Amount of cider vs Size of Carboy

I'm competely new to brewing and would like to try to brew a cider. I have a 6.5 gallon glass carboy. Would it be ok to use only 6 gallons of cider or will the extra air in the carboy cause problems?

I'd go 5.5 gallons or make sure to use a blow off tube.

unless you do edworts apfelwein

Hmm, I'll have to check out this Apfelwein I've been reading so much about...

rdwj said:

I'd go 5.5 gallons or make sure to use a blow off tube.

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ah, so 6 gallons might be too much?

The last batch I made filled it to the neck and the Cotes de Blancs yeast only pused a minimal amount into the airlock. If you are gonna use an ale yeast your results may be different though.

I have Lalvin EC-1118

cvbrew said:

I have Lalvin EC-1118

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I did a 1 gal batch of cider in a 1 gal bottle with EC-1118 and it pushed into the airlock a little but there was almost no volume lost.

With unfiltered Gravenstein cider, and some dextrose it came out delicious with that yeast.

Good to hear. I'm nervous since this is my first attempt but excited to see how it goes.

sanatize well, have everything you need ready, and do edworts apfelwein and you cant go wrong!

I'm thinking of trying the Apfelwein next. I don't have everything right now for that and want to get going on this.

Here's my plan, let me know how it sounds and what could be tweaked:

The cider I'm using has an O.G. (if I'm using the hydrometer right) of 1.056 so I'm not going to add any sugars. I'm going to add the Lavlin EC-1118 and let it ferment in the glass carboy for a couple weeks until the bubbling slows down and then add sugar and bottle. Then I'll let it sit for at least another 2 weeks and then start opening a bottle a week to see how the flavor changes.

this is just a suggestion, but i would let it sit in primary for at least a month so it clears out, i tasted my cider at 2 weeks and it was awful. it had a good aroma but it was nasty. left it for another month and im bottling it still in about 4 hours, its clear and tastes great.

the cider/apfelwine process requires alot of patience

I'll keep that in mind and see how patient I can be. I was just browsing other threads and was wondering if I should expect a strong smell from the fermentation at first?

yes there is a pretty strong odor. its not like a 'plug your nose-smell it through the whole house odor', but its there.

alot of the smell also depends on the ingredients and the yeast you use as well

cvbrew said:

I'll keep that in mind and see how patient I can be. I was just browsing other threads and was wondering if I should expect a strong smell from the fermentation at first?

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The aroma from my EC-1118 batch was always quite pleasant.

So I guess this means I shouldn't leave it in the bedroom closet which is full of clothes and stuff. Do most people have special rooms for this stuff or use basements? I don't have a basement so the next thing that comes to mind (after the closet idea) would be the kitchen since it's easier to air out. The kitchen is very tiny and the temperature isn't as stable as the closet and it also gets some light.

The aroma from my EC-1118 batch was always quite pleasant.

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I hope to have similar results then.

my 'home brewery' fermentation and clearing storage is my laundry room

I have 5+ gallons of 4 different one gallon batches of mead and cider. They are all fermenting in what was my DVD cabinet. It is approximately 2 x 3.5 x 2. I had a VERY minimal smell when the cider was fermenting at its strongest. But it was not noticeable at all outside of the cabinet.

I ended up setting it up in the closet. It's bubbling about once a second or a little quicker. I saw the first bubbles within an hour of starting. It's pretty warm in here so I think that has something to do with it. The only odor so far is a pleasant cidery one and that's only if I get very close and inhale deeply.

Thanks for all the quick tips!

The smell definitely got stronger for a while, but I covered it with a cardboard box and put some baking soda in the closet and it was fine.

So my cider has been sitting for about 2.5 weeks now. I'm not noticing any bubbles but it's still a bit cloudy. I'd like to test the gravity but I'm afraid I'll contaminate it. What's the safest way to check the gravity? Would siphoning a little out to test be good?

My plan is constantly evolving but for now I'm thinking I'll probably leave it for another couple weeks or however long it takes to get a stable reading and clarity and then put it straight in bottles to carbonate. I think next time I'll start in my bucket, so I can rack to the carboy but this time I started in the carboy so I don't really have anywhere for it to go except the bottles.