My first cider attempt

I was bored and didn't have time for a full brew day, so I mixed up my first cider, based loosely on EdWort's Apfelwine recipe:

- 4.85 gal Tree Top apple juice
- 2 lbs light brown sugar (instead of dextrose)
- 1 sachet Nottingham dry yeast (instead of champagne yeast



Mixed it all together and pitched my yeast.




I'm hoping for a sweeter, less dry cider that my wife will enjoy, hence the choice of yeast... she does not like beer or wine. I'll force carb to 3 volumes or so in 4 weeks. Here's to hoping for the best!

unless i'm mistaken notty will go right through that... if your juice was maybe 1.055 and the sugar took it up to 1.075 or 1.080? i would keep an eye on the gravity and try to cold crash it when it was in the desired ballpark (1.015?). but you are can always backsweeten; kegging is so easy

dinnerstick said:

unless i'm mistaken notty will go right through that... if your juice was maybe 1.055 and the sugar took it up to 1.075 or 1.080? i would keep an eye on the gravity and try to cold crash it when it was in the desired ballpark (1.015?). but you are can always backsweeten; kegging is so easy

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I'm not terribly concerned, actually. I was at 1.060 after mixing everything together and I'll just let it sit 4 weeks before kegging; I'm thinking it'll finish somewhere around 1.008 or so. If it's way too dry, I'll share it with friends

i would predict more like 0.996ish. any self respecting yeast will finish that off; all simple sugars. no harm in sweetening it up with apple juice concentrate- for my tastes it takes a good few months for dry cider to become palatable but a semi-sweet draught cider is quick and tasty

That seems like a fairly low OG for 2 lbs of sugar in less than 5 gallons of juice. I guess it might depend on the OG of the juice.

I think dinner stick is right, it's probably going to eat through most of that. You can rack it off the lees a time or two and try to slow the yeasties down. I'd also try for a really slow ferment around 60ºF if you can.

Pickled_Pepper said:

That seems like a fairly low OG for 2 lbs of sugar in less than 5 gallons of juice. I guess it might depend on the OG of the juice.

I think dinner stick is right, it's probably going to eat through most of that. You can rack it off the lees a time or two and try to slow the yeasties down. I'd also try for a really slow ferment around 60ºF if you can.

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Thanks! It's currently sittin' pretty at about 65F, which I don't plan to mess with. Even if the Notty eats up all the yeast and creates a super dry cider/apfelwein, that's fine with me. My plan is to keep it carboy'd for 4 weeks minimum, maybe even 6 or so; I'll taste it the night before I plan to keg (while cold crashing) and if it's way too dry, I'll add some AJ concentrate. One of the reasons I chose to use Notty instead of the Montrachet yeast EdWort recommends is because he said the Notty usually only takes the cider down to about 1.010 (?) and leaves some sweetness; if he's wrong, fine with me. I also plan to force carb it to about 3 volumes... I want some bubbly! At just under $25, I'm sort of considering this a fun experiment that will certainly yield something drinkable

One thing... I pitched the Notty about 16 hours ago and I'm still not seeing much activity in the airlock. A thin ring of "kraeusen" seems to have formed, so I'm certainly not worried, just wondering if this is typical?

Cheers!

i have never fermented bottled juice, so i don't know, but the foamyness of my ciders usually depends on how much particulate matter (ie crud) is left in suspension. pretty clear ones don't foam up much (although i usually use s04) but i have had thick ones (especially with wild yeast) foam up and out the airlock for days. i also haven't read the apf... apple wine (sorry just can't bring myself even to type in german) page but to conk out a healthy yeast you are gonna need to go much higher than 1.060. there are no unfermentable sugars in there. he must start with a much higher gravity or add something unfermentable? dunno. anyways sounds like you have a plan. i think the few weeks in the carboy and the final cold crash are both good ideas; i don't mind a bit of yeast kicked up off the bottom of a bottle but i am not a huge fan of the yeasty taste of a green cider. enjoy

In my experiences with notty it has gone down to 1.004 and that was after beating it into submission by racking it early. haha I'm sure it would have gone further if I let it. You got the right attitude, so I'm sure it'll be awesome.

16 hours is fine. You should see some pressure in the airlock before you know it.

Pickled_Pepper said:

16 hours is fine. You should see some pressure in the airlock before you know it.

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agreed this sounds normal

Pickled_Pepper said:

That seems like a fairly low OG for 2 lbs of sugar in less than 5 gallons of juice. I guess it might depend on the OG of the juice.

