Cyser in the making - questions

Hello everybody,

I started a Cyser on Saturday January 16th with the following recipe:

2.2 lbs honey
1 gallon apple juice (spreadsheet says 0.81 gallons)
1/2 packet 71B-1122
¾ tsp nutrient
½ tsp energizer

Its been going now for a week and a half and I have a few questions about it.

1. The airlock is popping every 30 seconds right now. Would this be typical or would it normally be faster then that?
2. I read some where that you can measure the SG one day, then measure it again 3 days later and if the SG hasn't changed in that time, then that means the yeast is done fermenting. Is that true?
3. Lastly, should I be leaving this in the bottle untill it clears or should I be racking it off after it is done fermenting whether it is clear or not?

Thanks.

1. Bubbles in the airlock are not a reliable indication of fermentation.
2. Not necessarily. You could have a stuck fermentation. When your cyser reaches .998 or lower with this recipe and there has been no change after three days then you can count on the fermentation being complete.
3. Rack it off the lees at least once after primary fermentation is complete. It will still be cloudy at this time. Allowing it to sit on the gross lees from the initial fermentation may likely result in off flavors.

Thanks for the response summersolstice. I am starting to think the fermentation is done, or close to it because the SG I measured today was 1.002. I will check it again on Sunday and if it hasn't changed, I will call it done and rack it.

Here is a picture of what it looks like so far. Since its a little short from the neck and will get shorter when I rack it off, should I be adding water or apple juice back in to bring it back up to the neck?

Yes, you want to top it off. You have a couple of options: top it off with water after racking or allow it to ferment to dryness (.996 or below) and stabilize with sorbate and k-meta and top and backsweeten with pure frozen concentrate (for more apple flavor and sweetness) and some honey dissolved in warm water. If you top with juice without stabilizing, you'll restart the fermentation and basically be back at step one.

Sounds good. Thanks again for your help.

So if I want to just use water will I need to stabilize? My guess is no because the sugar content that is left is minimal.

Could you also just top off with sorbate treated apple juice?

You'll want to stabilize prior to bottling unless you bulk age for 6-8 months or more or if you'll be bulk aging cooler than 55F or so otherwise fermentation could start back in the bottle.

I was kind of basing this off of the write up on this website which mixes it up in a gallon jug and lets it sit in the jug for 1-3 months, then bottles when it is clear, which I believe is similar to JOAM:

http://badger.cx/brewing/cyser.html

Maybe I will just let this one sit a few more months until it clears up and next time try fermenting this in a plastic fermenter, changing the recipe so that it is ~1.25 gallons instead of 1. So that way when I rack it off for bulk aging, I should be able to fill the gallon jug and not have to use the stabalizers.