A bit of noob

Ok, first off, I am not sure if this is the right place but here goes anyways. I made some of edworts apfelwein scaled down to one gallon for a test to see if I would like it. I think the fermentation is pretty close to being done. Hydro reading is 1.001. The problem, or maybe it isn't, is that it is already carbonated. When I took the hydro reading there was a bit of a head in the test tube and you could see the bubbles coming up. (not sure if it affected the hydro reading) I waited for about 20-30 mins and took a sip. It still definetly had a fizziness to it. It has been recommended to me to de-gas it. Well, I was thinking that I could just bottle it how it is, and then voila be done with it. Since it is only a gallon I dont see it staying around too long.

I used mott's natural apple juice (pastuerized) and about 6 oz of sugar. I did not take OG, but I am not that worried about the abv. The mixture has been in primary for 16 days now, should I just wait it out? any help woudl be great.

MaliciousMushrm said:

The mixture has been in primary for 16 days now, should I just wait it out?

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Edwort said:

It will become cloudy in a couple of days and remain so for a few weeks. In the 4th week, the yeast will begin to drop out and it will become clear. After at least 4 weeks, you can keg or bottle, but it is ok to leave it in the carboy for another month or so. Racking to a secondary is not necessary. It ferments out very dry (less than 0.999, see here)

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I have not done this recipe but the original calls for at least 4 weeks in the primary. I don't really know what happens to fermentation times when you scale back though.

The reason it seems carbonated could be that it's still fermenting. The products of fermentation are alcohol and co2, and the co2 will stay in solution for a while.

I'd wait at least another couple of weeks before bottling. If you like it carbonated, you can always add priming sugar to it, and bottle it in beer bottles. I'm not a big fan, but if I drink some, I prefer mine flat. For a bigger batch, some bottle half carbonation and half still, but for a one gallon batch, it's probably more trouble than it's worth.

If the FG no longer drops, then it is done. Wines, meads, and ciders CAN go as low as .990, so don't be surprised if it is still dropping over the next two weeks.

I know that co2 is a by-product, I didn't realized that it would be dissolved in solution though. I thought that you had to have a pressurized environment in order to acheive dissolved co2 in a liquid. I guess you learn something every day.

P.S. I know that the original recipe calls for 4 weeks, I was just kind of wondering what would happen if I bottled now. Or what if there is still carb there in a few weeks. I want it to be carbed. would it be ok to bottle it w/o priming sugar? or just a little priming sugar?

As Yooper said it is most likely still fermenting and could go down even lower than .999, if you bottled now you could be taking a big risk in terms of bottle bombs.