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I've had gushers with the red star champagne yeast after 3 days. I'd check every 6-8 hours if possible. And don't just rely on the plastic bottle--I did that and still had gushers. Crack one open to be sure.

I've used both honey and maple syrup (plus brown sugar) to backsweeten and bottle carb. The honey can be tooth-achingly sweet, so you might want to experiment with various amounts and figure out what you like. The maple & brown sugar was definitely not as sweet as the honey--it didn't end up...

I've never siphoned with a filter before... my guess is that some of the yeast snuck through and is still going to town, but I guess it depends on what kind of filter you are using.

If you're doing small batches, perhaps you could cold crash it for a few days and let more of the yeast settle below the level of the spigot? And remember that those yeasties will keep eating, so you'll want to pasteurize or cold crash the bottles once you're happy with the level of carbonation.

Yay for Bloodhound Gang! :rockin: OFBC is their best album, IMO.

Red Star Champagne is a beast--it will eat and eat until there's nothing left. So, you will likely need to backsweeten as aellis suggests.

How long depends on how sweet you want it (and, of course, on the yeast you're using and the temperature). I'd plan to take a hydrometer reading (if you have one) and a little taste every couple of days.

Mine's my first and middle names. Nothing exciting.

What was your starting gravity and what kind of yeast did you pitch? If it's a beer yeast and your OG was high enough, it might just be exhausted.

I'm not sure about the differences in sugars between honey and apples, so I don't know if one type will ferment faster than the other. If you let it ferment completely (to SG 1.000 or less), it means all the sugars will have been consumed,and you won't have any sweetness left. If you want...

You can look at the threads on backsweetening for some ideas about how to sweeten it up now that fermentation has slowed, though it's hard to say if the slowing is due to it being done fermenting or if it's too cold. From what you're describing about the flavor, it might have converted almost...

What's the temperature where you're fermenting?

Carbed for me, too!

Awesome info, thanks so much for posting! I've been stuck using storebought juice, and I'd really like to switch to whole apples, but the expense and necessary space of a grinder and press. Of course, I need a good apple source... Thanks again, great stuff here!

Hey, I'm in Durham, too! Hope Valley North, between downtown and Woodcroft.

My version: "Go, little yeasties, go!" :mug:

Yeah, Siler City isn't too far at all! Cackalacky, represent! :D

I'd be happy to, though I'm still learning, too! When you're ready, let me know, and maybe I'll be a bit more seasoned :mug:

Yeah, I realize that I should have clarified that I don't use the bottling bucket as a secondary, I just rack from primary to it, add my priming sugar, and bottle straight away, so there's no settling of stuff or time for oxygen to take much of a hold. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused!

LOL! If you're not adding more fermentables in secondary, then you should be a-ok to bottle from that bucket. (If you were to add fermentables to it, you still could, it would just be cloudier unless you cold crashed it a while.) At least that's my semi-n00b opinion!