Pappy's pub cider fermentation experiences

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seabrew8

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Hey folks, i was just wondering how some of your fermentations went? Duration especially.

Mine is busy swirling aroiund right now with little foam after 4 days but on day 2 i had a healthy layer of foam.

5.5 gal Apple juice
11lbs of sugar
Couple hand fulls of golden raisins
1 cinnamon stick
EC - 1118

I did scoop out most of the raisins lastnight because i wanted to see the surface of the must/wort/wash, whatever you want to call it haha.

Its also in an open bucket with a piece of glass laid on top, i did use a plastici bag for the first 3 days.

Temp is cool 18-20C according to the thermostat.

I plan on putting it in my carboy went things settle down however long that is.
 
Egad.... that's rocket fuel. Don't light a match near your mouth during consumption, and wear a helmet so you don't hurt yourself too bad when you fall down.
 
Edit:
How much yeast did you pitch?
Did you rehydrate it before pitching?
What temp did you pitch the yeast?
What is your fermentation temp at?

If you only used one packet of the yeast it might not have been enough yeast cells with all that sugar. Plus if you didn't rehydrate them it could have stressed out their cell walls with that high gravity
 
Resonator said:
Edit:
How much yeast did you pitch?
Did you rehydrate it before pitching?
What temp did you pitch the yeast?
What is your fermentation temp at?

If you only used one packet of the yeast it might not have been enough yeast cells with all that sugar. Plus if you didn't rehydrate them it could have stressed out their cell walls with that high gravity
Click to expand...

One pack of EC-1118, i just sprinkled it on, my temp is around room temperature - a little on the cool side.
 
seabrew8 said:
One pack of EC-1118, i just sprinkled it on, my temp is around room temperature - a little on the cool side.
Click to expand...


You probably needed to pitch more than one and probably should have rehydrated it. I would get some more yeast. A lot of them probably didn't survive. You could always wait a few more days and see what happens though.
 
Thanks, i actually did pitch a few sprinkles of another pack of EC-1118 and turned up the heat in the basement.

Right now i can't see the cinnamon stick anymore, it sunk. haha
 
I just racked this into a carboy, i was suprised that the yeast cake was pretty small. I think i should just go back to beer! lol its seems easier/predictable.

Update: Its actually bubbling 2x in less then 10 seconds so it seems good. I did put an extra 3L of water in it though to top up the carboy and added about another half pack of EC- 1118. I like to menton that both of these yeast packs were close to 10 years old.

IMG_20151027_235645.jpg
 
seabrew8 said:
both of these yeast packs were close to 10 years old.
Click to expand...

!!!!!!!!!!
wow
that's amazing that they still work.

cider is pretty lacking in yeast nutrients,
if you can buy it or yeast energizer, use it.
raisins work if you cant get the nutrient/energizer.
Some might argue that the dead yeast from sprinkling onto must/wort
act as food for the yeast that lived ( debated )
if your glass carboy is the 6 gallon variety, use it for primary.
Generally ciders don't get very foamy during fermentation
and the yeast cake from EC-1118 is very compact.
You will definately want this to ferment cool and slow.
I personally do a month in primary followed by a second month secondary ( for adding cinnamon or other flavorings )
When fermentation slows down to less than 1 airlock bubble every 15 seconds i will start gently rocking the carboy several times a day to help keep the yeast active. I'll also bump up the temp a bit but mind you at no time at all do i ferment this over 70-F.

You also can use the ale pails as well to allways have a batch going.
If you have the extra $$$ to spend it would be great if you got the beergas/nitrogen keg set-up for this stuff. I can't describe the wonders it does for the mouthfeel and having a cascading cider pour ( like guinness pours ) is a visual feast for the eyes.
 
Ok i just checked the S.G and it comes in at near perfect 1.030, its been fermenting for 18 days.

From one of pappys posts he said it finishes at around 1.020, i was wondering if i should throw some KC super kleer into it when it hits 1.020 ? I really like to free up the carboy ASAP.
 
I like to add, the liter i racked had a BIG cinnamon stick taste and it was pretty sweet, virtually no tart. I used 4 sticks of cinnamon, i figure its going to be 3 or 4 weeks to mellow.
 
Paps said:
!!!!!!!!!!
wow
that's amazing that they still work.

cider is pretty lacking in yeast nutrients,
if you can buy it or yeast energizer, use it.
raisins work if you cant get the nutrient/energizer.
Some might argue that the dead yeast from sprinkling onto must/wort
act as food for the yeast that lived ( debated )
if your glass carboy is the 6 gallon variety, use it for primary.
Generally ciders don't get very foamy during fermentation
and the yeast cake from EC-1118 is very compact.
You will definately want this to ferment cool and slow.
I personally do a month in primary followed by a second month secondary ( for adding cinnamon or other flavorings )
When fermentation slows down to less than 1 airlock bubble every 15 seconds i will start gently rocking the carboy several times a day to help keep the yeast active. I'll also bump up the temp a bit but mind you at no time at all do i ferment this over 70-F.

You also can use the ale pails as well to allways have a batch going.
If you have the extra $$$ to spend it would be great if you got the beergas/nitrogen keg set-up for this stuff. I can't describe the wonders it does for the mouthfeel and having a cascading cider pour ( like guinness pours ) is a visual feast for the eyes.
Click to expand...

Hey paps, i got a sg reading of 1.020 lastnight. Have you seen it go lower? Its burping around twice a min and has no foam.
 
I have seen mine go for month and half in secondary. Current batch is @ 1.013 and still happily bubbling away, after five weeks in secondary.
 
I was under the impression that you should use 1 cup of sugar per gallon. I've been doing it this way for about a year now and my cider is tasty and strong. A little stronger than your average beer, but tastier too.
 
Mine stopped at .998. And it's almost a month in primary.

This is my first batch so not sure if the final product will be best at .998 or 1.02 although at first taste I like the 1.02 but both tastes were still in primary so may not mean much in long run.

Yeast stopped at almost 18%

I'd let it ferment out. I plan on adding some fcaj to bring up the sweetness and if the yeast are still there and not full....prime it for bubbles.

I will use super Klee but only after it sits for about a month or so in secondary.

Or I may just keg it.
 
Can't tell you what mine finished at lol one of these times i wish i keep notes :) i make this a few times though and i liked it better with the cinnamon.
 
Mine finished at 1.020, tastes mighty fine. I put the cinnamon in after fermentation so its easier to control the amount of flavour.

Half of my 5 gal is being made into applejack, so far its pretty sweet but as the alcohol content increases it balances out the sweetness.
 

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