pics of transferred cider

well i threw some us-04 in a couple gallons of whole foods market apple juice on 1.22, and i transfered them today. i didn't take the OG but another user has used this juice before and i believe that their OG was .050. today they were .00! i had tasted them along the way, and i have to admit i wish i had pulled them off the yeast when they were at .010-its a bit dry/tart for me. hopefully they will mellow out over time, if not i'll back sweeten maybe.

i racked one of the gallons onto about 3/4 lb of frozen blueberries, and the other onto the zest of 1 clementine(i was going to do orange but didnt have any, oh well i'm sure it will be drinkable)and 5 whole cloves. i had no idea how much of anything was really going to affect the taste, so we shall see!

5 cloves? that thing is going to be like if someone kicked you in the nuts and screamed "CLOVE!!!" in your face as you're curled up in fetal position. I'd probaby rack off thoes cloves right now before it does too much damage, but that's just me. I've done 2 cloves per gallon and that was too clove-y for me.

Freezeblade said:

5 cloves? that thing is going to be like if someone kicked you in the nuts and screamed "CLOVE!!!" in your face as you're curled up in fetal position. I'd probaby rack off thoes cloves right now before it does too much damage, but that's just me. I've done 2 cloves per gallon and that was too clove-y for me.

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really? i knew they were strong but i didnt think that strong. maybe i'll rack it tomorrow. i dont want my cider to kick me in the nuts...eek

Yeah, that will be a clovey mess if you leave it for too long.

Agreed on the cloves, I prefer one maybe two per gallon and just let it age on them till I get the flavor I want. Now on the sweetness, if you had racked any sooner, even if it was still in the 1.010 range, then it would still ferment out dry. By racking you are not removing the yeast, or at least not all of it. Surely some will be left behind, but what you are leaving behind is the lees, or dead yeast cells, proteins and fruit parts. The yeast is still in solution in the cider until it is crystal clear.

put some DME in there if you want it to have a bit of body and not be so dry.

1 cup should do.

oh ya, more than 1 clove = bad.

Tusch said:

Agreed on the cloves, I prefer one maybe two per gallon and just let it age on them till I get the flavor I want. Now on the sweetness, if you had racked any sooner, even if it was still in the 1.010 range, then it would still ferment out dry. By racking you are not removing the yeast, or at least not all of it. Surely some will be left behind, but what you are leaving behind is the lees, or dead yeast cells, proteins and fruit parts. The yeast is still in solution in the cider until it is crystal clear.

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understood. so you think this will actually clear up? it looked exactly like this when i bought it, super cloudy.

how long do you guys leave it on the fruit?

If you added peptic enzyme it will. If not add 1 teaspoon per gallon dissolved in a little juice. It will take longer but it should clear.

well i racked it off the cloves/zest, and upon tasting it i now know to never flirt with cloves again. i got it just in time, anymore clove would be too much-its good though. i did add more zest, though-when i added it yesterday i didnt have a zester so i used a fork...didnt go very well. reading through some threads i saw that some people use a carrot peeler, so i did that (carefully) and it worked great.

the blueberries are already giving a great color, very excited. i was figuring that the blueberries and the zest are going to give all they really can in about 10 days, does this sound like a good plan? then i would just rack and let it mature a bit...these are for my "pregnant sister" thread that i started a few months back...she just had the kid so i'm just waiting on her now...i know she is dying for it