Newbie with questions

I've never brewed anything before and saw some youtube videos that basically said you can make hard cider just by adding yeast to cider and waiting. So I went to a brew store and bought a 1 gal. jug, stopper, airlock bubblier and a pack of EC-1118 yeast. I sanitized everything in the dishwasher followed the instructions on the yeast and it started bubbling in about 30 min.

My questions are.

1. Did I do everything right?
2. How long should it take to finish?
3. How do I know when it's done?
4. Is there any more steps other then filter the yeast out?

Sorry if these should be obvious and thanks for your help.

1. You should be OK, however you are going to want to do more reading on the subject. Sanitation is huge when it comes to fermenting.

2. That depends on a lot of stuff including the average temp. One good thing to remember about cider is the longer the better. I let mine go for 1 year b4 I drink it.

3. If you would have taken a hydrometer reading b4 hand you would be able to tell when most/all the sugars were eaten up but in this case when the airlock activity stops it should be done, I would still give it another 2-3 weeks after to be sure.

4. Go back to the brew store and get another 1 gallon jug and air lock, while your there buy a small bottle of sanitizer too. after about 1 month from you start date put the cider in a fridge for about 1 week to cold crash then siphon it off the crud at the bottom into your 2nd jug. Stick it back into the fridge and repeat the process in about a week..

This is just what I would do in this circumstance and is not my NORMAL way. One thing to remember is cider can give off a lot of sulfer and taste like cr@p when it's young. The longer you can let it age b4 you consume it up to about 1 year the better.

Well the best way to know its done is to check it with a hydrometer, which you can get from your LHBS for just a few bux. With that and a wine thief you can can check a small sample from the fermenter. If your going for a sweeter hard cider, you put it in the fridge when it hits 1.020, which is called cold crashing (yeast go to sleep at low temp). If you are going for a really dry cider, you just let it go and dont worry about the hydrometer readings, because it will stop when it runs out of sugar.

Another way of checking it is to just get a turkey baster and take small samples every couple days and see how it tastes. Sanitze the whole baster including the bulb.

Im assuming you used straight cider w.o sugars? If so, then you will end up with a lower ABV product.Further exerimentation with sugars will change how it turns out. Its fun to experiment with small 1gal batches to see which you like. See the sticky on this forum, there is a TON of info on sugars and yeasts...

BTW, when this batch is done, dont throw out the yeast cake at the bottom. you can use this as a starter for V2.0 in your quest for ultimate cider

Pumbaa said:

This is just what I would do in this circumstance and is not my NORMAL way. One thing to remember is cider can give off a lot of sulfer and taste like cr@p when it's young. The longer you can let it age b4 you consume it up to about 1 year the better.

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I would just say (and this is not to disagree with Pumbaa) but in my experience you need to let a dry cider sit 'months' to get close to drinkable, where a sweet cider thats been cold crashed earlier (like at 1.020) will be drinkable ALOT faster as long as the temp was controlled and it doesnt have that sulfur stank (which does go away with time)

I'm keeping it in a closet with the house temp between 65-70 F or I can put it in the garage and the temp here is high of 55-57 F and lows of 39-46 F over the next week and then only colder from there witch is better?

I was reading some of the posts on here last night and don't know what all the terms mean if there's a post or link you can point me to on terms great if not then these are a few I was wondering about

SG
OG
LHBS
ABV
Racking

Thanks again

use the forum search in top right corner

SG = Starting gravity
OG = Original gravity (same as starting)
LHBS = local home brew store
ABV = alcohol by volume
Racking = moving from one container to another using siphon hose

Any advice on keeping it in the house or in the garage?

I'd keep it in the house. Temps are a little on the warm side, but below 40 is probably going to be too low.

Unless you like it very dry, you might want to read up on cold crashing. champagne yeast is tough to crash, but if you only have a gallon it will be easier

CvilleKevin said:

Unless you like it very dry, you might want to read up on cold crashing. champagne yeast is tough to crash, but if you only have a gallon it will be easier

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How do I know when to cold crash since I didn't take the sg

go by taste. When the ferment starts slowing down, start tasting about once per day. When you are happy with the acid/sugar balance, crash it - unless you want it to get like a very dry white wine (which some folks like), in which case you can just leave it alone and let it ferment out.

Actually, SG stands for Specific Gravity, which is what we're actually measuring with our hydrometers. OG is the Original (specific) Gravity, FG is the Final (specific) Gravity. So, use SG when just referring to any hydrometer reading. Like, "My OG was 1.060. I want an FG of 1.010. I checked the SG again last night, but it's still too high to crash at 1.030."

One more question what's the best temp range for cider?

and thanks again for all the help!

cold is good. 55-60 will give a nice slow but steady ferment, minimize off flavors, and leave more residual apple flavor, IMO.

wreckinball9 said:

cold is good. 55-60 will give a nice slow but steady ferment, minimize off flavors, and leave more residual apple flavor, IMO.

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true that

you can ferment higher, but you are more likely to get some sulfur smells, which take longer to go away

wreckinball9 said:

cold is good. 55-60 will give a nice slow but steady ferment, minimize off flavors, and leave more residual apple flavor, IMO.

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Lower temp is good for primary, secondary or both stages of fermentation?

low temp is best for primary. Once you get to secondary (if you arnt cold crashing early) a typical conditioning temp of 70-ish is best. Its during the primary when the yeast are really active that the off flavors can be generated

dave79 said:

Any advice on keeping it in the house or in the garage?

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Don't keep it in the garage because the temps can change. Don't know where you live, but my garage can be 70 one day then 40 the next.