A few issues...

So, I bottled one batch of the three on 1 Dec. and it had an off taste to it. not sure but it was a bit sour, not like vinagre though. i cracked one open today and it had become somewhat more pronounced. I'm hoping it will go away after a while of aging.

Also the other 2 batches of cider aren't clearing. they are both down to SG.998 and have been sitting there for about 4 weeks now. should I crash cool them? I have a fridge in the garage but temps outside have been from 32 down to 8 the last few weeks so its more like a freezer lately (we've been using it to freeze the elk, venison and such). How long would crash cooling take for 6gal and would freezing be an issue? Also, having never crash cooled, is there still enough yeast in there to carb at bottling?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

Almost forgot to mention... the details of what all I did on each of these can be found in my earlier post in the cider forum.

Hrmmmmm....Vinegar taste is normally caused by bad yeast strains (not saying that is YOUR problem) but 4 weeks is about the shortest time you can let it go before bottling. As for the freezer, if it gets below about 60 in the "freezer" then it is too cold to carb. As for yeast, there should be plenty in there still. Crash cooling is normally done at about 35 degrees f for about a week.

Doubt that was any help, but hopefully it will spark a conversation.

Drunkensatyr said:

Hrmmmmm....Vinegar taste is normally caused by bad yeast strains (not saying that is YOUR problem) but 4 weeks is about the shortest time you can let it go before bottling. As for the freezer, if it gets below about 60 in the "freezer" then it is too cold to carb. As for yeast, there should be plenty in there still. Crash cooling is normally done at about 35 degrees f for about a week.

Doubt that was any help, but hopefully it will spark a conversation.

Click to expand...

Wait, are you saying that if it's crash cooled below 60° F. than you can't carb it even if you warm it up after it's cleared?

Well they've been sitting at .998 for four weeks. They've been brewing for about 6 weeks...

I think I'll try it in the fridge outside, the batch is 6gal so I doubt it will freeze too quickly but if it starts to freeze I'll take it out.

thanks.