crafalik
Member
I am new to the world of cider. I just kegged and force carbonated my cider to the delight of all who visit. It came out great.
I placed three gallons of quality organize cider and two pounds of granulated sugar in a fermenter (3 gal glass carboy) and allowed it to ferment for 5 months. I then added preservatives and blended it back with two additional gallons of fresh unfermented cider (I wanted it to be a little sweeter with more apple character). Force carbonated it and its amazing.
Now here is the question. A few months before I started that batch I purchased some of the same cider to experiment with. I bought some airlocks and stoppers that would fit on the glass jugs. I emptied out a little cider and simply added some Red Star Cote des Blancs yeast. The plan was to try different methods of sweetening it to see if there was a preferred method. What I ended up with was vinegar. NOT PLEASANT.
Where did I go wrong? Why was I successful the first time? Did I let them sit too long or do I need to do something to prevent wild yeast?
Thanks
I placed three gallons of quality organize cider and two pounds of granulated sugar in a fermenter (3 gal glass carboy) and allowed it to ferment for 5 months. I then added preservatives and blended it back with two additional gallons of fresh unfermented cider (I wanted it to be a little sweeter with more apple character). Force carbonated it and its amazing.
Now here is the question. A few months before I started that batch I purchased some of the same cider to experiment with. I bought some airlocks and stoppers that would fit on the glass jugs. I emptied out a little cider and simply added some Red Star Cote des Blancs yeast. The plan was to try different methods of sweetening it to see if there was a preferred method. What I ended up with was vinegar. NOT PLEASANT.
Where did I go wrong? Why was I successful the first time? Did I let them sit too long or do I need to do something to prevent wild yeast?
Thanks