Can I, or should I stir?

My wife and I started a 5 gal batch of Cyser a week ago. I initially stirred a gallon of apple juice with 6 lbs of honey to get it mixed in, added the rest of the apple juice and pitched it. For the last three days there has been a layer of something at the bottom of the carboy that looks like the honey might have come out of solution. It is merrily fermenting and bubbling away. Should I stir it again? Or will it hurt if the honey did settle to the bottom? Will I mess up the fermentation if I stir? We are kinda new at this, and I don't want to mess something up.

Wyvern59 said:

My wife and I started a 5 gal batch of Cyser a week ago. I initially stirred a gallon of apple juice with 6 lbs of honey to get it mixed in, added the rest of the apple juice and pitched it. For the last three days there has been a layer of something at the bottom of the carboy that looks like the honey might have come out of solution. It is merrily fermenting and bubbling away. Should I stir it again? Or will it hurt if the honey did settle to the bottom? Will I mess up the fermentation if I stir? We are kinda new at this, and I don't want to mess something up.

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Yes, stir it so you can get accurate measurements. In fact I'd
double the amount of honey and then stir the hell out of it (actually it's probably better to stir it first as that aerates the must some and will allow some of the CO2 already in solution to come out and prevent a foam eruption when adding further honey).

You won't get an accurate reading now as you say about it being going for a week, but with the apple juice and the small amount of honey, at the moment, just about any wine yeast will ferment it dry. So it depends on what it is that you think you're going to want from it flavour-wise i.e. something that's more apple tasting, or has a more distinctly honey taste. Then do you want it to be sweet or dry etc etc......

regards

fatbloke

I use the SNA method, and it does call for stirring to degas up until fermentation is half way through to the target Specific gravity.
So, unless your over half way through fermentation not only is it OK, I would recommend it.

fatbloke said:

Yes, stir it so you can get accurate measurements. In fact I'd
double the amount of honey and then stir the hell out of it (actually it's probably better to stir it first as that aerates the must some and will allow some of the CO2 already in solution to come out and prevent a foam eruption when adding further honey).

You won't get an accurate reading now as you say about it being going for a week, but with the apple juice and the small amount of honey, at the moment, just about any wine yeast will ferment it dry. So it depends on what it is that you think you're going to want from it flavour-wise i.e. something that's more apple tasting, or has a more distinctly honey taste. Then do you want it to be sweet or dry etc etc......

regards
fatbloke

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I pitched it with Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast. How much more honey do I need? I want a fairly dry, yet slightly apple tasting wine. If that is possible.

Wyvern59 said:

I pitched it with Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast. How much more honey do I need? I want a fairly dry, yet slightly apple tasting wine. If that is possible.

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For traditional meads I use about 3 to 3.5lb per gallon (imperial/4.55 litres) which gives a gravity of about 1.100 or so.

You've made a cyser but only allowed for 1.2 lb per gallon US. There's no way in hell that the apple juice will have anywhere near as much sugar as what the likely difference in honey will be (allowing for the difference in size between US and imperial gallons etc).

Without ever having used the "mead calculator" over at Gotmead, which can help work out approximate starting gravities, I'd have thought that you could easily double the honey i.e. 6lb initially used plus another 6lb, then the yeast you've used i.e. a Pasteur Champagne yeast, (which will ferment to a tolerance of about 18% ABV) should easily munch it's way through the available sugars and finish dry. You may even find that you need to back sweeten it when it's finished.

Oh, and don't forget, calculate the dryness initially, with a hydrometer, because meads and honey based wines can often taste foul when the ferment has finished and is still "young". Ageing them transforms them to a completely different taste. Age is usually what makes them come good.

Hope that makes some sense....

regards

fatbloke