Another Cider Thread From The Inexperienced (...me)

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Chookers

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I just put 2x 4Lt batches of Store bought apple juice. One batch of cloudy and one of Clear.


I have some sn9 yeast and also a coopers kit yeast and US-05


I dont know which yeast I should use.

I am thinking of racking it on to some crushed apples and/or pears to sit for 1 week once primary fermentation has finished, would this be a good/bad idea??



If anyone can help me out, that'd be awesome


Cheers

Chookers
 
I just put 2x 4Lt batches of Store bought apple juice. One batch of cloudy and one of Clear.


I have some sn9 yeast and also a coopers kit yeast and US-05


I dont know which yeast I should use.

I am thinking of racking it on to some crushed apples and/or pears to sit for 1 week once primary fermentation has finished, would this be a good/bad idea??



If anyone can help me out, that'd be awesome


Cheers

Chookers


The SN9 yeast is my most common yeast for wine , it will ferment very dry as it is very alcohol tollerant so if that is what you want use it , i would personnaly use the fruit in first ferment , i put everything in a food grade bucket , pitch yeast , cover with a tea towl ( use a large rubber band or something similar to hold in place ) and mix well every day for 5 days ( wach ur sanitisation ) then rack to ur primary and continue as normal , this is only with the SN9 as i have added fruit at the end of ferment and off it rockets again , SN9 loves fruit sugars.
 
I just kegged a 20L batch I made with Apple and Pear store bought juice.

I used US-05 and it came out great. It is not sweet but it is also not too dry or tart. I am not at all experienced with cider, this was my first, I just wanted to let you know the S-05 will do a good job.
 
I just kegged a 20L batch I made with Apple and Pear store bought juice.

I used US-05 and it came out great. It is not sweet but it is also not too dry or tart. I am not at all experienced with cider, this was my first, I just wanted to let you know the S-05 will do a good job.


excellent because I also ha S0-5 :)
 
I used the S0-5 yeast..


The cloudy juice had an OG of 1054 @15 degrees (on lable it said 7.5g of sugar per 100ml)

The Clear Juice had OG of 1040 @ 15 degrees (there was no lable on this brand, just says pure apple juice or something)



I added the yeast starter, which was about 1/4 cup (to each 4L batches) of Apple juice 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of yeast nutrients and roughly 1tsp S0-5.


Can anyone tell me what the OGs would be at 20-25 degrees.
How long will it take to ferment out?

I plan on bulk priming using about a cup of tea made with 1/2 a cinnamon quill and 1/2 a vanilla bean.
 
little update: I thought this might happen.

The clear juice doesnt look like anything is happening whereas the cloudy one has a yeasty foam forming on the surface. Is this because some of the nutrients were filtered out with the clear one?? and should I add some yeast nutrients or just let it be?
 
some juices are naturally acidic or have some kind of acid added for preserving. it might kill the yeast or cause it to take ages to kick off. wait a week, if nothing happening then try again.
 
some juices are naturally acidic or have some kind of acid added for preserving. it might kill the yeast or cause it to take ages to kick off. wait a week, if nothing happening then try again.


yes, I believe it had abscorbic acid (vitamin C) or something as a preservative. Will wait the week and see how it goes.


Does it matter what temp this brews at?
 
Many commercial cider makers ferment at quite a low temp.

I know Kellybrook ferments using EC1118 for their cider at approx 5-8 deg C.

Also depends on the temp tolerance for your yeast... but generally ferment as low as possible to get a clean crisp cider.

Also, I have been advised to add Malic acid to cider. Can't re-call the rate, but I have it at home and can edit this when I get home.


Duck
 
Many commercial cider makers ferment at quite a low temp.

I know Kellybrook ferments using EC1118 for their cider at approx 5-8 deg C.

Also depends on the temp tolerance for your yeast... but generally ferment as low as possible to get a clean crisp cider.

Also, I have been advised to add Malic acid to cider. Can't re-call the rate, but I have it at home and can edit this when I get home.


Duck

I can not control the temp, so I probably am making two failures here.

The one with the cloudy apple juice has lost the yeast foam, but still chugging along.. it smells a bit farty.

The clear one now has a foth forming and does not smell farty, I can smell the apple though.

if it doesnt work as cider, I suppose it could be an apple wine of sorts.
 
I can not control the temp, so I probably am making two failures here.

The one with the cloudy apple juice has lost the yeast foam, but still chugging along.. it smells a bit farty.

The clear one now has a foth forming and does not smell farty, I can smell the apple though.

if it doesnt work as cider, I suppose it could be an apple wine of sorts.

Not sure it should ever smell farty :blink:

I think I ready further up that you are using US-05. I have never used that for cider, so maybe fartiness is a fermentation aroma of that strain.

Mine usually smell like a cross between Metho and Apples using EC1118. I'd say a good sign for apple juice being converted to alchohol.

Good luck with it !!


Duck
 
Farty is usually sulphur which some strains of yeast produce. Especially when they are under some stress or are nutrient deficient. Usually a little yeast nutrient will stop that...

Cheers
Dave
 
you'll be fine. Just ferment it out. If there is a bit of sulphur, bottle and age a month or so, cold condition the bottles past carbonation - aging cider at normal fridge tems has had had good results for me, they will be all good.
 
you'll be fine. Just ferment it out. If there is a bit of sulphur, bottle and age a month or so, cold condition the bottles past carbonation - aging cider at normal fridge tems has had had good results for me, they will be all good.


great! thats exactly what I wanted to hear. :D
 
I've been looking at getting some Cider making books, I have found fishpond to have the best prices, Im just going to read up on cider.. funly enough I have'nt seen any Australian Cider books most are Uk and some are USA..
 
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