Secondary

O my batch has been in secondary for bout a week, im allowing it to go another week before bottling. What steps do i take for bottling to make it carbonated? From what i jave read it needs to sit about another 2 weeks before going in the fridge? Thanks for the help, it tastes awesome so far!

Make sure you get a consistent gravity reading. Time isn't necessarily the best indicator of fermentation being finished. Before you bottle you add a little bit of sugar so there's something for the residual yeast to ferment. This will produce Co2 that gets trapped under the cap and eventually gets forced into solution, producing a carbonated beverage.

Is sugar added to the bottles individually?

It's easier to add the sugar to the whole batch. I don't usual car but there are web based
Calculators out there to tell you how much to add.

Make sure the cider is completed fermentation by checking the gravity to make sure it's consistent over a week or two period of time.

Then rack into a bottling bucket (really just another bucket) and then add your priming sugar to a quart or so of the cider stir until dissolved and stir that into the batch of cider.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

After the carbonation period if you want to sweeten your cider just mix to taste with some straight apple juice. I usually start with a 1/4 glass of juice and pour the cider into it.

cyberlord said:

Make sure the cider is completed fermentation by checking the gravity to make sure it's consistent over a week or two period of time.

Then rack into a bottling bucket (really just another bucket) and then add your priming sugar to a quart or so of the cider stir until dissolved and stir that into the batch of cider.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

After the carbonation period if you want to sweeten your cider just mix to taste with some straight apple juice. I usually start with a 1/4 glass of juice and pour the cider into it.

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Im looking for a level of 1.00 to .999 right?

cacaca86 said:

Im looking for a level of 1.00 to .999 right?

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You should be looking for a stable gravity reading over the course of a week. It's a little longer than beer but a less than wine because of the end fermentation rates.

cyberlord said:

After the carbonation period if you want to sweeten your cider just mix to taste with some straight apple juice. I usually start with a 1/4 glass of juice and pour the cider into it.

Click to expand...

Why not sweeten it to taste with unfermentable sugar or sucralose before bottling?

Double_D said:

Why not sweeten it to taste with unfermentable sugar or sucralose before bottling?

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I think it tastes like crap.

Good point.

Is there a way to get it to attenuate less? The solution for mead is add more sugar than the yeast can handle. But it also means the beverage is higher abv. Swimbo has been hinting at ciders for a while now so it behooves me to take an interest.

Double_D said:

Good point.

Is there a way to get it to attenuate less? The solution for mead is add more sugar than the yeast can handle. But it also means the beverage is higher abv. Swimbo has been hinting at ciders for a while now so it behooves me to take an interest.

Click to expand...

It's tough with straight cider since most yeasts will dry it out even if extra sugar is added.

I do not know of a way to have the yeast attenuate less.

There are 4 ways to drink carbonated sweet cider.

1 - Ferment to dry, sweeten to taste, add priming sugar, carb in bottle and stove-top pasteurize.
2 - Ferment to desired sweetness. Cold crash and clear in fridge, then add priming sugar, carb in bottle and stove-top pasteurize.
3 - Ferment to dry, clear for a while to drop most yeast, stabilize, sweeten to taste, then force carb in keg. You can bottle forced carbed drinks; if the keg is very cold you lose little fizz.
4 - Ferment to dry, add priming sugar, bottle carb, then when drinking sweeten to taste with, sugar, sugar substitute, apple juice, or apple concentrate.

I prefer the 4th method as I can adjust the sweetness depending on my mood. Sometimes I want a dry, sometimes a little sweet. Some guests may even want sweeter cider. I can cover all individual tastes when I pour. Either method is about the same total effort.