I am diving into the world of hard cider for the first time this year. I am a bit green when it comes to this so I have been doing a fair amount of reading but still have some unanswered questions.
Let me start off by stating what I have already done and what I plan to do.
I started off by purchasing the 6.5 gallon ale pale kit from homebrewit.com.
It comes with a basic airlock, spigot, bucket and lid. I happened on an apple orchard that was kind enough to provide me with some unpasteurized cider. Apparently in NY it is illegal to sell unpasteurized juice so the orchard will have to remain unnamed. I started off with 5 gals of cider and I warmed them to 140 for about 45 min to kill off any unwanted natural yeast. While warm I added 2lbs of brown sugar. I let the cider cool to room temperature then added my re hydrated lavlin 71b. I noticed fermentation by the next morning. I started this on September 16th. The cider is still producing C02 at quite a rapid rate. I plan on letting the primary fermentation go for 14 days. Then I plan on racking in my secondary for another 14 days before bottling just to settle out a little more. I would like to have my cider carbonate in the bottle so I plan on adding 3/4 cup honey or brown sugar before bottling. I will probably let sit 28 days in the bottle before drinking.
So my anticipated time frame is as follows:
Sept. 16-30 = primary fermentation
Oct. 1-14 = secondary
Oct. 15 = add honey and bottle
Nov. 12= drink
From everything that I have read my time frame may seem a bit shy of what is actually needed but I don't know for sure.
I bypassed the use of campden but figured that I killed off any wild yeast by heating at 140 for 45 min. Am I correct in thinking this?
After my primary is freed up I plan on trying out some different recipes, perhaps doing some single gallons to get a flavor that I like. Could someone provide some insight on any steps that I may be forgetting or time frames that need extensions or any safety issues that I missed. Also what is the shelf life for unpasteurized hard cider stored at room temperature. I know its a long first post, thanks for getting to the end.
Let me start off by stating what I have already done and what I plan to do.
I started off by purchasing the 6.5 gallon ale pale kit from homebrewit.com.
It comes with a basic airlock, spigot, bucket and lid. I happened on an apple orchard that was kind enough to provide me with some unpasteurized cider. Apparently in NY it is illegal to sell unpasteurized juice so the orchard will have to remain unnamed. I started off with 5 gals of cider and I warmed them to 140 for about 45 min to kill off any unwanted natural yeast. While warm I added 2lbs of brown sugar. I let the cider cool to room temperature then added my re hydrated lavlin 71b. I noticed fermentation by the next morning. I started this on September 16th. The cider is still producing C02 at quite a rapid rate. I plan on letting the primary fermentation go for 14 days. Then I plan on racking in my secondary for another 14 days before bottling just to settle out a little more. I would like to have my cider carbonate in the bottle so I plan on adding 3/4 cup honey or brown sugar before bottling. I will probably let sit 28 days in the bottle before drinking.
So my anticipated time frame is as follows:
Sept. 16-30 = primary fermentation
Oct. 1-14 = secondary
Oct. 15 = add honey and bottle
Nov. 12= drink
From everything that I have read my time frame may seem a bit shy of what is actually needed but I don't know for sure.
I bypassed the use of campden but figured that I killed off any wild yeast by heating at 140 for 45 min. Am I correct in thinking this?
After my primary is freed up I plan on trying out some different recipes, perhaps doing some single gallons to get a flavor that I like. Could someone provide some insight on any steps that I may be forgetting or time frames that need extensions or any safety issues that I missed. Also what is the shelf life for unpasteurized hard cider stored at room temperature. I know its a long first post, thanks for getting to the end.