mikefunk77
New Member
Last year was my second attempt at making Cider, and the results were much better than I was expecting to be honest (don't ask about the first attempt though!).
I took a pretty rough and ready approach - fermenting the juice in the bottle for around ten weeks and then simply putting a top in and leaving it for 7 months. The end product was, as I said, surprisingly drinkable (and potent).
This time I would like to refine it a little, if only in appearence, by fermenting first and then bottling - hopefully avoiding the yeasty leftovers at the top of the bottle, and removing a good bit of the sediment settling at the bottom.
My question is (and apologies if i sound a bit thick!) as I'm still not sure how much juice I'll get from my apples, will it make a difference if there is a gap at the top of the fermenting barrel? Would using an airlock be a waste of time because of the air already in there?
Any advice greatfully recieved!
I took a pretty rough and ready approach - fermenting the juice in the bottle for around ten weeks and then simply putting a top in and leaving it for 7 months. The end product was, as I said, surprisingly drinkable (and potent).
This time I would like to refine it a little, if only in appearence, by fermenting first and then bottling - hopefully avoiding the yeasty leftovers at the top of the bottle, and removing a good bit of the sediment settling at the bottom.
My question is (and apologies if i sound a bit thick!) as I'm still not sure how much juice I'll get from my apples, will it make a difference if there is a gap at the top of the fermenting barrel? Would using an airlock be a waste of time because of the air already in there?
Any advice greatfully recieved!