Can I bottle still cider quickly?

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gjd

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Basic cider question-- Will it make a big difference if I bottle still cider quickly, pretty much as soon as the FG is stable down around 1, and let the aging occur in bottles rather than secondaries?

I understand this isn't standard practice and won't win me awards. I'm a minimalist homebrewer, in that I'm not fussy about results as long as it's drinkable, and it's inconvenient to accumulate a lot of equipment- one fermenter, one carboy, one bottling bucket at a time. Unintended circumstances left me with 2 5-gallon cider batches starting on the same day, one in my fermenting bucket, one in my carboy, and I'd like to do a beer batch soon. I don't plan to back-sweeten or prime, and would like to get it in bottles and on the shelf. I'm happy not normally using secondaries with ale, but not sure about cider-- seems to have a lot more curious odors and tastes when young. Is there something about aging cider in primaries/secondaries vs. bottles I should consider?
 
It'll age the same in a bottle as it will in a bucket. I tend to bottle age when I do ciders, works fine for me.
 
The only concern I would have is the pectin. How clear is the cider?
If it settles at the bottom of your bottles you can still drink it, but it may look unappetizing.
 
From my understanding, the pectin only becomes a problem if the cider was heated or heat pasteurized. My straight off the press hard cider did not have any pectin haze problems and I did not add pectic enzyme. If it has pectin problems, it may settle out. But it only affects aesthetic, not taste. If you add pectic enzyme then you may want to let it out-gas in bulk, as i've had sulphur smells due to the addition.
 
OP here. It's only in the second day of fermentation, going nicely and smelling a bit better than usual, presumably because I've been more careful than previously about temperature. It's raw cider, nothing but campden tablets and yeast nutrient. I'm not too worried about clarity. I'd rather avoid sulfur smells; I've had them in the past and have needed to at least let bottles breath for a while before drinking, but on the other hand it tends to cause others to leave all the cider for me. Sounds like it's ok to bottle at least one batch quickly under the circumstances. Thanks all.
Greg
 
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