First time cider got rookie question

[New2Brewing3]

I just transfered to secondary. Racked onto apple juice concentrate to back sweeten. All of the sudden it is bubbling. I used Campden Tablets in primary to stop fermentation and waited a week before transfer. Should I add more to secondary to make sure it doesn't eat up the concentrate? Or could the bubbling be something else? Just transferred an hour ago. I am afraid if it is bubbling slowly already, it will take off in a day. What should next step be? Or should I wait and see?

 

[MarkKF]

You aren't gonna stop that with Camden. Only two things with stop it. And one is heat.

 

[Maylar]

Campden tablets don't stop fermentation. The yeast will continue to eat whatever sugar you added. Gonna have to wait it out.

Did you get a specific gravity reading when you racked to secondary?

 

[Silentdrinker]

You can cold crash it, and transfer I onto a solution of dissolved potassium sorbate to inhibit growth. Then back sweeten. It's suggested to do the potassium sorbate first, then wait at least 24/hr.

Often I simply create my back sweetening solution and add the potassium sorbate into it and rack onto it. Never had a problem.

 

[New2Brewing3]

Campden tablets don't stop fermentation. The yeast will continue to eat whatever sugar you added. Gonna have to wait it out.

Did you get a specific gravity reading when you racked to secondary?

So campden tablets don't stop it? Guess I read that wrong. The gravity reading was 1.002 before transfer down from 1.052. I went ahead and started a cold crash. That should stop the yeast for now.

 

[New2Brewing3]

Campden tablets don't stop fermentation. The yeast will continue to eat whatever sugar you added. Gonna have to wait it out.

Did you get a specific gravity reading when you racked to secondary?

So campden tablets don't stop it? Guess I read that wrong. The gravity reading was 1.002 before transfer down from 1.052. I went ahead and started a cold crash. That should stop the yeast for now. So what are the campden tablets for? Done lots of beer so I understand the process a bit, just don't have to deal with all this extra stuff with beer.

 

[lotusworker]

I bottle it then wait a day or two then pasteurized it depending on how much carbonated you want it. You have to be careful though because you can have bottle bombs if you wait too long. I have gone as long as 4 to 5 days. Some bottle it in a 20 oz soda bottle and wait until it is rock hard. I think there is a sticky or known post about how to bottle pasteurize.

 

[Nogud247]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=193295

 

[bernardsmith]

So campden tablets don't stop it? .... So what are the campden tablets for? Done lots of beer so I understand the process a bit, just don't have to deal with all this extra stuff with beer.

Campden tabs will kill wild yeasts but the size of a colony of wild yeast is tiny compared to the size and virility of the yeast colony with which you have inoculated your cider must. So, the SO2 produced by the K-meta of the Capmden tabs is really not going to decimate your yeast colony. What wine makers typically do is measure the density (gravity) of their wine (or cider or mead) and if the reading has been absolutely stable for three days they add K-meta AND K-sorbate. In tandem these two chemicals can stun the yeast and inhibit their reproduction. That means that the colony you have will die from old age and be unable to create a new generation. With the addition of K-meta and K-sorbate you can then add sugar fairly secure that there will be insufficient active yeasts in your cider to convert the added sugar to CO2 and alcohol. BUT, if your cider still has an active yeast colony (the gravity is still dropping) then adding K-meta and K-sorbate is a waste of time.

 

[Yooper]

Campden tabs will kill wild yeasts but the size of a colony of wild yeast is tiny compared to the size and virility of the yeast colony with which you have inoculated your cider must. So, the SO2 produced by the K-meta of the Capmden tabs is really not going to decimate your yeast colony. What wine makers typically do is measure the density (gravity) of their wine (or cider or mead) and if the reading has been absolutely stable for three days they add K-meta AND K-sorbate. In tandem these two chemicals can stun the yeast and inhibit their reproduction. That means that the colony you have will die from old age and be unable to create a new generation. With the addition of K-meta and K-sorbate you can then add sugar fairly secure that there will be insufficient active yeasts in your cider to convert the added sugar to CO2 and alcohol. BUT, if your cider still has an active yeast colony (the gravity is still dropping) then adding K-meta and K-sorbate is a waste of time.

That's not exactly how I do it. First, wine yeast strains are tolerant of sulfites- that's why winemakers use them. I keep 50 ppm of sulfites in my wines, or thereabouts.

The only way sorbate "works" is when the cider or wine is completely clear, so there is little yeast still in suspension in the cider, and it's completely finished and is no longer dropping any lees at all. The yeast doesn't die of old age, or even become non-viable- it's simply racked off of the lees and the yeast in suspension is generally too few to ferment. Sorbate inhibits yeast reproduction, and if there are too few yeast to ferment, and the yeast can't reproduce, then it will be effect. That's why sorbate can't just be added to the cider, as there are generally at least a light dusting of lees in the carboy. So, the cider must be clear, and have been finished for quite a while so that it's not dropping lees. Three days at FG is simply not long enough to give perfect clarity in the cider or wine, and the wine would still be dropping lees at that point.

Once the cider or wine is totally clear, and no longer dropping ANY lees at all, the cider is racked onto the campden and sorbate. Campden doesn't inhibit yeast, but sorbate works better in the presence of sulfites. Then it can be sweetened, but bottling should wait at least a few days just in case there were enough viable yeast to restart fermentation.