My First Apple Cider Batch

[benen]

Haha. Sorry. iPhone autocorrect. I'm not sure what I was going to type. Age it in the bottles maybe? Along those lines anyway.

 

[benen]

So my first batch has been going steady for over a week now. Has slowed significantly but still bubbling away more than once a minute. I think I'll keep this one simple and bottle it straight from the tap on the fermenter in another fortnight or so and then age it for as long as I can stand.
Aging is best at high teens/low twentys?
For carbing in longnecks, should I use carb tabs or white sugar?
First batch took a couple of days to get the airlock started but the second 5L batch started overnight which confuses me. Same temp and same yeast.

 

[manticle]

Once carbed, age it as cool as you can. Make sure it is finished before bottling.

Carb as you would beer - if you use carb drops and are happy with them you can use them. i prefer lower carbonation than carb drops give.

Forget the airlock - it is not a reliable indication of fermentation (or lack thereof).

 

[benen]

This is my first brew so I've never bottled. A few of my mates brew an said dont bother with a hydrometer as every time you open up you risk infection but one has a refractometer? to lend me to make sure fermentation has finished.

 

[manticle]

First - you don't need to open up the vessel to use a hydrometer. Presuming your fermenter has a tap and the hydrometer you have/will buy has a sample tube, you simply run off a tube's worth (<200 mL) and measure that then drink it to see how it tastes. Minimal infection risk.

Refractometer will not give a true reading once alcohol is present. You can correct for this with conversion charts/software.

Any of your friends ever bottle in glass and find the occasional one goes 'BOOM'?

 

[iralosavic]

There are a couple of methods, I personally use a dishwasher but will go into that if you want that info.

Please do. Also, how do you calculate the timing between sufficient and excessive carbonation? (I doubt I'm alone in stating that the missus would prefer a sweeter finish than possible without back-sweetening and pasteurizing.)

 

[Fossey]

Please do. Also, how do you calculate the timing between sufficient and excessive carbonation? (I doubt I'm alone in stating that the missus would prefer a sweeter finish than possible without back-sweetening and pasteurizing.)

For a sweeter cider, you would need to check the gravity with a hydrometer and pasteurise when the gravity is higher - like 1010 - 1030 depending on how sweet you want it.

Be careful bottling at these gravities though, if they aren't pasteurised, they will explode for sure.

Stopping primary at this gravity will leave a lot of yeast in solution though. If you ferment dry then backsweeten with a concentrate to bring the sweetness to your taste, then pasteurise, your cider will clear a lot better.

If you can, putting the whole fermenter in a fridge for a couple of days will assist clearing as will transferring to a bottling bucket before bottling.

To determine the correct carbonation for sweet ciders (still a bit of guesswork), fill a couple of plastic 600mL soft drink bottles when you bottle the others. When they are hard, ie can't be squeezed in, they are carbed. This can happen pretty quick so you have to keep an eye on them and be ready to pasteurise. By that I mean the bottle may not be hard for days then be ready over night.

Pasteurising - I set my dishwasher to the hottest cycle - mine is an intensive wash, states 70 deg C. That cycle runs for 2 hours 15. I'm not sure what temp the inside of the bottles get up to but they are too hot to touch for up to half an hour after the cycle finishes. To kill the yeast and stop fermentation, 70 deg for 10 minutes would be plenty (temp of cider inside bottle). Can be achieved at lower temps for longer periods, hence I run the long hot cycle.

I bottle my ciders into 500mL bottles and fit 25L in my dishwasher no probs and pasteurise the whole batch in one cycle.

I'm sure there is info I've left out or do differently to others, but this works for me...

 

[benen]

Took my first hydrometer sample today. Sitting just a hair over 1.00 so must be close to finishing. Should be at about 5% as OG was 1.042. Was nervous to taste at first as it is my first ever brew but it smelt good and was lightly carbonate, pale and a bit cloudy. Tasted surprisingly good. I expected it to be quite tart and it was but not as much as I expected. Should be good after aging for a while.

 

[benen]

My fermentation has finally stopped. I was hoping to keep the temperature a little more consistent but it ended up ranging between 17 and 24 over the few weeks.
I have some questions about bottling. Once I sterilise the bottles and caps, what would be the best way to bottle from a 30L fermenter. Should I just use the tap in the bottom or will that stir up what has settled. Would I be better sticking a spring valve on the end of a syphon tube and full he bottles keeping the tube just under the surface of the cider in the fermenter?
Also, I'm using longnecks, should I just use carbonation drops or is white sugar a better option?
Lastly, how full do I fill the bottles?

Thanks
Benen

 

[pk.sax]

Bottling wand, tap, normal sugar, carb/fill as per beer kit instruction. Nothing fancy. Whatever little you rouse will settle out in the bottles with the carbonating yeast.

 

[benen]

This is my first brew and not from a kit so no instructions

 

[pk.sax]

Ok, bottling wand with the valve at the end is the simplest. As you fill the bottle to the top and turn the tap off, pull the bottle away from the wand and it'd leave you with adequate headspace.
Please look up bottling wands and priming sugar rates. Search/google.

 

[HalfWit]

Funny, I could't find the Cider sub forum. Anyhoo, I am also about to do my 1st Cider. Every Tuesday morning you can turn up at http://www.cedarcreekorchards.com.au/ and buy freshly pressed juice for $1.20 a liter. I am planning a double batch.
I'm just putting in an order at Craftbrewer and not sure what I need. I have all the beer brewing stuff but thinking I will need something to measure and adjust the pH. None of the pH strips seem to be in the right range of 3.6 to 4.2 pH. Is this the right range? What else will I need? Thanks.

 

[Greg.L]

pH strips don't work very well anyway. Try cider.org.uk for a lot of info about cider making. You don't really need anything but yeast.

 

[Airgead]

And even yeast is optional if you want a funky farmhouse cider...

I've never adjusted the ph of my juice. It works pretty well without that. If its a but bland I may add some acid after fermentation but I have my mix of apples pretty much down pat now so don't need to. If you are buying juice you have less control but even so, adding acid to balance after fermentation should be all thats needed.

Cheers
Dave

 

[HalfWit]

That's a bonus, thanks. If i drop the temp after ferment, will that clear it up. It's for her in doors as well, so presentation is important.

 

[Airgead]

Cider always benefits from some cool aging. Traditionally it was made in autumn (harvest time) and aged through winter before being drunk in spring.

A few weeks will usually do good things.

Cheers
Dave

 

[HalfWit]

Should I add lactose to sweeten it up?How much would you recommend adding and when should I add it?

 

[Airgead]

The answer is - It depends.

Is your cider too dry for you (or whoever will be drinking it)? If its not then no need to add anything. if it is then lactose is one way to sweeten it up.

how much to add? Depends again. How sweet do you want it? Add a little, taste and add more if needed. To give you some guide, 200g seems to be a figure commonly cited in recipes. Maybe add 50g at a time?

When to add - its unfermentable so it doesn't really matter. As long as you can add without oxygenating the finished cider you can add to taste after fermentation. Let it ferment out, taste and add if needed.

Cheers
Dave