PHEW! Too much sugar??? (Edworts Apfelwein)

[drathbone]

I put i think 3 or 3.5lbs of sugar in an edworts batch, hoping to boost the abv some more. It's been a solid 6 weeks, crystal clear and very active fermentation. See my math in post #2

Tasted it today and it has a pleasant apple taste, however it's almost cloyingly sweet on the finish. Did I put way too much sugar or did my fermentation stall early? I was thinking about throwing some distillers yeast or perhaps just splitting the batch and repitching with some additional apple juice.

Any suggestions?

 

[drathbone]

The applejuice has 27g sugar per serving, 16 per 1 gal bottle so 2160g sugar per 5 bottles and I added 3-3.5 lbs of sugar. If my math is right that comes to 3519 to 3745 grams of sugar total in the original batch.

If my math is right that should be an og of 1.071-1.076. Current FG is 1.008 (first notch below 1.01 on hydrometer) for about 9% abv. Is that too much for motrachet yeast? I read it was good up to 13%, I was hoping this would dry out a lot more.

 

[Northerngal]

To me it sounds stalled. Maybe pitch some ec1118

 

[madscientist451]

I'm wondering if its really done or just stalled/stuck. Rack the cider to another carboy and let it sit a while with an airlock and see what happens. If its in a cool spot, bring it to a warmer location.
If its done, I'd get some 1 gallon or 1/2 gallon jugs and store the cider while you make a new batch. Perhaps just use apple juice and the EC- 1118 mentioned by Northerngal or V-1116 or something similar. Hopefully, the second batch will ferment all the way. Then do some taste trials and blend the dry and the off dry versions to get a flavor profile that suits you.
Many people ask about leaving some residual sweetness and flavor in their cider, but it seems you have accomplished that.

 

[drathbone]

Can I repitch the ec-1118 dry or should I make a starter?

 

[BILTIT]

You can pitch dry but i have found it works much better with a re-hydration atleast, especially if there is alot of sugars.

 

[abrewnoob]

The applejuice has 27g sugar per serving, 16 per 1 gal bottle so 2160g sugar per 5 bottles and I added 3-3.5 lbs of sugar. If my math is right that comes to 3519 to 3745 grams of sugar total in the original batch.

If my math is right that should be an og of 1.071-1.076. Current FG is 1.008 (first notch below 1.01 on hydrometer) for about 9% abv. Is that too much for motrachet yeast? I read it was good up to 13%, I was hoping this would dry out a lot more.

What temp have you been fermenting at? And what's the current temp now?
I've done a recipe with a similar gravity and
Havnt had it drop below 1.005.
I would move to a warmer location and retest gravity in a couple days. I think your yeasties are dead though, they would only stall if they ran out of food (however you still have sugar) or if moved into a cooler location then initial fermentation. So I'd say the alc % has killed them if the temp hasn't changed.

If you want it to drop lower for sure, just add a finishing or spirit yeast. That should drop you to 1.000- 0.995 easy.
All the best!

 

[buMbLeB]

I've never done it, but I've read that when you're repitching into an alcoholic environment (as you propose), the yeast might be "shocked" by the ABV, even if they're otherwise rated for it, and so you should rehydrate, and perhaps introduce the yeast culture to a diluted sample of your batch before throwing the whole thing in at once.

 

[drathbone]

What temp have you been fermenting at? And what's the current temp now?
I've done a recipe with a similar gravity and
Havnt had it drop below 1.005.
I would move to a warmer location and retest gravity in a couple days. I think your yeasties are dead though, they would only stall if they ran out of food (however you still have sugar) or if moved into a cooler location then initial fermentation. So I'd say the alc % has killed them if the temp hasn't changed.

If you want it to drop lower for sure, just add a finishing or spirit yeast. That should drop you to 1.000- 0.995 easy.
All the best!

I've made 3 batches so far this year, which all came out great. Only difference was the amount of sugar and because the winter months started rolling around, I put it into my admittedly colder laundry room so it wouldn't be blasted everytime the heat kicked on. My guess is that's why it stalled. I've sinced moved it to where I fermeted the other batches and will give it a few days, see what happens.

 

[MindenMan]

The EC-1118 will probably finish off the rest of the sugar but the ABV% will be quite high and require extended aging time to take the alcohol burn away. Good luck with your cider.

 

[drathbone]

Just an update in case anyone is interested. I made a "starter" with the ec-1118 by pouring some apple juice (fresh from the container) into a separate, sanitized bottle, rehydrated the yeast, dumped it in and covered it and let it sit for a few hours while I stirred it every once in a while. Once it's started frothing up I transferred it to the primary and it took off later that night.

It's been going strong for about a week and a half and I tried some the other night. Dry as a bone, just like I like it. I will take a reading today but it's still visibly fermenting so all is well.