Hard aple cider question.

I am going to brew this up in a couple of weeks.


http://www.sunnysideorchards.com/recipes.html


I am going to use fresh apples. It says, " Step 1. Collect the juice in your primary fermenter and add a crushed Campden tablet (per gallon), along with the pectic enzyme. Stir in added sugar and yeast energizer (yeast nutrient will also work). Be sure to keep out the yeast. The Campden tablet will knock out the yeast and prevent fermentation. Cover the primary fermenter."

When they say "cover the primary fermenter" should I use a cover withthe air lock or just a air tight cover???

Thanks for any help on this!!!!!


fishnfever

Just cover the primary with a loose towel, to keep out dust and critters. I always leave my primary uncovered when I make wines, meads, and ciders, except for a clean dish towel. In secondary (after about 5 days), I airlock. Your recipe instructs you to airlock about 2 days.

Thanks YooperBrew!! I will be sure and get my self a nice clean dish towel!! I will leave it covered like this for the 2 days. However I will leave it longer on the next batch. Just so I can see any differences.

I'm just a newbie so little steps at a time lol



fishnfever

Still haven't made this yet but, do have another question.

On step five "5. If you want carbonated hard cider, add about 1 oz. per gallon of priming sugar (corn sugar or dextrose) or an appropriate amount of another fermentable sugar source."

should I just dump the sugar in to the batch before bottling or dissolve it in hot water and mix it in? If I do dissolve it with hot water how much water

sorry for all the questions.



fishnfever

You boil about 2 cups of water (for 5 gallons) and add the priming sugar and let that boil for a minute or two. Then cool, add it to your bottling bucket, and then rack your cider into it. You put the tubing down on the bottom of the bottling bucket, so that it is under the surface of the priming solution, or at least right at the bottom, and lying at a circle so it "swirls" into your bottling bucket to mix. You can also mix gently with a sanitized long spoon. (I never stir with a spoon, but some do).

Okay, now I just have to figure out how much water to use for a gallon lol. I just did a steem beer and it calles for one cup of water for a 5 gallon badge



fishnfever

Well, the amount of the water doesn't matter. Just boil enough to dissolve one ounce of priming sugar. I mean, you could use a quarter cup of water to do that.

oh okay. Thank you once again!! I will get this all in time. I hope hahahaha



fishnfever