Brewing cider in the tropics - advice?

[roktzar]

Hi all,

I live in the remote NT and have been giving homebrew cider a crack but am finding the cider is way hard after just a week and a half or so in the fermenter. My latest batch is 9.6% with only primary fermentation and prior to bottling... Not a problem in itself, but it's going to knock us all flat once we start drinking it, so I'm wondering if I would be better off putting the fermenter into a fridge or something for a more controlled fermentation, as the keg temp in the house sits around the 32 degrees mark (outside temp is 40-45 in the shade). We have a cool room, but it sits at around 4 degrees. We also have an old fridge that's a bit crap and we should be able to run that a fair bit warmer than the cool room, but i'd need to test it with a thermometer. Another option would be to crank the a/c during the day but would rather avoid that if we can.

Anyway, my question is - what's an optimum temp to be brewing cider in the tropics and how can I drop the alcohol content a bit while still allowing the yeast to settle out of the brew before bottling? We have two kegs, so time isn't really an issue in terms of how long it can stay in the keg for. I'd actually be happy to keep it in the keg for secondary fermentation and just store it in the cool room for parties rather than bothering with bottling if possible (another thread perhaps, but any advice on whether this is doable and how would be appreciated). I should also say that the brew i'm using is the cheap Brigalow cider as I wanted to get a better handle on things before lashing out on a more expensive kit. Also please note that I live on a station and don't have access to a shop etc for at least another 3 months courtesy of the wet season.

Cheers!

 

[captnhaddock]

Roktzar, practically speaking, your ABV will always be determined by your available sugar/juice. Yes, forcing a cold ferment "could" reduce the conversion of available sugars into alcohol by retarding the yeast (much like a lager), however it won't stop the inevitable "secondary ferment/ bottle conditioning" that will happen once you pull it from the fridge (yeast will never fully precipitate out of solution, no matter how long you cold crash) and thusly creating a strong brew.

Your best bet is to take an accurate measure of your available sugars prior to fermentation, and then using your preferred fermentation calculator, reducing/diluting the amount of juice/sugar you add prior to adding yeast. (so for example, if your kit provides you with 2L of concentrate @ 1.0698 gravity [roughly 9.5% abv]) dilute with water until you hit 1.0442 [roughly 5.4%]. Please remember that your solution needs to be measured at 60f / 15.55c for accurate reading.

best of luck!

 

[Milhouse]

9.6% seems very high for a kit. What other fermentables did you add and what volume did you make it up to?

Also how did you measure and calculate the abv? There might have been an error there. N.B. most hydrometers sold in Aus are calibrated to 20oC not 15oC as is common in the states but yours will say on it what it is calibrated to. In any case there are temperature correction calculators online.

With regards to fermentation temps I would suggest getting your hands on a temperature controller and using that old fridge you have. Even if it doesn't get real cold you only need to maintain about 20o.