Newbie to brewing, is my setup ok?

hi guys,

this is my first time brewing anything, my dad used to be an avid home brewer and his equipment has been sitting under the house for some time so i decided to clean it out and give this cider making a go.

I did some (read: little) research before embarking on this endevour, i was reccomended a home brew store by a friend so assured me the owner would sort me out, i walked away with a tub of sanitizing power and 11g of 'safcider' yeast.

at the moment the set up is:

25L of additive/preservative free pasturized apple juice in a;
25(ish) litre fermentation drum, with an S bend airlock
on a heat pad (and wrapped in a blanket if it gets cold)

the temp stays at around 22deg C and took a day or so to get going, but seems to be bubbling away nicely now.

I'm wondering if i can add campden tablets and/or pectic enzyme after the fermentation has finished (usually takes a week? from what i have read) I didn't know about these additives before but most recipes i have seen include them, but they all seem to be added before fermentation.

I have a number of kegs, and plan to use them and force carb the cider. I'd like to turn this brew over as fast as possible, so i can setup again to brew one for the summer in a few months (one that i can do properly from the beginning and allow to age for a little while). what should i do with what ive got? if this was your situation what would be your next step?

All advice is greatly appreciated,

Regards,
Spicypeanut.

Campden tablets are used before fermentation to prepare juice that was not pasteurized. You don't need any.

Pectic enzyme helps the cider clear. It's most effective when added at the beginning, but you can add it now if you have some. The longer you wait the longer clearing will take.

As for how to proceed, it depends on your desired outcome. You do have a hydrometer, right?

Thanks for that, yea the juice was pasturized before hand, didn't realise it was one OR the other.

I don't have any enzyme, but i shall get some, the cider that i'm getting out for testing is quite cloudy, and i'd like a clear (as practical) cider, will the pectic enzyme resolve that?

and yea, i do have a hydrometer, but i'm a novice at using it, i've done some reading on how they work and what i'm looking for but thats it really. still don't quite have my head around what i should expect to see when and what i should do.

Regards,
Spicypeanut.

I've added pectic enzyme after a week or so and it still helped clearing, but it took longer than normal. It will help and can't hurt no matter when you put it in.

Put your hydrometer in water, it should measure 1.000 on the specific gravity scale. Mix 2 teaspoons of table sugar in 12 oz of water and that should measure close to 1.010. That's what it's for, measuring the amount of sugar. As the yeast convert sugar to alcohol the specific gravity goes down. It's how we monitor the progress of fermentation.

ha ha thanks,

i did more reading, have been measuring the specific gravity of most liquids in my fridge this afternoon.

whats the amount of pectic enzyme i should use, i have found a number of descriptions of its use, how ever they all describe an amount for the volume their using, not a g/L or oz/gal i tried extrapolating the amounts but they all varied, is there a 'rule of thumb' i should follow?

the big question i'm facing will be when i should 'rack' it to another container, its been going for close to a week, i have read about 'cold crashing' to stop the fermentation before it gets too dry, but this is only my first attempt and i don't want to make it too hard on myself, does it really just involve chilling the brew then racking it? i like the idea, and have a fridge suitable, i could do it... but i'm not sure. what would your recommendation be? or should i ask, what would give me the best result the fastest?

Regards,
Spicypeanut.

Use the recommended dosage specified on the package - it's usually like 1 tsp per gallon or something like that.

There are a lot of options for finishing cider. I like to rack to secondary when SG gets below 1.010, which can be anywhere from a week to 3 depending on conditions. Yours is probably near that now. Then I'll let fermentation finish to whatever the yeast will take it to then sweeten and bottle. If you cold crash before fermentation is done you won't have as much alcohol content. Mine starts at 1.050 and ends at 1.000 or close to it, which gives me about 6.5% alcohol. Too bad you didn't measure SG at the start, you need that to estimate the ABV.

What juice did you use, and did you add any sugar at the beginning?

thanks, i discovered that when i bought some today, exactly what i was looking for.

I have siphoned the batch into a secondary, and i was able to leave most of the yeast behind, i added pectic enzyme and have put the lid on and the airlock has started to bubble, only a little.

I cleaned out and sanitized a wine bottle and filled it with a sample, to it i also added PVPP, and have set it in the fridge to see what happens, if it works out, which i think it is (because the haze has begun to settle already), i will put the whole batch in the fridge and add PVPP aswell.

I then plan to use the wine bottle to add artificial sweetener and tannin powder to see what it tastes like and what i think will work best.

Regards,
Spicypeanut.

Hi Spicypeanut - and welcome. I guess my quick and dirty question is : What kind of cider are you looking for at the end of the day. If you know what you want then it is much easier to get there (sounds patronizingly obvious - but it is not meant in that way - because knowing what you want may not always be clear).
Do you want a cider that is very dry or one that is more sweet?
Do you want a cider that is still or sparkling?
Do you want a cider that is very clear and "polished" or one that is translucent and perhaps hazy?
Are you looking for a cider that has a lot of lip puckering tannins or one that has none?
Do you want your cider to be sharply acidic or one with smoother edges?
Are you looking for a cider that you drink by the pint or one that you drink by the glass (a low alcohol cider or one more like a wine?)
In my opinion, having an answer to these questions (and there are other possible questions) really determines what your processes should look like and indeed what you may need to do to the apple juice to produce the outcomes you want.

Maylar said:

Too bad you didn't measure SG at the start, you need that to estimate the ABV.

Click to expand...

Not sure that that is necessarily true. At least in the USA, commercially produced juices have labels that inform the consumer the ingredients of the juice (including the sugars of the fruit) and the amounts of each ingredient used per nominal "serving" together with the total number of servings in each container purchased. That means that the total sugar content is listed and that means that it is easy to calculate the starting gravity (assuming 1 lb of sugar in 1 gallon will read 1.040). If Spicypeanut added sugar and he knows the weight of the sugar he (I assume he) added then we know with some certainty the starting gravity and so the potential alcohol by volume (ABV)

I still have an unopened bottle of the juice i used, i could use that as a guide, after all i added no more sugar to it.

basicly what i'm looking for is a semi-sweet (closer to dry) cider, the type one would drink by the pint, in summer.

i want sparkling, and i'm willing to go down the kegging route to get that.

smoother edges and low tannins (i believe, i wasn't aware that tannins were 'sour' - didn't know what they tasted like)

i'm going for something like bulmers or magners, but perhaps slightly drier. i would like to have a 'polished' product at the end, so clarity is important.

most recipes i have found are very simple, none go into the details of fining the end product enough.

either way, all of your help so far has been great, i very much appreciate it.

Regards,
Spicypeanut.