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hunter006

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Hi all

Just made my first cider.

4L Apple juice from concentrate
200g brewing sugar
1 tsp yeast nutrient
5g wine yeast
Temp range 59-75f fluctuations

1st day all good
2nd day fermentation went CCCCRRAZY!!!!! Had to move from bubbler to blowoff tube !
3rd day all settled moved back to bubbler
4th day All most stopped bubbling now - every 40-60 seconds
Never took a reading to start but reads 1.000 now and its looks fizzy but also starting to clear SLOWLY.. Tastes dry and not that sweet .
Trouble is I have no idea what to do next.
Would like sweet clear cider, not bothered about carbonation.

TIA
 
My first batch was pretty much identical. You either :
A) let it finish, treat with chemicals to stop the yeast, then back sweeten
B) let it finish, leave it dry and mix with something sweet(sprite, etc) when you drink it
C) leave it to finish and clear, back sweeten and refrigerate.

I assume you could sweeten, bottle and pasteurize, though I've only done that with carbonated versions.

With mine (hate sulfites and chemicals, so that wasn't an option) I took the first gallon to a party and mixed it with sprite. I carbonated and pasteurized 2 gallons with apple concentrate. I carbonated another 1.5 gallons with caramel syrup, then refrigerated. The last bit also got caramel syrup, but got refrigerated and drank still. All gone in a month, popular stuff :) take a bottle to dinner and your guaranteed to come home with an empty bottle.
 
Thanks for the quick reply..
So when is it finished? Bubbling about once evry 2 mins now.
So do I syphon into another bottle first?
The thing is I have never done this before. Read a fair bit but don't really understand the second fermentation , do I need to do that.?
RACKING, im guess8ng that means bottling or storing in appropriate container?
Pr8bably simply to most but for us first time newbies (like me) no one seems to use laymans terms..
Kill the yeast, got that so when I sweeten it , it doesn't start to ferment again.
Caramel syrup, where do I get that.. sounds good!
Thanks again
 
It's finished when you get several consecutive hydrometer readings the same. You can get a hydrometer cheep at a home brew store. It won't be bubbling at that point. Sounds like you are close, but don't bottle before fermentation has stopped or you could have exploding bottles.

I make my own caramel syrup, just Carmelize some sugar, then add water to dissolve. Usually something like 2 cups sugar carmelized, then add 1 1/2 cups water, simmer till dissolved, cool.

Racking is transferring your brew from one container to another. You'll notice sludge( lee) collecting at the bottom as your cider clears. You don't typically want to let it sit on the lees, so you rack it off into a new sterilized container, usually a carboy, or directly into bottles.

I'm pretty new at this too, but surfing this site provides a wealth of info.
 
Right blue spark.
Stuck it into a secondry and noticed a section at the top trying to clear. Have chucked some finings in it which I picked up from wilkos, been just under 24h and there has been a vast difference in the clearness. Another 24h then going to fridge it then back sweeten with some of that caramel syrup.
Thanks for the help and ill let you know how it turns out..
 
hi, my ciders at about the same point (only 2L) to rack; is it important that I siphon the cider or can I just pour it gently?
 
So far in my experience which I might add I'd next to none, siphoning gives you more out of it.. I'm still losing each time I transfer bunnies minimal. Overtime in the past that I have moved it it sirs muck up from the bottom and as you only have 2L ...
That's my first was but due to temp I had use a heating belt and with 2L was difficult... 1gallon just makes the whole process easier..
Let me know how you get on. Might make a descent drink between us :)
 
Ok all, batch done and fridged. Used finnings and attemped to remove the pectin haze. Back sweetening with sweetener but it tastes slightly yeasty. Is there anyway of getting rid of it..?
Tia
 
Give it a few days in the fridge, any remaining yeast should drop out and the yeast flavor should subside.
 
Thanks for the quick reply.So this aplies to any brew? I have notices a little sediment at the bottom but its been about 2 weeks. Still taste the yeast? Should I keep transfering to another container OR Is there away I can speed the process up by adding stuff.
 
Just had a quick rummage around. Found whats gone wrong.. 1 the yeast, will try the ale yeast ( nottinham) or somthing other than wine, Darker sugar not cane sugar for flavour and don't let it ferment out too much as to reserve some of the sweetness or will ale yeast do this.. let me knownif this sounds a better way..
Thanks
 
Keep in mind that unless your environment is the same every time, you will get different results. Even with the same ingredients. (temperature!, volume, attitude, sanitation) If you can control these, you can consistently produce a great product every time. (I think) it's important to create a BASELINE cider and then branch out to different ingredients.

The best part of making hard cider (or fermenting ANYTHING) is the experimentation process. I've got my methods down so that I can produce a consistent cider with ingredients that I can readily find and I enjoy the hell out of it. I also make a LOT of 1 gallon batches to try new ingredients. This keeps me from having to choke down 5 gallons of something crappy.

You'll have to determine what sort of cider you like, that you can produce with your environment. I like primarily dry ciders, but sweeter ones are good for sipping late at night after dinner. A gallon of store bought juice, some brown sugar and a couple of weeks can produce that very easily. It's not fru-fru...but it's tasty ;)
 
Ok.. just about to start my second batch. Going to put pectolase in, now ive looked around because I did use this on my last batch but it was a last ingredient and all I can find is that this should be done before fementation, im going to chuck this in today but what I cant find is should it be done before I add anything else like sugars and nutrient or at the same time. Should be another 24h before I add yeast. SO..
TODAY
1. JUICE - PECTOLASE
OR
2. JUICE - SUGAR - NUTRIENT - PECTOLASE
TOMORROW
YEAST
FINNING will be added at the end of second fermentation which im estimating to be in around 3-4 weeks.
Tia
 
Ok people, everything is up and running and been bubbling away for the last few days. Now im hoping that this keep bubbling for a while as I have kept the temps down low.
I have taken OG but im looking for a semi sweet and everywhere states to leave until ffermentation stops and rack to secondary then take a reading? Is not ok to take while its fermenting? Other wise you'll never know when to stop it or am im being blonde. My last batch I fermented out and it was really dry.
TIA
 
All I need to know is it ok to take a reading at any point after fermentation has started. . Because I dont want to run it dry..
Thanks
 

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