OK, so, I've made several batches of apple cider but normally I just cold crash them straight from primary and drink from the fridge, this is the first time I'm bottling anything. Started this one back around March 12 (I uncharacteristically neglected to take precise notes, so I'm reconstructing), let it sit in primary about 10 days until it fell from 1.080 to around 1.003. Then I siphoned into a plastic carboy (all I have), topped up to the neck with AJ (maybe 3L to get back to 23L total) leaving the lees behind. This restarted slow fermentation (using EC-1118) which continued for the next month or so, tapering down to perhaps one champagne-sized bubble every 10 seconds.
Finally, sometime in the last week or so all activity has seemed to stop. I'm just eyeballing it so far because I haven't added any sorbates or sulphites etc, and I didn't want to expose it to unnecessary oxygen. But seeing as how the airlock hasn't moved in weeks, and there've been no tiny bubbles in many days, I'm guessing it's done.
So, questions: can I bottle now? Can I do so without additives or preservatives? I'd like to just leave it pure because my Dad thinks he's allergic and he really likes my cider, so I'll give the lion's share to him. But I don't want it to spoil right away. What else am I not thinking of? My plan in the next few days is to clean and sanitize my bottles and corks, siphon direct from the carboy, cork and I'm done. I expect it to be dry enough that there's no chance of renewed fermentation, so no need to kill the remaining yeast either via additives or pasteurization, is this accurate? Any suggestions, observations or other helpful hints will be gratefully received. Thanks!
Finally, sometime in the last week or so all activity has seemed to stop. I'm just eyeballing it so far because I haven't added any sorbates or sulphites etc, and I didn't want to expose it to unnecessary oxygen. But seeing as how the airlock hasn't moved in weeks, and there've been no tiny bubbles in many days, I'm guessing it's done.
So, questions: can I bottle now? Can I do so without additives or preservatives? I'd like to just leave it pure because my Dad thinks he's allergic and he really likes my cider, so I'll give the lion's share to him. But I don't want it to spoil right away. What else am I not thinking of? My plan in the next few days is to clean and sanitize my bottles and corks, siphon direct from the carboy, cork and I'm done. I expect it to be dry enough that there's no chance of renewed fermentation, so no need to kill the remaining yeast either via additives or pasteurization, is this accurate? Any suggestions, observations or other helpful hints will be gratefully received. Thanks!