Hard Cider Help

Lonek · 09-12-2007, 03:36 PM

My friend used 5 gallons of cider, 2 lbs of corn sugar and English Hard Cider Yeast, now normally with Cider the sediment is a good thing, you shake it up before pouring a glass. Should he keep it for the hard cider also? Should he bottle from primary or secondary it? My opinion is bottle from primary, but I wanted to see what you guys thought.

JeanLucD · 09-13-2007, 12:04 PM

I myself would want to put it into a secondary, if not for the sediment - which I think is ok if its pulp in juice, but I'm not a great fan of it in my alcoholic drinks (other than maybe in a cuba libre - thats rum, coke and fresh limes, but that besides the point)... wait where was I?... if not for the sediment I would place it in a secondary for maturing, to let the flavours mellow and age. I must say that when I made my first cider I drank it WAY too quickly and didn't wait anywhere near long enough for it to mature, and I think at the end of the day I suffered for it. At the beggining it had an ever so slightly weird taste to it, that I just contributed to the fact that it was cider, and not to mention the fact that it was hardly carbonated too - I thought I had just miscalculated the priming sugar - but after trying one or two bottles which I left in the back of my brewing cupboard for about 5 months,I was surprised to find a much more deliciously flavoured, fully carbonated cider that was thoroughly pleasant and I'm slightly saddened that there isnt any left. Long story short, I reckon that he should bottle it after a really long secondary-ing (as long as his patience will allow him, or as long as he can without it affecting other brews, if he has limited space/fermentors) also a long time in the bottle is a plus. Now I read all this stuff before I made my cider and I thought, "Yeah right, whatever! How much affect can it really have on flavour" but it really made a huge difference. Anyway thats just my 1/50ths of a dollar (2c).