First Batch of Cider is Underway, Now I've got some questions...

I got my first batch of cider underway using the recipe for Sweet Southern Cider I got off of here. Everything seems to be going well and it's already bubbling away. It started after just 10 hours.

The OG on it was 1.050. I know it should be in the 1.06x range, but I now know we should have added more sugar. In any event, my SWMBO wants this to end up more on the sweeter side instead of a dry cider. I'm thinking that a FG of around 1.010 - 1.014 should be alright.

So, should I take a SG reading in about 3-5 days and if it's right, then cold crash it? Or at that point should I just bottle it?

Also, when I bottle, should I use priming sugar just like beer or maybe a carb drop?

Thanks y'all!

To keep it at 1.014, you're either going to have to cold crash and keep cold (so the yeast don't fire back up and eat the remaining sugars) or wait untill it dries out, then stablize with potassium sorbate and campden, then then back sweeten. In the later case, the only way to carb it would be to keg...

AZ_IPA said:

To keep it at 1.014, you're either going to have to cold crash and keep cold (so the yeast don't fire back up and eat the remaining sugars) or wait untill it dries out, then stablize with potassium sorbate and campden, then then back sweeten. In the later case, the only way to carb it would be to keg...

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I don't have a keg setup yet, so bottles are my only option. So, it seems like cold crashing is going to be the ticket. Since the OG was 1.050, when should I take a SG? And when it hits 1.014, should I bottle, then into the fridge or cold crash in the carboy, then bottle, condition for a while, then back to the fridge?

RedneckBrewer said:

I don't have a keg setup yet, so bottles are my only option. So, it seems like cold crashing is going to be the ticket. Since the OG was 1.050, when should I take a SG? And when it hits 1.014, should I bottle, then into the fridge or cold crash in the carboy, then bottle, condition for a while, then back to the fridge?

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What kind of yeast did you use?

It should get down to in a few days.

Trying to "Stop" the yeast is always a challenge though - so if you bottle you'll need to be aware of bombs - because even at fridge temps, the yeasties are still wanting to eat sugars and fart CO2.

Some have done pasteurization to completely kill the yeast, but I haven't tried anything like that.

Whatever you do, if you time it right and bottle at 1.014, don't condition at room temperature! Or you're likely to have glass shards and cider all over your house.

AZ_IPA said:

What kind of yeast did you use?

It should get down to in a few days.

Trying to "Stop" the yeast is always a challenge though - so if you bottle you'll need to be aware of bombs - because even at fridge temps, the yeasties are still wanting to eat sugars and fart CO2.

Some have done pasteurization to completely kill the yeast, but I haven't tried anything like that.

Whatever you do, if you time it right and bottle at 1.014, don't condition at room temperature! Or you're likely to have glass shards and cider all over your house.

Click to expand...

I used Safale 05.
I'm thinking I'll take a SG in about 3 days and if it's done, I'll cold crash, bottle, then let it sit for a day or two to build carb then pasteurize it to keep them from blowing up. Am I playing with grenades by doing that? Should I just cold crash in the bottles for 1-2 days then pasteurize?

I'm fairly new to this but the most sensible instruction I have read on this is to: When you bottle, fill a plastic pop bottle. When this gets nice and hard you know your carb level is good and then you can pasteurize.