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Just notice you mentioned OG... for some reason I saw FG. I don't understand why it's only 1.060 either, as I was expecting closer to 1.072 or so. I just tested my hydrometer with distilled water and it was accurate, so I'm stumped. Either way, not a huge deal

dinnerstick said:

i have never fermented bottled juice, so i don't know

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My first batch that I just finished didn't foam much at all and I used bottled juice and notty yeast. Activity started in my batch within 2 hours and by 12 hours later it was 1 to 1.5 seconds between bubbles, but then again I used a full packet of Notty yeast for a gallon batch <----OVERKILL

liquidavalon said:

My first batch that I just finished didn't foam much at all and I used bottled juice and notty yeast. Activity started in my batch within 2 hours and by 12 hours later it was 1 to 1.5 seconds between bubbles, but then again I used a full packet of Notty yeast for a gallon batch <----OVERKILL

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OG and FG? Just out of interest

Looks like its fermenting to me! Still little airlock activity, but eh...

BrightSpotBrewing said:

OG and FG? Just out of interest

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Funny you should ask...since I am a newbie to making cider, I didn't have a hydrometer at the beginning and didn't take one at the end. I don't have a testing tube and if I put it in my gallon carboy I would have lost it and not been able to "fish" it out

I kinda jumped in full force and didn't plan ahead with what equipment I should use. I will not rely on psychic brewing in the future!

brightspotbrewing said:

looks like its fermenting to me! Still little airlock activity, but eh...

<img src="https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43975"/>

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It is going now!



6 weeks to go... and counting

congrats!

Pickled_Pepper said:

congrats!

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Thanks, man! Quick question: since I keg, my plan is cold crash this bad boy overnight at about 36F prior to racking to kegging. If at that point I would prefer more sweetness, would it be prudent to add more apple juice then? My thought is, since it's already cooled (and the yeast has gone dormant), I shouldn't have any issues with re-starting fermentation. Anyone try this?

Cheers!

I tried to cold crash a batch that started off with a little high SG, yeast settled, racked it off the lees, etc. Well once it got back inside it took off again and finished dry. So, it may be a little warm, ABV 9.5%, but I'm going to let it sit for a few months to mello a bit. Beautifully clear at this point though.

BrightSpotBrewing said:

Thanks, man! Quick question: since I keg, my plan is cold crash this bad boy overnight at about 36F prior to racking to kegging. If at that point I would prefer more sweetness, would it be prudent to add more apple juice then? My thought is, since it's already cooled (and the yeast has gone dormant), I shouldn't have any issues with re-starting fermentation. Anyone try this?
Cheers!

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i don't want to offer unsafe advice, since there's always a chance of fermentation carrying on even in low temps, and i have had some surprises, but mostly with weird/unpredictable things like ginger beer plant and wild yeasts... with an ale yeast that is known to go dormant, and in a keg that is designed to hold way more pressure than you're using it for, and in the fridge at all times, the worst that's gonna happen is that fermentation staggers on a tiny bit and you get a barely-noticibly drier cider and a barely detectable increase in pressure. if it does somehow manage to kick back off it's just a sign that you're not drinking it fast enough.
the 'safe' alternative is use sulfite and sorbate (i do this and have no problem with the taste)
i would chill it for a few days, get the lees nice and compact, carefully avoid yeast when racking. ((to avoid wasting a drop i siphon the last 500 ml or so into a separate container, inevitably carrying over a bit of yeast, let that re-settle overnight in the fridge, 'rack' it to a soda water bottle, sweeten it, and carb using carbonator caps from the CO2 tank, and drink that immediately.))
then as you say just add juice or sugar or concentrate or whatever to taste, but add it slowly and taste often, or do small trial glasses, it's disappointing to over-sweeten.

its looking good

Congrats dude

Thanks all!!

Still fermenting like mad! Sulfer is FOR REAL... smells like a ghost farted in my room and blamed it on my wife! Ha. 5 more weeks to go...

BrightSpotBrewing said:

Still fermenting like mad! Sulfer is FOR REAL... smells like a ghost farted in my room and blamed it on my wife! Ha. 5 more weeks to go...

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If its fermenting like mad it may only take two weeks or less. Keep an eye on it. Are you planning on moving it to a secondary fermenter?

damien said:

If its fermenting like mad it may only take two weeks or less. Keep an eye on it. Are you planning on moving it to a secondary fermenter?

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I'll let it sit in primary until it fully drops clear and FG is stable, I'm guessing 4 to 6 weeks. I'll then rack to keg, force carb, and let it sit another week before digging in. I'm sure it won't be too dry for me, but if it isn't sweet enough for the wife, I'll just have her add either 7-Up or some apple juice.

Thanks!