yeast. There are a couple other yeast strains around that could handle upwards of 20% abv without to much trouble, but I don't remember what they are at the moment.
Distillers yeast stated alcohol tolerance is 23%. It's practical limit is more like 20. IMO, anytime you are going over about 12% you should be adding both yeast nutrient and yeast energizer. Otherwise you are probably looking at a stalled batch. Once you get over 18% I'd double the recommended amounts of nutrients. That's wine or mead nutrients, not beer.
For a 20.5-21.1% brew you'd want a gravity of 1.150. Or, 500 gravity points in standard juice. Which would be about 10.8lbs of table sugar.
Juice gravity varies by manufacturer, batch, and time of year. The above calculations also don't account for the increase in volume displaced by the sugar. So, reserve some juice and add your sugar in stages. Fully dissolving between additions, and take gravity readings along the way.
Happy hangover!
EDIT: If you end up with something with a gravity higher then 1.000 at FG, then it's stalled out. If that happens, then I'd personally pasteurize. Otherwise, it's possible for it to get unstuck after being bottled and either pop the corks or blow the bottles up.