cider kit f.g

[sam c]

hello there,

ive just put together my finlandia pear and apple cider kit which didn't come with any english instructions. i posted a thread about this a while ago and what i got from it was to pretty much put this together as you would with a beer kit, so thats what ive done.

in the instructions is a little chart which i think says 600g white sugar in a 20 litre batch should turn out to be 4.4%. however after putting the kit together using 600g of sugar my o.g was 1.030 which according to my hydrometer is 3.9% and im guessing this will end up around 1.005 so will be even less alcoholic than 3.9%. i was wondering if i can still add a little extra sugar to up the percentage? say maybe an extra 200g boiled in a little water?the yeast has already been pitched.what should i expect my f.g to be? if it finishes at say 1.005 i make it out to be around 3.2% which would be ok as i guess the priming sugar would bump that up to 3.5%. i should say also that these s.g readings and percentages might not be the same as on other peoples hydrometers as i have found before but this is what i calculated from my hydrometer chart. any help would be great

[will]

Did you correct your hydrometer for temperature? I use this calculator.

Also, is the chart you refer to in the cider kit or did it come with the hydrometer? As cider and wine ferment out to lower gravities than beer your calculations might not be accurate.

I can't see there being any problem in adding more sugar as long as you let it cool to the temp of your brew and you follow all the usual sterilisation procedures.

[sam c]

Did you correct your hydrometer for temperature? I use this calculator.

Also, is the chart you refer to in the cider kit or did it come with the hydrometer? As cider and wine ferment out to lower gravities than beer your calculations might not be accurate.

I can't see there being any problem in adding more sugar as long as you let it cool to the temp of your brew and you follow all the usual sterilisation procedures.

yer i did account for the temp when taking the o.g. the chart i am refering to is the instruction chart for the amonut of sugar to use and then the chart that came with my hydrometer for the o.g that i actually got. if that makes sense.im not sure if the chart in the instructions is refering to the end result eg. o.g - f.g. or just the o.g.

[will]

If you have a hydrometer that is specifically for beer then the OG to ABV chart won't be accurate as it is expected that the FG of beer is much higher than a cider due to non-fermentable sugars. Cider generally ferments out to dryness, giving a lower FG.

So an OG of 1.030 would provide a higher ABV for cider than beer, that's where the discrepancy comes in.

[sam c]

If you have a hydrometer that is specifically for beer then the OG to ABV chart won't be accurate as it is expected that the FG of beer is much higher than a cider due to non-fermentable sugars. Cider generally ferments out to dryness, giving a lower FG.

So an OG of 1.030 would provide a higher ABV for cider than beer, that's where the discrepancy comes in.

ok thanks for that. so if it will ferment out dry therefore there would be a lower f.g. i think it says 1.003 in the instructions so that would make sense. my hydrometer is a "beer and wine" hydrometer so i think i will just let it do its thing and if i end up with a low abv cider then i will just have to drink more!!thanks for your help will.