Hi everyone, I just started my second ever batch of cider and I'm trying to decide how badly I messed up, and if there is any way to tell/do anything about it.
I sterilized everything really well I'm pretty sure (better than batch 1 back in the summer that went great), but when I was removing the airlock to take the lid off and siphon the cider into my bottling bucket, I think some of the water from the airlock got splashed into the cider. I wasn't 100% sure, there was still water in the airlock but it looked a little less. Worse, I don't think I used sterilizer in the airlock (I didn't the first batch either, I didn't even think about it, I had meant to do it this time around but it slipped my mind). If I didn't remember to do sterilizer it would have been city tap water.
I made the cider at a friends house since I have neither the room nor temperatures to do it well, and I couldn't stay around so not knowing what else to do I went ahead and bottled it (maybe a bad idea). Is there any way to tell if its going bad at this point? If it is, what can I do about it? I've read people saying to unrack it and put camden tablets in it.
I'm carbonating it in the bottles, so I added priming sugar to it, and no extra yeast (the last batch carbonated nicely with just the leftover yeast). If I have to unrack it and sterilize, could I add more yeast again when I bottle it or would I be better off trying to force carbonate or something? (I have a friend that has a carbonator, but it wasn't available and I was very limited in my free time to finish the cider up).
Thanks for the help.
I sterilized everything really well I'm pretty sure (better than batch 1 back in the summer that went great), but when I was removing the airlock to take the lid off and siphon the cider into my bottling bucket, I think some of the water from the airlock got splashed into the cider. I wasn't 100% sure, there was still water in the airlock but it looked a little less. Worse, I don't think I used sterilizer in the airlock (I didn't the first batch either, I didn't even think about it, I had meant to do it this time around but it slipped my mind). If I didn't remember to do sterilizer it would have been city tap water.
I made the cider at a friends house since I have neither the room nor temperatures to do it well, and I couldn't stay around so not knowing what else to do I went ahead and bottled it (maybe a bad idea). Is there any way to tell if its going bad at this point? If it is, what can I do about it? I've read people saying to unrack it and put camden tablets in it.
I'm carbonating it in the bottles, so I added priming sugar to it, and no extra yeast (the last batch carbonated nicely with just the leftover yeast). If I have to unrack it and sterilize, could I add more yeast again when I bottle it or would I be better off trying to force carbonate or something? (I have a friend that has a carbonator, but it wasn't available and I was very limited in my free time to finish the cider up).
Thanks for the help.