I'd like to bottle condition with some other sugars, but the calculators I've found do not list what I'm thinking. I've seen some recipes for apple syrup, basically boiled cider, so concentrated. How do you determine the sugar content of this? Do you think it's close enough to choose another syrup on the list?
Priming with other sugars?
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RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
With a hydrometer or refractometer.
By my guess, probably not. There's no way to know without some kind of measurement.
Happy to help if you have more questions.
Welcome to HBT!
Not sure if this answers your question exactly, but...
I have had good bottle conditioning results by letting the yeast consume the right amount of sugar to produce the carbonation that you want. This can easily be tracked by monitoring the change in SG using your hydrometer.
Jolicoeur's Table 15.3 gives the following SG change information. For 1 volume of CO2 (spritzig type perlant carbonation) you need a SG drop of 0.001, for 1.5-2.5 volumes of CO2 ("normal" perlant type carbonation) you need a SG drop of 0.002-0.004, and for 3.5+ volumes of CO2 (sparkling, champagne type carbonation) you need a SG drop of 0.006+.
For "normal" carbonation, I either bottle at something like 0.002 (assuming the cider will finish at 0.000, but be aware that this isn't always the case), or let the fermentation go down to wherever it finishes (hopefully 0.000)) then add back sugar, or AJC or more juice or any other fermentable sweetener to bring it back up by 0.002 or so (or more if you want more fizz), then bottle.
This approach also works for stovetop pasteurisation if you want a sweeter sparkling cider.
Anyhow, it works for me without needing any complex calculations, just your hydrometer. Good luck.
I have had good bottle conditioning results by letting the yeast consume the right amount of sugar to produce the carbonation that you want. This can easily be tracked by monitoring the change in SG using your hydrometer.
Jolicoeur's Table 15.3 gives the following SG change information. For 1 volume of CO2 (spritzig type perlant carbonation) you need a SG drop of 0.001, for 1.5-2.5 volumes of CO2 ("normal" perlant type carbonation) you need a SG drop of 0.002-0.004, and for 3.5+ volumes of CO2 (sparkling, champagne type carbonation) you need a SG drop of 0.006+.
For "normal" carbonation, I either bottle at something like 0.002 (assuming the cider will finish at 0.000, but be aware that this isn't always the case), or let the fermentation go down to wherever it finishes (hopefully 0.000)) then add back sugar, or AJC or more juice or any other fermentable sweetener to bring it back up by 0.002 or so (or more if you want more fizz), then bottle.
This approach also works for stovetop pasteurisation if you want a sweeter sparkling cider.
Anyhow, it works for me without needing any complex calculations, just your hydrometer. Good luck.
Thanks for the response. I was hoping that it would be simple and that I would not have to learn a new process. In a way, I guess it is the same, just need syrup equipment for the reading(s).
Thanks, no problem using a hyrdometer. Using it with syrup would require a different hydrometer. A refractometer would be the same, requiring a new piece of equipment. Perhaps I did not pose my question very well, but thanks for the feedback.
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
You can use your normal hydrometer. Dilute the syrup to 50% to take the reading (mix well) and then multiply it by 2.
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