Cider assistance

Hello all, I'm hoping i can possible get some advice on a couple batches of cider i am currently brewing. I racked both batches from the 6 gallon primary carboys, into the 5 gallon secondary's. Both batches started clearing bery nicely, then all of a sudden, i saw them clouding back up and started fermenting again! I did not add anything after racking. Both batches were right around 1.010, after approximately 2 months in the primary. Noth showed signs of complete fermentation. My question is, where do i go from here? They have been in the secondary for about a month and dont seem to be clearing up, what is my next step? Is there an additive i should use to aid in clearing? I would like to bottle this soon, but its looking pretty ugly

You can get some Super-Kleer to put in there to clear it up overnight

I don't know what recipe you used but at 1.010 I would have to say that it is not done fermenting yet. Post your recipe and what type of yeast was used. This will help us to determine what is going on. Typically, my ciders finish below 1.000. My guess at this point is that the yeast got woke up a little bit during your racking and decided to get back to work on the residual sugar. You might also add some information about what the temperature has been doing during fermentation.

I used store bought juice, Motts, 2 lbs dextrose, 1 whole ginger root chopped, and 2 lbs honey.
Heated to 135 half gallon apple juice with ginger and honey. Added to carboy. Added remaining 5.5 gallons of juice mixed in dextrose.
Stired and removed half gallon of mix to make starter
At 69 degrees f i pitched he yeast for the starter, and let it settle for about 4 hours till actively fermenting. Added starter to batch at 70.1 f. The sg was 1.178 yup, thats right.
I let them sit in roughly 68-70. And 72 the highest temp reading before i put an ac in the brew room. Not it sits at 66-69 f

Oh yea safale s-04

Sounds like way too much ginger for my tastes.

Ok, so your sitting at 21% abv right now. I am pretty sure that stuff is going to need a few months to mellow out so I don't think I would be in any hurry to bottle it. However, if you must, Super-Kleer should get you headed in the right direction.

i'm very surprised us04 took it to 21%. even if it is simple sugars.

DerekJ said:

Ok, so your sitting at 21% abv right now. I am pretty sure that stuff is going to need a few months to mellow out so I don't think I would be in any hurry to bottle it. However, if you must, Super-Kleer should get you headed in the right direction.

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DerekJ ... I'm new to paying attention to the ABV and such. How did you calculate that? I know how to calc ABV based on the different in hydrometer readings, but not how to calculate starting gravity from the ingredients.

Is there a webpage for that? Or just a forumla?

tracyt1800 said:

DerekJ ... I'm new to paying attention to the ABV and such. How did you calculate that? I know how to calc ABV based on the different in hydrometer readings, but not how to calculate starting gravity from the ingredients.

Is there a webpage for that? Or just a forumla?

Click to expand...

You take your Original Gravity (OG) and subtract your Final Gravity (FG). In your case this would be 1.178 minus 1.010 which is .168. You then multiply that times 131. .168 x 131 = 22.008. That is your ABV 22.008%. (Sorry I did the math in my head earlier)

I know right. Its some wicked stuff. But it smells awesome, and didn't taste too bad either when i racked it out

I think you may be mistaken on your hydrometer reading.
Store bought juice should be around 1.048-1.050, give or take a bit.
2lb of dex and 2lb of honey in 6 gallons should only bring you up around 1.078.
I think you have a 1 where there should be a zero in your O.G. reading.
closer to 10%ABV, not 21%
My last batch was 5 gallons of cider(OG 1.051) and 5lb of caramalized sugar syrup. My OG was only 1.082.

You could be correct, i may have easily mistaken the hudro reading as i was partaking in my first batch of cider while brewin the second. I thought it was odd when i was reading my noted the next day!

pretty surprising that it's taken that long to only get to 1.01!!! From what I've read, and from my little experience, with that sort of recipe and yeast, it should only take up to 3 weeks in primary to fully ferment. At least that's what I've experienced. My last 6 galon batch went from 1.05 to 1.16 in 12 days.

With the cloudyness, throw some pectic enzyme into your batch 12 hours before you pitch the yeast, has worked fantastically for me

sa101 said:

My last 6 galon batch went from 1.05 to 1.16 in 12 days.

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what's next, can you reverse the seemingly inexorable slide of the universe towards higher entropy??

tracyt1800 said:

DerekJ ... I'm new to paying attention to the ABV and such. How did you calculate that? I know how to calc ABV based on the different in hydrometer readings, but not how to calculate starting gravity from the ingredients.

Is there a webpage for that? Or just a forumla?

Click to expand...

You could try Dave's Dreaded Brewing Tools calculator.

dinnerstick said:

what's next, can you reverse the seemingly inexorable slide of the universe towards higher entropy??

Click to expand...

That's a trick question because, just this morning, I noticed that the universe had achieved equilibrium. Did you notice?

I did not, still just as unstable and twisted as always. But the brew is good

Does anyone here know where i can purchase corny kegs, less than $50 a whack?