First Cider of the year

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C-Rider

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Took 1 1/2 gallons of Tree Top Apple Juice from Sam's Club and placed it in a 2 gallon fermenter. Brix reading was 11 for an SG of 1.041.

Added 8 oz of table sugar to 1 cup water, added to the juice. Brix was 15, SG was now 1.058.

Added 4 oz sugar to 1/2 cup water, added to juice. Brix was 16, SG = 1.062.

Stopped there, added SO-4 yeast and put the fermenter in my "freezer" at temp of about 64*F.

Lets see what happens next.
 
Three days later I see no more bubbles in the air lock. Perhaps Thursday morning I'll have time to checkthe SG.

But why should/would apple juice finish fermenting so fast when it takes weeks when making beer?
 
Checked it this afternoon. SG-34. Not good. Will check again on Friday afternoon. If not lower I guess I need to shake it up and add more yeast. :mad:
 
Checked again Sunday afternoon. Down to 28, man this is going slow. Must be the 64* temp in the chill box.
 
in my limited experience this is normal. altho your gravity reading seems strange to me. store bought juice is always 1.050 for me with regularity.

what are you planning on doing, let it ferment out completely?
 
in my limited experience this is normal. altho your gravity reading seems strange to me. store bought juice is always 1.050 for me with regularity.

what are you planning on doing, let it ferment out completely?

Perhaps it varies by brand and apple type.

Ya, gonna let it keep going as long as it keeps changing. If I don't get low enough I may shake it up and re-pitch.

I have lots of room in the 7 cu ft freezer I use as a fermenting cooler. Right now I have two 2 gallon buckets and on 5 gallon bucket in it. Plus an assortment of bottles. Still room for at least 2 more of the small ones if I stack them right. :mug:
 
maybe, but i've used tree top, musselmann's, and mott's. all were 1.050 on the dot for me.

what's it at? i just cold-crashed a cider that went from 1.059 to 1.009 in 6 days using us-05 at 66F.
 
oh, i just noticed you're using a refractometer. are you adjusting the fermenting gravity readings? 7 brix of fermented liquid with an OG of 1.062 would be 1.009ish, depending on your units' general correction factors.
 
oh, i just noticed you're using a refractometer. are you adjusting the fermenting gravity readings? 7 brix of fermented liquid with an OG of 1.062 would be 1.009ish, depending on your units' general correction factors.

I only used the refractometer before adding yeast. All readings after are w/a hydrometer.

Checked again today and it's down to 1.010. Perhaps a week to go. Maybe SO5 is the answer?
 
wittmania said:
If you went from 1062 to 1010 I wouldn't be looking for an answer as that's pretty good attenuation.

Cider attenuation should be in the 100+% range. It's not like beer, it will ferment past 1.000 even with standard ale yeast. Let it go and it will finish in a week or two depending on the ambient temperature.
 
divi2323 said:
Cider attenuation should be in the 100+% range. It's not like beer, it will ferment past 1.000 even with standard ale yeast. Let it go and it will finish in a week or two depending on the ambient temperature.

Learn something new everyday. I have my first cider bubbling away now after 2 years of ale brewing.
 
Checked few min ago. Down to 1.002. Probably will secondary Sat. And cold crash. Looks pretty clear now. Taste not bad, pretty dry. Got sample in fridge t chill and re-taste.
 
Thinking about bottling on Saturday after one week at about 43*F. Would a addition of fresh juice to sweeten cause bombs if I bottled after adding?
 
Everyone seems so worried about "bottle bombs". I place a plastic water bottle with my bottled ciders and use it to gauge the pressure build up. I wanted a sparkling cider and added sugar to the 2 gallons I had ready to be bottled. After three weeks the plastic bottle was rock hard so I placed my glass bottles into my fridge and all was great, tasty and carbed like a 7up.
 
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