back sweeten vs priming sugar vs FAJC

i read upstatemike's recipe for his caramel apple cider (the updated version) and he adds 3 cans of FAJC.

now what my question is, i'm going to ferment my 5 gallons of cider dry and than back sweeten and bottle carb, i read that i could use right around 1 ounce of priming sugar per gallon. is that the same as the equivalent to an ounce of sugar in juice? it would also mean MORE cider

i would like to back sweeten with simply apple, and it's 28 grams of sugar per serving (1 oz of sugar), which is 8 ounces of juice. To get my 5 ounces of sugar i need 40oz of the simply apple juice.....does that sound right? or should i just use the 3 cans of FAJC and call it good? or use 5 oz of priming sugar?

Yes, 1 oz of dry priming sugar ~= 8oz of juice, resulting is roughly the same carbonation. The main difference is when priming or backsweetening with juice v. AJC v. sugar (besides taste preference) is the change in ABV as a result of the carbonation, with sugar resulting in the most increase in ABV, then AJC, then finally juice.

LeBreton said:

Yes, 1 oz of dry priming sugar ~= 8oz of juice, resulting is roughly the same carbonation. The main difference is when priming or backsweetening with juice v. AJC v. sugar (besides taste preference) is the change in ABV as a result of the carbonation, with sugar resulting in the most increase in ABV, then AJC, then finally juice.

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great info, I'm going with the juice for the taste, I added 2 cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of a caramel flavored syrup, so I have a little extra sugar fermenting already. If I'm only 5-6% abv I'm fine with that, not expecting perfection, just something tasty and drinkable.

LeBreton said:

Yes, 1 oz of dry priming sugar ~= 8oz of juice, resulting is roughly the same carbonation. The main difference is when priming or backsweetening with juice v. AJC v. sugar (besides taste preference) is the change in ABV as a result of the carbonation, with sugar resulting in the most increase in ABV, then AJC, then finally juice.

Click to expand...

Thanks - I am looking for this kind of info as well. I have 3 one-gallon glass jugs of cider currently fermenting. I am using notty in all three (which I've read doesn't get as dry as champagne/wine yeasts, and leaves some sugars behind). If it is dryer than I like when done fermenting, though, I do plan on back sweetening. I don't want to use xylitol or lactose or something else non-fermentable, and instead want to use the three things mentioned above. One gallon I only had juice in, the second I added 1/4 can of AJC, and the third I added 1/4 cup brown sugar (I didn't want to overdo it for my first try at cider, so didn't add more than that, but did want to try three different options to compare flavors - the OGs were 1.050, 1.052, and 1.054, respectively, so they shouldn't be too different in abv, either).

I was thinking I'd like to carbonate up using the same sugar-type I added to ferment with (and then doing the stovetop pasteurizing to stop carbing when ready), but am not sure how much of each to add. This thread gets me on the right track. So 1 oz of dry priming sugar is about 8 oz juice... That means I'd add 8 oz juice to #1. But for #2, what would be an equivalent amount of AJC to prime with? Would I just have to read the amount of sugar per ounce from the nutritional info on the side, and divide accordingly to see how much equals 8 oz of sugar? Doing this, it says 1 serving is 2 oz of concentrate (or 8 oz of reconstituted juice), and this has 27 g sugar per serving. 27 g is just about 1 oz, so I guess this would be just about the same amount of sugar for carbonation. It's a 12 oz can, so 2 oz of AJC would be 1/6 of the can... Does that seem like enough? And for #3, would brown sugar work the same way as normal priming sugar/dextrose (ie, 1 oz)? And what does that equal in terms of cups or tbsps? I do have a little scale I have for hops, I guess I could just measure out 1 oz into that and see what volume it takes up...

Do those amounts seem correct/reasonable for a "normal" amount of carbonation? What has worked for any of you in the past using AJC or brown sugar for priming? I do plan on using the plastic bottle method to gauge "doneness", and then pasteurize by the method in the sticky. (And I understand about the extra abv from each style, as mentioned above... That's not a worry). Thanks!

For #2 I would just use the 2oz of ajc since there is 27g per serving which is 2oz.

JuiceyJay said:

For #2 I would just use the 2oz of ajc since there is 27g per serving which is 2oz.

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Thanks, Jay... That is what I was thinking (if it didn't come across that way in the way I typed it) - 2oz of AJC, which contains 1oz of sugar, which equals 1/6 of the 12oz can.

Just to update how my 3 gallons are doing:
They've been fermenting for two weeks now, and I just took the first gravity readings (well, second, if you count the OGs, I guess!). #1 (just juice) was at 1.005 (OG 1.050; so abv 5.90), #2 (added 1/4 can, or 3 oz, of ajc) was 1.002 (OG 1.052; abv 6.55), and #3 (added 1/4 cup brown sugar) was 1.000 (OG 1.054; abv 7.07). All grav readings were at 74-76*, so I know they should be -.002 to get to 60*, but the math should be the same since both sets were at similar temps. Taste wise, all three were on the dry and tart side, with the brown sugar one tasting the sweetest (which I thought would be the opposite, since it has the lowest gravity... But I guess the sugar itself imparted some flavor to the juice before it was all eaten up?). I know they were at higher than optimal temps (mid 70s) for Nottingham, but tasted drinkable (as far as my unrefined/newbie palate is concerned) so far, I think (though obviously "green", or needing or some mellowing/aging)... What kind of off tastes should I be looking for in a cider that was fermented warmer than it should have been?

I plan on letting them sit for another week or two to clear (still pretty cloudy; I did add pectic enzyme at the start of fermentation), and then rack off the lees and into secondaries to clear/mellow for another month or so, I'm thinking...

If you use 8 oz juice instead of priming sugar will it take longer to carb up how long. Like 3 weeks I have a 3 gallon batch in fermenter now. I used red star champagne yeast thinking of using the juice to carb. This is my first batch of cider.

So then, 4-1/2 gallons of hard cider needs 4.5 oz of ajc to prime? My cider using splenda for a test is (too) sweet up front, and too dry on the finish. Would using a little lactose take some of the pucker dry finish out?