I made my 1st batch a few months ago and racked it several times. Clarity was very good but I set it in the corner with an air-lock and kinda forgot about it. Does anyone see a problem with me trying to bottle it after 6 months in a carboy with air-lock? I do want to prime it with some sugar to try and get a little sweetness and carbonation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cider Question - Bottling
- Thread starter jackhandy
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prey
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How big is your batch? I use 1 cup of priming sugar into the bottling bucket for my 5 gallon batches and that gets it really carbonated. There should be enough yeast still left in there to carbonate, otherwise you would need to pitch some more yeast. I'm really no expert but I've done about 7 batches so far. Any more feedback would be welcome
Its a 5 gallon batch. My only concern was it sitting so long in the carboy since the last racking. For your priming sugar do you use corn syrup and water or something else? Does the priming sugar add sweetness as well if it turns out to be too dry??
Thanks for any help
Thanks for any help
prey
Well-Known Member
I find that regular cane sugar works quite well. I think it also adds more carbonation than corn syrup if I'm not mistaken (I read about that on another thread). The priming sugar adds just a tiny bit of sweetness because most of it is converted to CO2 which you want, and a little higher alcohol content. I'd use lactose or some substitute sugar if you really want to sweeten it. That way it won't ferment those sugars.
OdinOneEye
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Letting your cider sit in the carboy for six months- unless it was sitting on a big pile of yeast- will do nothing to hurt it, and in fact will probably help it, since you were in effect bulk aging your booze. It should be fine.
You want corn SUGAR, not corn SYRUP.
God Emporer BillyBrew
Well-Known Member
but has anyone figured out how to make a sweet, sparkling cider in bottles? I've not seen a decent solution yet, so I ask the question every few months.
prey
Well-Known Member
1 cup of priming sugar per 5 gallon batch should be enough to carbonate it as well as leave a good amount of sweetness to it. So far all my cider batches have been sweet and sparklingGod Emporer BillyBrew said:
