Aeration and hard ciders

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Meatyboy

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I seem to be reading conflicting information about ciders and aerating. Some say you give a good shake, pitch then call it a day. Then I read elsewhere to give your cider a shake every few days.

This is my few cider brew, but with my beer I know not to shake after pitching unless I want a wet cardboard taste. Why would ciders be different?
 
I seem to be reading conflicting information about ciders and aerating. Some say you give a good shake, pitch then call it a day. Then I read elsewhere to give your cider a shake every few days.

This is my few cider brew, but with my beer I know not to shake after pitching unless I want a wet cardboard taste. Why would ciders be different?

Ciders are no different than beer (in this case). I ALWAYS minimize air/cider interaction to the point that I sometimes add CO2 to a fermentation vessel before racking into it just to add peace of mind. Cider is very prone to infection and surface yeast, more so that beer and wine. Splashing cider around is a great way to end up with cider vinegar.

Maybe some folks are describing shaking to give a battonage effect. Theory is that you can add body to a cider or wine by stirring up the yeast cake every few days during fermentation. I would not shake it though, instead try gently stirring with a sanitized implement while avoiding splashing.
 
I think I'm past that point now. It's been in the primary for about 5 weeks, about to rack over to secondaries. But I didn't shake so I should be okay. Just gotta figure out how I'm gonna go about getting a very stuck carboy bung out of my 3 gallon carboy.
 
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