Hi,
First brew - I've got four separate gallons fermenting now: 2 are MO2 and 2 are S-04 yeasts all at house temp of 74 degrees. I used 1 1/2 cups coconut sugar in two and 12 oz date syrup in the other two. fwiw; the date syrup for either yeast start up in a matter of two hours. The coconut sugar took at least 1/2 day to a day for the MO2 and about five to six hours for the S-04. In each case, I split the packets of yeast between the two gallons that used the different sugars. I think I ended up splitting unequally the MO2 and probably only got about 1/3 of it in the slow starting one that used coconut sugar. It's the slowest moving of all four in terms of the bubbles at this point.
These are my first cider brews and the I'm most unsure of when to check them for SG, what value to shoot for to get a medium sweet cider. I don't care for very dry/vinegary ciders. Will I need a second fermentation after racking? Will these yeasts eat up everything until it's too dry and has to be backsweetened? Should I stop them before that occurs, etc. ? Appreciate any advice.
Thanks.
First brew - I've got four separate gallons fermenting now: 2 are MO2 and 2 are S-04 yeasts all at house temp of 74 degrees. I used 1 1/2 cups coconut sugar in two and 12 oz date syrup in the other two. fwiw; the date syrup for either yeast start up in a matter of two hours. The coconut sugar took at least 1/2 day to a day for the MO2 and about five to six hours for the S-04. In each case, I split the packets of yeast between the two gallons that used the different sugars. I think I ended up splitting unequally the MO2 and probably only got about 1/3 of it in the slow starting one that used coconut sugar. It's the slowest moving of all four in terms of the bubbles at this point.
These are my first cider brews and the I'm most unsure of when to check them for SG, what value to shoot for to get a medium sweet cider. I don't care for very dry/vinegary ciders. Will I need a second fermentation after racking? Will these yeasts eat up everything until it's too dry and has to be backsweetened? Should I stop them before that occurs, etc. ? Appreciate any advice.
Thanks.