Help me with cider making please!!!?

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Stoney

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I have been making some cider home brewed from pressed apples....

It had been fermenting for about 7 days but I then had to go on holiday leaving my brother to keep watch...
I researched the internet and told him that if the cider stops fermenting (viewed by less than 1 buble per minuete passing through the airlock) he should syphon the brew into a new clean demijohn away from the sediment in the last jar....

He did this but for the 1 day until I came back he hadnt filled the airlock with water and so it had been exposed to the air and looked flat....I immediatly filled it...but now I am confusted as to what to do??? Should I be putting it in bottles right away....It is barely fermenting now (minimal bubbles rising etc) but has been sitting like this for a few days now.....

Please help..it looks ok ( a bit cloudy and a bit flat looking) but should it be fizzing or something....excuse my ignorance.

Stoney
 
If its still bubbling some you should have a small blanket of CO2 protecting your cider from the air. It was probably fizzy looking during the most vigorous fermentation, but shouldn't necessarily be now.

I wouldn't put it in bottles just yet. I would give it some time to bulk age. Perhaps about a month. Don't move it so quickly from the primary next time either. Your yeast were still working.

You're still fine though.
 
Nice one many thanks....ill just leave it now for a bit...

My other worry was that from changing into a new jar (the same size jar) because I lost mass through fermintation there is a bigger air gap in the demijohn....however since I have applied the airlock properly air has been bubbling through (very minimal) so I am hoping its ok.

Will the cider be naturally fizzy at the end? or do you have to add extra ingredients to make this?

Also what is the difference between hard cider and normal cider? I keep hearing the exppression hard cider.
 
You did not loose volume due to fermentation but due to racking, a little liquid was left behind with the sediment. Right now don't worry about that, you still have a layer of C02, and you should have some good drinks there.

You want to give it at least 3 weeks in secondary, if you have a hydrometer use it to ensure the gravity has stayed the same over four days and it is clear. Depending on the yeast you used it may take longer or a shorter time.

If you want it carbonated, you will need to add sugar when you bottle it (just a little, there are threads, wiki's, etc that detail that on this site).

Still or carbonated is good and I actually kind of like the stronger ones still.

Depending on what region your in, generally hard means alcoholic, cider in most places means cloudy and not filtered.

I hope this helps, and I also hope you enjoy the final product as much as I do. Best of luck and don't worry about it.
 
Before I got into brewing beer I tried to make a batch of totally natural hard cider (cider that has fermented and contains alcohol). I picked the apples from the trees, hand pressed them with a homemade press (this took H O U R S !!!!!!), sanitized a few growlers, and put the juice in the growlers with a loose piece of foil on top. No yeast. No airlocks. No nothing. Then I set them in my garage and left it alone. After awhile they looked REALLY funky (maybe a couple weeks), and I was pretty sure we were going to end up with vinegar. I transferred to clean sanitized growlers and left it alone again. After a couple weeks it started looking funky again, but I left it. One day I checked in on them and voila! I had a clear, delicious looking liquid. I let the natural yeasties and time do all the work and it ended up being awesome! It took 2 months and ended up being 14+% ABV!!!

The point is... if you leave it alone long enough, I think you will be happy.
 
Many thanks....I used cider yeast I brought from a local store...It went mad for a few days!

I cant wait to drink it!!!
 
So it looks like ive got a couple months wait before drinking time...shame but it will be worth it i hope.

thanks people.
 
Mine took so long because I used natural/airborne yeast cells instead of packets of yeast. I got lucky, and the cider turned out good. It could have easily turned out terrible and grown weird funky cave creatures.
 
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