kesslerr1
Well-Known Member
I decided to make my first cider this year from fresh picked apples. I picked (through rocks at the trees to knock them down) 35 pounds of apples, six varieties for growing on the side of the road. Most of which were green and tart. After juicing them with the juicer I ended up with 3 gallons of juice. I heated it up on the stove for an hour to about 160. To raise the sugar levels I boiled 2 pounds of local wildflower honey in water and added it along with a quart pasteurized black cherry juice. My starting gravity was 1.062 I was shooting for 1.070, but I’ll take it. Once in the carboy I added 3 campden tables and am letting it sit now. I started my cider yeast WLP775 in honey water and plan to add that soon.
My questions are
1) How long after you add the campden tablets do you add your yeast. I have seen anywhere from 12 hours to 3 days. Is there any way of telling when you should and should not add it?
2) There is a large sediment at the bottom of my carboy, about ¼ of the total volume. Most of this appears to be apple pulp from juicing. It does not appear to be densely packed, like yeast gets after primary fermentation. I am worried about losing a lot of volume. Should transfer some of it when I rack the cider or should I leave it behind?
3) Has anyone ever stop their fermentation early to retain some of the sweetness? And with my low OG (for a cider from what I can gather) should I just let it ride and ferment out all the way or stop fermentation with a campden tablet? In the end I just want t decent final product it doesn’t have to be high gravity.
Happy brewing,
RK
My questions are
1) How long after you add the campden tablets do you add your yeast. I have seen anywhere from 12 hours to 3 days. Is there any way of telling when you should and should not add it?
2) There is a large sediment at the bottom of my carboy, about ¼ of the total volume. Most of this appears to be apple pulp from juicing. It does not appear to be densely packed, like yeast gets after primary fermentation. I am worried about losing a lot of volume. Should transfer some of it when I rack the cider or should I leave it behind?
3) Has anyone ever stop their fermentation early to retain some of the sweetness? And with my low OG (for a cider from what I can gather) should I just let it ride and ferment out all the way or stop fermentation with a campden tablet? In the end I just want t decent final product it doesn’t have to be high gravity.
Happy brewing,
RK