Cold crashed my cider, now what?

[alchemedes]

Okay, so I did a bit of reading on this site and others over a few days, took some notes and sorta 'compiled my own' method to make a sweet cider. What I am wanting to end up with is a sweet, mellow cider with a good apple taste and not too high of an ABV. I am not looking for anything like dry wine - yucko. I do not have the means to bottle or keg anything as of yet as that is rather unnecessary at this point in my endeavors as I am simply doing small test batches 'for fun' until I get something I actually enjoy sipping on. What follows is my first attempt. I have got to a point where I am wondering what to do next. Any help is much appreciated

Ingredients Used:

1 gal. organic apple cider (pasteurized, no preservatives), OG 1.045
1/3 packet dry Nottingham yeast
2 cups organic brown sugar

The Process so far:

Sanitized gallon jug, air lock, bung, hydrometer etc. Took original gravity of cider at 62F which equaled about 1.045OG. I wanted a wee bit higher alcohol content then the “approximated percent” my hydrometer indicated (~5%) so I added two cups brown sugar to the gallon, took another gravity reading and got 1.062SG. My hydrometer indicated this may yield roughly an 8% (yes I know this is not totally accurate). I stopped there, pitched 1/3 packet dry Nottingham yeast (no starter) into the jug of cider, shook it up, then sealed it with an air lock and put it in a closet that stays around 60F.
I waited 5 days and decided to check the gravity to see where it was. The gravity measured 1.010FG exactly, which was farther then I wanted (from what I have read I was hoping to stop it at 1.015 or higher for a sweeter drink). At that point there was a bit of sediment at the bottom so I racked it to a secondary jug, then cold crashed it in my fridge at 40F to stop the ferment. 1 day later I got antsy and decided I wanted to know how it tasted (even if it was still green) so I sanitized a small baster, stuck it in an got myself a sample from the middle of the jug and re-locked it. The taste was extremely yeasty with an additional strong and obvious alcohol taste - almost like equal parts white wine with and 'off cider' - not so great to say the least because the yeastiness especially. I reinserted the air lock and let it go another day.

Now I am looking at it today (3 days into cold crash, 8 days total) and it's got a new, very thick layer of sediment on the bottom - more than when I racked it the first time (flocculation of yeast and apple pulp?) So, there it sits, in my fridge with whatever yeast left in suspension at a complete standstill. Should I rack it again, then store it in a capped jug in my fridge? How long till I should drink it? I am a bit unsure where to go from here...

 

[CRock303]

I'd let it sit for a couple weeks or even months so the apple flavors come back out, because that sounds like what you are going for. I'm four batches in and they have been drinkable about three weeks from bottling so far, but better with more time.

If you aren't lactose intolerant I'd try fermenting out dry and adding lactose to sweeten, I have a batch in secondary that is very sweet with a half pound per five gallons. I makes it take less babysitting and won't make it more alcoholic. You can find it wherever you buy your yeast in most cases.

Like I said I'm pretty new to home brewing so someone else might have more insight.

 

[alchemedes]

Well, it's still in the fridge since the first post. I had a small glass of it last night (couldn't resist the urge), and it's, well, okay I would say. Definitely not bad at all, but I know I am capable of making something much better. I let the wife taste it and she said, "It's fine - I get about 1 second of apple taste, then biscuit dough, then some white wine." I'm now onto making some Graff anyways, so I'll just let this one age in the back of my refrigerator for a while longer, maybe a month. I'll probably rack it a third time because sediment seems to keep piling up on the bottom (is that normal for such a small batch?). Cheers, until the next glass! :rockin:

 

[Meatyboy]

From my little experience the reason you keep getting sediment is due to the cold crashing. It's knocking the suspended yeast and particulate matter out of the mix and dropping out to the bottom. It's exactly what it's supposed to do.