Slow and steady fermentation (1st cider). Is this normal?

I am on day 16 of my quick & tasty cider. If you don't feel like clicking the link, it's basically just 18 cans of apple juice concentrate, 36 cans worth of water (for ~5gal total), and Safale-05 yeast.

Fermentation temp has varied from 58-63F.

Dec 11 - OG 1.062
Dec 21 - 1.034
Dec 25 - 1.029
Dec 27 - 1.027

I expect higher gravity brews to take a long time, but I didn't think something in the 1.060s would take a month for primary.

This is my first cider. Do I just wait until the SG drops before racking?

Thanks.

Cider without yeast nutrient added often goes pretty slow, especially if it's made from concentrated or filtered juices.

Aha. Cool. I have lots of nutrient. That would have been good to know. I probably should have researched a little more.

But atleast I'll know for next time.

Thanks.

Actually, less nutrient fermenting slowly will more likely be (somewhat) sweeter than normal. In fact, the Brits and French purposely do a method called keeving that strips out the nutrients and then ferment it really slowly. So don't worry about yours. Really good craft cider is fermented really slow for a year, like wine, not rushed like beer.

jaxn said:

I didn't think something in the 1.060s would take a month for primary. This is my first cider. Do I just wait until the SG drops before racking?

Click to expand...

I reread your post and realized I didn't answer your question. Yes, wait for the SG to drop. However, I've also been told you will never lose a batch racking too early, but you can loose a batch leaving it on the lees too long. Not that I'm trying to get you to rack early, but just know that unless you do a lot of splashing or mishandle it, once the SG is near 1, it is okay to rack.

Leaving it on it's lees for a full month won't hurt it, so you're fine. When making a dry cider I like to wait until it is completely fermented out before racking to the secondary. The reason being that if you rack to a secondary and there is still yeast activity, that yeast will then die and sit on the bottom. You can get off flavors from autolysis but I wouldn't worry too much about it in any case.

It may sound funny but kicking, rotating, or moving the primary fermenter will jar loose some yeast and sometimes gets the fermentation going again. I wouldn't shake it though.

I'm not sure what yeast you used, but the temperature does play a good deal, as well as how well you aerate. Just the old standard brewing rules apply there.

As far as adding stuff to your cider, nutrient works great. It also helps keep down any rhino farts. Yeast energizer will also help speed up your fermentation.

I always leave my cider in primary for a month, don't ask me why but it has always yielded excellent results!