Strawberry Turbo "Cider"

[RaymondReddington]

Hi,

I made a strawberry cider today using AJ and Strawberry concentrate I didn't really pay attention to the sugar level and had an OG of 1.082. I checked online and that is coming in at 9.45abv

I used a Mangrove jack cider yeast.

Other than being very very strong will this effect the sweetness at all as I really don't like dry ciders?

Thanks

 

[laredo7mm]

...Other than being very very strong will this effect the sweetness at all as I really don't like dry ciders?

Probably not. The manufacturer's website says it has high attenuation and another site said the alcohol tolerance is up to 12% ABV so it will probably ferment out dry.

 

[RaymondReddington]

Probably not. The manufacturer's website says it has high attenuation and another site said the alcohol tolerance is up to 12% ABV so it will probably ferment out dry.

Thanks, I presume then I'll need to heavily back sweeten to get rid of the dryness?

 

[RaymondReddington]

A question regarding back sweetening also, can you put the artificial sweeteners in at the same time you put the carbonation sugar in the bottle?
Thanks

 

[Maylar]

Yes, but it's far more difficult to control dosage that way. What works for me with small batches is to rack (siphon) to a sanitized stainless soup pot and add sweetener there. Then rack from there to the bottles. You can also add the priming sugar to the pot and mix it all up good insuring that all bottles get the same amount.

 

[RaymondReddington]

Yes, but it's far more difficult to control dosage that way. What works for me with small batches is to rack (siphon) to a sanitized stainless soup pot and add sweetener there. Then rack from there to the bottles. You can also add the priming sugar to the pot and mix it all up good insuring that all bottles get the same amount.

That does sound a lot easier. Thanks

Also from my initial calculations the abv is looking very strong.

If I were to halt fermentation before it hit 1.000 would that make it less dry and lower the abv?

Thanks

 

[Maylar]

That does sound a lot easier. Thanks

Also from my initial calculations the abv is looking very strong.

If I were to halt fermentation before it hit 1.000 would that make it less dry and lower the abv?

Thanks

You can't halt fermentation and still get carbonation. Best to let it finish on its own and deal with what you get.

 

[RaymondReddington]

You can't halt fermentation and still get carbonation. Best to let it finish on its own and deal with what you get.

Again thanks

 

[RaymondReddington]

To confirm is the recommended amount of white sugar per 500ml bottle 1 Teaspoon for carbonation? I plan to experiment and put 2 teaspoons of splenda in some bottles 1 in others to find my desired sweetness so I think I'll batch carbonate the cider as explained above and them individually back sweeten each bottle.

Thanks

 

[eigua]

To confirm is the recommended amount of white sugar per 500ml bottle 1 Teaspoon for carbonation? I plan to experiment and put 2 teaspoons of splenda in some bottles 1 in others to find my desired sweetness so I think I'll batch carbonate the cider as explained above and them individually back sweeten each bottle.

Thanks

That sounds like a lot of sugar to me. Typically when I carb I use 4.5 tsp per (near) gallon of liquid. I suggest using one of the priming calculators to figure this out.

 

[RaymondReddington]

That sounds like a lot of sugar to me. Typically when I carb I use 4.5 tsp per (near) gallon of liquid. I suggest using one of the priming calculators to figure this out.

Is your recommended amount not about 1tsp per 500ml...?

Thanks for the calculator?

 

[eigua]

Is your recommended amount not about 1tsp per 500ml...?

Thanks for the calculator?

No, it's less.

1 gallon = 3785.41 ml
There are 7.57082 500 ml servings in a gallon (I usually get 6-6.5 532 ml bottles out of my brews which doesn't quite equal a gallon)

If you were going to use 4.5 tsp in 1 gallon, you'd divide that by 7.5 and it would come out to 0.594 tsp per 500 ml bottle. I believe I calculated the 4.5 tsp based on 2.5 volumes CO2 (can't quite remember). 1 tsp per bottle is quite a bit more than that and might not be safe in some bottles. But really, it's best to measure by weight if you can. 1 tsp of one type/brand of sugar isn't always equal in weight to 1 tsp of another type/brand of sugar.

 

[eigua]

According to Google:
1 cup of sugar = 200 g or 7.1 oz
There are 48 tsp per cup.

According to this calculator, 1 gallon @ 2.5 volumes CO2 needs 21.4 grams of sugar or 1/9.345794392523364 of a cup of sugar, or 5.136 tsp of sugar.

That's a bit more than the 4.5 tsp I use, but again I never end up with a full gallon because of lees, headspace, etc.

Even at 5.136 tsp / full gallon, you'd want to use only 0.67 tsp / 500 ml bottle.

According to my calculations, 1 tsp per 500 ml bottle would give you 3.28 volumes of CO2, so it might be okay if you are going for more of a soda or Belgian Tripel level of carbonation.

 

[RaymondReddington]

Thanks for the advice