Question on first cider batches, bit of head scratching going on.

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Stilgar

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So I decided to add hard cider to my brew list and my fiance wanted to join in as well. We both started a cider at the same time using different yeast and sugar. My brewstore I normally buy my yeast from sadly was out of their cider yeast so I opted for the Red Star Champagne Yeast and used light brown sugar for my cider(the juice for both was store bought) Hers was more simply what do we have in the kitchen, which was white sugar and Flieschman's dry active yeast.. We let these both sit undisturbed for two weeks. Her starting OG was 1.070 and mine 1.080. Yesterday was the 2 week mark and when we took a reading her cider came back with roughly .990-.995 and mine sat right at 1.000.


Having not made cider and seeing those readings does this mean we could/should start bottling it, or move to secondary, wait xdays and bottle? Haven't had a hydro reading move that quickly so wasn't sure. Her cider has begun to clear, not enough you can read a paper through it but enough you can see through while mine remains fairly dark and cloudy with very light bubbles atop the 1gal carboy where hers is very still.

As always any and all help/advice is welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.
 
Hers should be done being that low and yours may finish slightly lower. You may want to check the gravity in 3 days to see if they are at a stable number. When they are consistent 3 days apart you can bottle. Do you want a carbonated cider or still/flat cider? Also you can let it sit in the primary longer for clarification.
 
Thank you. I was debating letting mine sit until it cleared as I wanted to avoid using anything to do it. We were wanting to carbonate yes. Would be a first doing so, but willing to try and pray for no explosions.
 
Thank you. I was debating letting mine sit until it cleared as I wanted to avoid using anything to do it. We were wanting to carbonate yes. Would be a first doing so, but willing to try and pray for no explosions.

As long as your fermentation has stopped and your gravity readings are steady for several days you should be fine assuming you use the proper amount of sugar.

I think most people use the same amount as they would for most beers, which is like 4oz per 5 gallons.
 
As long as fermentation is complete and you don't use to much sugar you shouldn't have any problems. 4-5 oz corn sugar should be a good typical amount for a 5 gallon batch. Also make sure you use decent (thick) bottles. I have had some cheap bottles crack on me.
 
If you bottle your cider at the 2 week mark you probably aren't going to like the reults. It will more than likely be like rocket fuel. Best to give it 2-3 month to mellow out.
 
Is there anything wrong with bottling it early like at the 2 week mark and then just wait three months till drinking or does it make a big difference to let it mellow out in the carboy before bottling?
 
Moved both over to secondary, decided will give it some time to sit before bottling. Gave both a taste, hers definitely needs to mellow out some as it's fairly bitter, mine taste more like a sparkling cider, not too dry and still a tad sweet so should mellow nicely I think. Thanks again to for all the suggestions and help!
 
Just an update and possible concern.

roughly 9 days since racking and all seemed fine with both brews. Hers remains nice and clear, mine is still cloudy with a few thin spots here and there of bubbles on the surface. But I noticed today what looked like a possibly(though very small) spore. I could be wrong as it wasn't green or yellow. It was an off white, I thought it could have been a cluster of bubbled so I gently tilted the carboy but it stayed intact. I was able to remove it with siphoning hose (after sanitizing it) as a precaution and now am not sure how to proceed. Do I transfer a 3rd time siphoning from the middle, do I wait and see if any more spores appear(if indeed it was mold) There is no sourness or off smell/taste. It still smells extremely good and taste is spot on. Just a bit concerned as to where I should go from here. Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
Cider is very susceptible to surface yeast, which shows as mostly white. Probably the result of too much headspace after racking. Add potassium metabisulfite ASAP to stop the spread of infection and top off the carboy with juice as well. If a heavier pellicle forms you may need to rack out from underneath.

Cider infections often make the juice smell very nice and fruity like fresh sweet juice, this is called 'framboise'. Don't be fooled, if ignored it will begin to effect your cider in a negative way by adding dull, mousy, musty flavors.
 
Thanks again for the help. I added the potassium metabisulfite and now seems like it should be ok.

I checked it this morning (treated it yesturday afternoon) and there's no floating spores or anything bad. blenty of bubbling going on inside the cider and a collection of paper thin white 'froth' gathered in the middle of the carboy. I guess would be a close definition..
 
Bit of a noobish question but still better to ask. After adding a Campden tablet, is it normal to sometimes see a cider begin to grow a ring of 'foam'? I'm just wondering if when moving the carboy to add the tablet if the moving may have brought up some co2 and that's the cause of it? This happened in the cider made with the bread yeast, where as the cider made with the champagne yeast I've noticed has begun bubbling pretty vigorously along the top of the cider.

When my gf added the crushed tablet to hers she was worried about floating bits of it at the top of the brew then some settling on the bottom and was curios if it should be alright.

Again thanks to all for the help.
 
Um, no it's not. Framboise is French for raspberry

You are correct that 'framboise' is French for raspberry . . . however, in this context the term is used to describe the fruity smell that results from certain infections.

Just like 'rhino farts' isn't actually flatulence from a large mammal.

-Le Breton . . . French citizen & US cidermaker
 
Bit of a noobish question but still better to ask. After adding a Campden tablet, is it normal to sometimes see a cider begin to grow a ring of 'foam'? I'm just wondering if when moving the carboy to add the tablet if the moving may have brought up some co2 and that's the cause of it? This happened in the cider made with the bread yeast, where as the cider made with the champagne yeast I've noticed has begun bubbling pretty vigorously along the top of the cider.

When my gf added the crushed tablet to hers she was worried about floating bits of it at the top of the brew then some settling on the bottom and was curios if it should be alright.

Again thanks to all for the help.

Bubbles are normal and are a sign of a strong fermentation. Sometimes I get a ring, other times they clump into bubble islands.

The larger bits if campden tablets should dissolve over time, slowly releasing SO2 into the cider, this is a good thing.
 
LeBreton said:
You are correct that 'framboise' is French for raspberry . . . however, in this context the term is used to describe the fruity smell that results from certain infections.

Just like 'rhino farts' isn't actually flatulence from a large mammal.

-Le Breton . . . French citizen & US cidermaker

And you would be the only person I have ever seen use it for that.
 
So bottling day came and went, primed and bottled both of ours and after reaching the two week mark went to check one bottle from each. I opened one of mine, got a nice loud POP, had a nice aroma and taste to it, resealed and moved on to my gf's batch. Tested one of hers. Had a loud POP and then a slow steady stream of bubbles flowing, it wasn't trying to pull an old faithful or volcanic eruption, just a steady white foam from the mouth down the side of the bottle. I know i'd read a post or two about this but for the life of me I can't find them or recall if this means perhaps there was too much priming sugar or if it could be bacteria related. Thanks again for all the help.
 
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