jod1090

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its my first time doing any brewing of any sort, ive had a hard apple cider brewing with a champagne yeast for about a month, half way through i racked and backsweetned with a blueberry pomegranite concentrate, to day the fermenting was almost at a stand still so i tasted it and it was pretty good not to hot or dry. and its sitting about 22% abv. i added potassium sorbate to hopefully completely stop fermenting....... My question is how long should i cap my carboy, and let it sit before bottleing, and how long should it sit once bottled?? i want this batch to turn out good so my wife will aprove and let me keep brewing. ( well im going to keep brewing haha, it will just be easier if she loves the product, less complaining, you all understand im sure)

SmokeNbrew

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What strain of yeast did you use? And whats your FG right now? I use 1118 on cider and sorbate wasnt always a guarantee to kill off that yeast. Its a monster and likes to ferment very dry (~.99).

dinnerstick

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did you say 22% abv???? i have never tasted a cider with that much kick but i am guessing it is going to need a long while to taste like anything non-molotovesque. i hope you prove me wrong. you can age in carboy or bottle, go with what is most convenient.

jod1090

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i used the same 1118 yeast as well, i havnt gotten an acurate fg yet because my buddy brought the wrong hydrometer over, but i did notice that the sobate didnt work too well so i just added a lilttle more ( hopeing it doesnt hurt anything?) but i made my recipe for one gallon but as much sugar as you would use in a five gallon by accident ( read the directions wrong) but its not too sweet at all and has a good kick. im happy about how its turning out and it surprised my buddy's on how good its turning out for the mistakes ive made. i could be wrong about the "abv" but i assure you it has a decent kick thats why i think i may be right. but its my first and im slowly learning but ill keep you guys updated on the final product!

cadillacandy

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Molotovesque - what a wonderful description!

jod1090

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forgot to put i plan on leaveing it in the carboy for about a month then botleling it. but even then the longer i let it sit in the bottle the better it gets right? thanks dinnerstick!

jkoegel

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I am still fairly new to this but from what I have read the EC-1118 yeast only has an alcohol tolerance of about 18%. The yeast would be all dead or dying at 22%.

GinKings

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I'd agree that 22% would be tough to do, especially since jod1090 says it's a first attempt at fermentation. Maybe it had a "potential alcohol" of 22%, which translates to an OG around 1.165. If we get OG, FG and such, we might be able to double check the calculations.

Also, potassium sorbate will not stop fermentation. Sorbate does not kill yeast. It keeps them from reproducing, which has minimal impact on a fermentation containing billions of yeast cells.

jod1090

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thats exactly what i thought but i was told i was wrong by my local brew store owner. he told me he usually gets a 26% abv but i thought that was way too high because i thought the "18" in 1118 meant its died off at 18% my self. but i messed up my gravity readings so i cant be accurate. but like i said this is my first time, just trying to learn as i go. thanks for for your response. just stick to getting all my info. off of this site because its way more accurate.

jod1090

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i will defnitly take note of that with my readings, i wasnt able to get accurate readings because i didnt have all my own equipment, but now i do so ill be able to get all the accurate readings i need.

but back to my topic, so sat and stared at my air lock and i didnt get a bubble for 20 minutes so i added the sorbate in preperation to bottle. was i right in doing that or is the sorbate pretty much usless at that point?