blahjovic
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- Aug 21, 2012
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We have been juicing apples this fall and decided to take a break from beer to try a cider. I was tempted to try a batch with and without campden tablets. Juicing isn't as commonly written about on the forums so I've struggled finding info. Does it matter juiced vs pressed?
So I spent 2 hours on sat and again on sun juicing 5.5 gal of cider from a variety of apples from a local orchard. (too much work, btw)
The first batch I juiced, then heated to 155 degrees for 20-25 min and added 3 lb of diluted brown sugar. Chilled it to 80f with wort chiller and stuck it in the basement 65-68f. I added Wyeast 4766 (I now know it's not popular here, but it's one of the LHBS recommendations) to the carboy with an additional 2 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient (there is some in the smack pack if I understand correctly so I did half the recommendation).
It started bubbling within a day and went steady until today (4 days). So I decided to take a hydrometer reading and it read 1.000. That seemed low for 4 days. (why i'm writing this post) Does this sound normal? I guess I expected bubbles for double that time. Unfortunately my kid broke my hydrometer the first day we made cider and I don't have an initial reading. I'm assuming I was around 1.06 but asside from making another similar batch I don't really know.
My understanding is that fermentation takes some time and may still be going a little even at this reading. I'm just wondering if I made any mistakes.
The other batch is still bubbling away although 2 days behind on yeast. For this batch I added 3 lb brown sugar, 1tsp of campden tabs/gal and 24 hours later added a dry champagne yeast with 1 tsp / gal of yeast nutrient. Stuck it in the basement as well.
My plan was to let them ferment out and then back sweeten and carbonate in bottles like with beer.
Thanks for any info.
Jake
So I spent 2 hours on sat and again on sun juicing 5.5 gal of cider from a variety of apples from a local orchard. (too much work, btw)
The first batch I juiced, then heated to 155 degrees for 20-25 min and added 3 lb of diluted brown sugar. Chilled it to 80f with wort chiller and stuck it in the basement 65-68f. I added Wyeast 4766 (I now know it's not popular here, but it's one of the LHBS recommendations) to the carboy with an additional 2 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient (there is some in the smack pack if I understand correctly so I did half the recommendation).
It started bubbling within a day and went steady until today (4 days). So I decided to take a hydrometer reading and it read 1.000. That seemed low for 4 days. (why i'm writing this post) Does this sound normal? I guess I expected bubbles for double that time. Unfortunately my kid broke my hydrometer the first day we made cider and I don't have an initial reading. I'm assuming I was around 1.06 but asside from making another similar batch I don't really know.
My understanding is that fermentation takes some time and may still be going a little even at this reading. I'm just wondering if I made any mistakes.
The other batch is still bubbling away although 2 days behind on yeast. For this batch I added 3 lb brown sugar, 1tsp of campden tabs/gal and 24 hours later added a dry champagne yeast with 1 tsp / gal of yeast nutrient. Stuck it in the basement as well.
My plan was to let them ferment out and then back sweeten and carbonate in bottles like with beer.
Thanks for any info.
Jake
