Sequoiacider
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I just finished making my first batch of AppleJack (freeze concentrated Hard Apple Cider). It turned out really nice. Highly concentrated apple flavors and aromas, and quite the alcohol kick as well. I am trying to calculate my final alcohol and residual sugar percentages.
First step is to calculate the alcohol and residual sugar of the Hard Cider that I started with. I started with 3 Gallons of King Apple juice, SG of 1.060. Pitched standard Cider yeast. When gravity reached 1.010 I added Honey to add .016 points of gravity, bringing my total SG to 1.076. I then allowed fermentation to complete to 1.001. My calculations show that this means that the Hard Cider had:
Alcohol % By Volume: 9.8%
Residual Sugar: 0.4%
I then started the "Jacking" process. Freezing the Cider in my deep freezer (allowing for very cold temps), allowing partial thaw, removing ice. I repeated this process 3 times. In the end, my 3 Gallons of Hard cider turned in to 96oz (.75 Gallons) of AppleJack, for a 4:1 concentration. This allows me to calculate the "Theoretical maximum" alcohol percentage by multiplying the calculated ABV and Sugar of my starting Cider by 4:
Theoretical Maximum ABV: 39%
Theoretical Maximum Sugar: 1.6%
Of course, for it to be those amounts, the freeze concentration process would have to be of perfect efficiency, which is impossible. This is simply the maximum amount that might be possible. I figured the most accessible way to calculate the actual alcohol percentage was to find the freezing temperature of my AppleJack and use that to determine the alcohol percentage, taking into account the effect of the residual sugar on the freezing temp.
I ran into a hiccup when looking for info of alcohol percentage-freezing temperate. Many sources on the web do not specify if the amounts shown on their charts are Alcohol by Weight or Alcohol by Volume. Even worse, I found some (SpuceEeats is an example) that say they are showing Alcohol by Volume, but the values they show are definitely Alcohol by Weight. In the end, I used Alcodens software, which allows you to calculate both ABV and ABW, so you know you are getting the units you want.
I set my deep freezer to -15C as a starting point, put a small sample of my AppleJack in the freezer with a Temp Probe in the liquid and let it sit overnight to get down to temp. When I checked it the next day, the AppleJack was at -15C and was still liquid. I then made a small, .5C, adjustment to lower the freeze temp, allowed three hours to acclimate and checked it again. I repeated this until I found the freezing temp. After two days I arrived at a determined freezing Temp of -19.5C. This corresponds to a final alcohol by volume percentage of 35.6%. After accounting for the assumed residual sugars, this leaves me with:
Final Alcohol by Volume Percentage of Finished AppleJack: 34%
Final Residual Sugars: 1.6%
Does this sound right? Some of the ice that I pulled out during the jacking process I put in a glass and drank in order to test and make sure I wasn't wasting a bunch of good stuff. It was almost all water. Only the slightest color, and very little apple or alcohol taste, which leads me to believe that my process was efficient, and my calculated numbers seem to agree.
Anyone notice any problems with my logic, reasoning or math?
First step is to calculate the alcohol and residual sugar of the Hard Cider that I started with. I started with 3 Gallons of King Apple juice, SG of 1.060. Pitched standard Cider yeast. When gravity reached 1.010 I added Honey to add .016 points of gravity, bringing my total SG to 1.076. I then allowed fermentation to complete to 1.001. My calculations show that this means that the Hard Cider had:
Alcohol % By Volume: 9.8%
Residual Sugar: 0.4%
I then started the "Jacking" process. Freezing the Cider in my deep freezer (allowing for very cold temps), allowing partial thaw, removing ice. I repeated this process 3 times. In the end, my 3 Gallons of Hard cider turned in to 96oz (.75 Gallons) of AppleJack, for a 4:1 concentration. This allows me to calculate the "Theoretical maximum" alcohol percentage by multiplying the calculated ABV and Sugar of my starting Cider by 4:
Theoretical Maximum ABV: 39%
Theoretical Maximum Sugar: 1.6%
Of course, for it to be those amounts, the freeze concentration process would have to be of perfect efficiency, which is impossible. This is simply the maximum amount that might be possible. I figured the most accessible way to calculate the actual alcohol percentage was to find the freezing temperature of my AppleJack and use that to determine the alcohol percentage, taking into account the effect of the residual sugar on the freezing temp.
I ran into a hiccup when looking for info of alcohol percentage-freezing temperate. Many sources on the web do not specify if the amounts shown on their charts are Alcohol by Weight or Alcohol by Volume. Even worse, I found some (SpuceEeats is an example) that say they are showing Alcohol by Volume, but the values they show are definitely Alcohol by Weight. In the end, I used Alcodens software, which allows you to calculate both ABV and ABW, so you know you are getting the units you want.
I set my deep freezer to -15C as a starting point, put a small sample of my AppleJack in the freezer with a Temp Probe in the liquid and let it sit overnight to get down to temp. When I checked it the next day, the AppleJack was at -15C and was still liquid. I then made a small, .5C, adjustment to lower the freeze temp, allowed three hours to acclimate and checked it again. I repeated this until I found the freezing temp. After two days I arrived at a determined freezing Temp of -19.5C. This corresponds to a final alcohol by volume percentage of 35.6%. After accounting for the assumed residual sugars, this leaves me with:
Final Alcohol by Volume Percentage of Finished AppleJack: 34%
Final Residual Sugars: 1.6%
Does this sound right? Some of the ice that I pulled out during the jacking process I put in a glass and drank in order to test and make sure I wasn't wasting a bunch of good stuff. It was almost all water. Only the slightest color, and very little apple or alcohol taste, which leads me to believe that my process was efficient, and my calculated numbers seem to agree.
Anyone notice any problems with my logic, reasoning or math?