First timer question

Hello,
I am new to this. I had access to a whole bunch of apples when the season ended so we juiced 5 gallons worth, bought a starter brew kit at the local brew store and had at it.
5 gallons of cider
2 lbs white sugar
2 lbs brown sugar
1 pkg of Safale 05 yeast

Simmered the sugar and cider to 190 F for 40 min, cooled to 80 F, pitched yeast. It started at 1.092.

It has been 1 week and it has been bubbling away, about one bubble every 10-11 seconds.

My original plan was to follow a recipe of letting the ferment go until it slows and hits around 1.000 (about 2 weeks), then rack it and wait a month, then add 1/2 cup dissolved sugar and bottle. Then wait another month.

Now I have a fear that if I follow this recipe I will have a strong but very, very dry, non-apple tasting cider which is not what I want. Especially after juicing all those darn apples.

I read a thread here where a guy did the first ferment until the gravity got to around 1.010 and still somewhat sweet and apple tasting. Then immediately, put it into the bottling bucket with the priming sugar and bottled. He then waited a few days to a week, testing after the first few days until the carb was just right then killed the yeast by putting bottles in
a hot (190 F) bath for ten minutes. Then let cool, fridge and drink.

My question is based on my confusion. If this recipe is valid then I can have the sweeter carbonated cider that I want in 2-3 weeks with no secondary ferment, as opposed to the first recipe where it takes 2-3 months to end product and that product won't even taste like apple cider? If true, do I need to refrigerate or can I leave it at room temp to continue to develop?

Thanks for any help

My trees didn't put out many apples this year, but I think I learned quite a bit from my mistakes last year cider making.

First, cider-making is much more like wine making than beer making. Bringing your cider up to 190 may make it cloudy. It shouldn't hurt anything, but the haze will be tough to clear.
The way to retard wild yeast growth in cider is to add a sulphite the day before pitching yeast. Every wine/beer store has it in stock. It's why nearly every bottle of commercial wine has a warning that says "Contains Sulphites". Cooking is good for beer but tough on wine.

I'd like to know if your recipe for dipping the bottles at 190F to kill off yeast will work. I would expect that the alcohol in the bottle would boil and blow the bottle up.

Your best bet is to bottle ferment until the sweetness/carbonation mixture is the way you want it, then stick them all in a fridge or outside (after all, you do live in Maine). I'd keep a close eye on them so you don't get bottle bombs.

If this recipe is valid then I can have the sweeter carbonated cider that I want in 2-3 weeks with no secondary ferment,

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That is correct. Check out Pappers' sticky for details. I'd recommend not even using priming sugar. You already have a load of sugar in this. Start taste testing when its around 1.015 and bottle it when its just a little sweeter then where you want it. The bottle carb will drop the sg a couple more points

If true, do I need to refrigerate or can I leave it at room temp to continue to develop

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You can leave at room temp.

Bringing your cider up to 190 may make it cloudy. It shouldn't hurt anything, but the haze will be tough to clear.

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true, next time you also might not want to add so much sugar, My experience is that if you go over 1.065 or 1.070, you start losing apple taste, although the US05 does better than most with extra sugar

Your best bet is to bottle ferment until the sweetness/carbonation mixture is the way you want it, then stick them all in a fridge or outside (after all, you do live in Maine). I'd keep a close eye on them so you don't get bottle bombs.

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or you can cold crash, which is a similar process, except you rack the clear cider off the top before and after you chill the cider, which keeps it stable much longer

Thank you very much for the response. I just tested it today (8 days now) and it is still pretty sweet with a sp grav of 1.057 so still a ways to go. I'm figuring 1.092-1.057, it already has between 4 and 5% alcohol.

I have another question about my cider.

It has been 3 more days since I checked it last. It only went from 1.057 to 1.050 and is still pretty sweet. Before I opened the fermenter I noticed it was still producing a bubble every 8-10 seconds. I am noticing a very slight fizz in the cider but it tastes good, no taste of vinegar or anything foul. The fermenter is in my basement where it is around a constant 63 degrees.

Am I still ok? Many folks say after 2 weeks the yeast should be at the end of the fermentation and around 1.000

Thanks again for any help

Hi there.
I wouldn't boil the apple juice or even add the sugar water while hot because heat and sugar makes the apples form pectin... I make jam and boil the fruit and sugar to get pectin to set the jam. Making cider with boiled fruit can cause what CvilleKevin said...cloudy brew or 'pectin haze' and it can be treated with Pecolase or some other pectin destroyer, but its a nuisance and left too long it goes all thick and jelly like.

Sounds like you used a lot of sugar... I usually go for about 1 pound of sugar to the gallon because mine are dessert apples and have some sweetness.

Also if you do bottle and want more sweetness you can use a non-fermentable wine sweetner. Most brew stores sell it.

Val

You might want to bring it to a warmer place in your house. That yeast should be good down to 60 F, but if the fermenter is on the floor in your basement, it could be somewhat colder than the 63 F room temperature. The wort will take on the temperature of the floor rather than the air as heat transfer is much more efficient through solid surfaces than through air.