First Batch of Cider

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tmanzee

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So just started my first batch of cider with windsor yeast started fermenting within 30 minutes its bubbling like crazy now.... i've got it in the coldest room in my house to try and slow it down... I was considering moving it to a secondary after it stops bubbling any suggestions on how long I should leave it in secondary.... what is the deal with adding more sugar is this just to sweeten it or will it start fermenting again...

i know nothing about cider so feel free to explain
 
How cold is cold? I let my ciders sit in my basement, air temp 63, usually use a wet towel on the carboys so would guess liquid temp 68 or so using an ale yeast.

When it's done fermenting and sat a little to ease out some off flavors (3 weeks or so) you can add more sugar, or apple concentrate, or something like that in order to have a sweet cider, compared to a dry cider which has nothing. The problem is, you will need some way to stop the yeast from consuming the added sugars. Your options are using a chemical to stabilize, which I've never done so I can't advise, cold crashing then keeping it cold so the yeast are dormant, or pasteurizing to kill the yeast. All this gets a little complicated depending on whether you want it carbonated or not, bottling vs. kegging, etc.

Here's your options:
  • Dry, still cider - just put it in a bottle
  • Dry, carbonated cider - bottle it with a little priming sugar like you would a beer
  • Sweet, still cider - sweeten, bottle, stop fermentation as described above either before or after bottling depending on method
  • Sweet, carbonated cider - sweeten, bottle, let carbonate, then stop fermentation

If you do the last, definitely read the stickied post in the cider forum. Good luck.
 

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