Another Year of Cider

[TimmyR]

Good day all,

I just got my hands on 5 gallons of fresh, unpreserved, unpasteurized cider from a local orchard. This is my 3rd year and 5th of 6th batch. This juice is 1.046 OG (11.5 bris), pH 3.25. I dosed 5 gallons with 26 ml of 5% stock sodium metabisulfite solution according to Andrew Lea's site and an Excel spreadsheet came across on Cider Workshop My cider is currently sitting in my basement at 58F with loose foil over the top.

I plan to pitch after 24 hours on sodium metabisulfite with White Labs English Cider yeast.

 

[TimmyR]

Pitched 1 vial WLP775 26 hours after adding sodium metabisulfite. Oxygenated for ~50 seconds. Fermenter & carboy are steady at 57 degrees F. No activity at 24 hours since pitch. I remember cider yeast being a slow starter. I under-pitched (based on Mr. Malty Pitching Rate Calculator), but have not seen any detrimental effects from doing so in the past.

 

[b-boy]

Fall = Cider.

I do one batch a year and it lasts me till Spring.

I'm trying to find some without preservatives right now.

 

[TimmyR]

Fall = Cider.

I do one batch a year and it lasts me till Spring.

I'm trying to find some without preservatives right now.

I have a second source of unpreserved/unpasteurized that I intend to tap into by next week for a second batch. I really enjoy just plain, dry, tart cider on draft at home. It's SO different than anything I've ever had in a bottle since I have not back-sweetened my batches.

This batch started at 1.046 and I might add a pound of good honey if I can find a local wildflower honey to top it up.

 

[TimmyR]

55F and ~48 hour lag before fermentation really got going. Next time I think I'll step the yeast up in 1L of cider before I pitch.

With an OG of 1.046, anyone have any opinion on adding sugar? I have a pound of Clear Belgian Candi syrup I can pour in and bump the gravity by about 6 points.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Bit too cool maybe. Try popping it upstairs until the fermentation takes off. 48 hours is a bit laggy for sure.

 

[TimmyR]

Thanks...I knew it was on the cool side. It took off and is VERY active. After 24+ hours of active fermentation, I added 1# of Clear Belgian Candy Sugar Syrup to bump the gravity to 1.052. My chest freezer and the carboy are sitting tight at 55F and fermenting actively.

 

[TimmyR]

11/3/13 - SG: 1.028 (OG was 1.054) been fermenting at 56F. 47% attenuation thus far; still taste a little sulphur. Roused yeast and bumped to 60F. I will raise 1 deg per day to 65F.

 

[blakelyc]

Cider fermentations always freak me out. I only do a couple of batches a year when I can get fresh local cider. Got one going right now with US-05... Took it 36 hours to kick off, and it has been going for 17 days at a steady, even pace. My typical ferm temperature is 65 with an absolute ceiling of 68.

With a beer of similar gravity and temperature, this would have been done days ago. I have experienced the slow start/slow ferm of cider yeast, but I was hoping an ale yeast would speed things along. Guess not!

 

[TimmyR]

My experience has led me to believe you have to really try hard to get an under-attenuated cider. All of mine have finished out at or below 1.000. I decided to ferment this one cooler to see if some of the more delicate aromas might be preserved. We'll see what happens. Hopefully I can still get 5-7 more gallons of fresh cider before the season is over.