usdsk8er540
Active Member
So I put a batch of cider together recently and now I have a few questions. It is a 5 gallon batch with dark brown sugar and molasses with an OG of 1.068. I put everything together and pitched a packet of US-05 in it on September 29th. As of October 7th (8 days later) the SG reading was 1.028 so I racked to secondary in my Better Bottle to reduce head space. I checked the gravity on the 17th (10 days later) and it was 1.025. There are still signs of fermentation, but it has slowed considerably. My question is: should I rack it back to a primary bucket and pitch more yeast to let it attenuate out to my goal (somewhere around 0.985-1.000) or let it keep going? I could bottle it, but its still a little ways away from where I want it and I don't want to risk bottle bombs or I could kill off the yeast somehow (sorbate or potassium metabisulfate or something) and have a sweeter cider that's at about 5.7% ABV. I'm leaning more toward the rack and repitch option. What do y'all think?