Headley_Lamarr
Active Member
Ive been reading and reading the various threads about cider and have a couple things Id like clarified by those who have done this a few times. I have 3 gallons of organic UV treated farmers market cider going in a 3 gallon better bottle. OG was 1.05. I added some pectic enzyme, waited an hour, and then pitched an entire smack pack of Wyeast cider/mead/wine yeast (sorry, forgot the number). Its bubbling away on day 3. I had a little airlock overflow on day 2, but cleaned it up, resantized and set it back up. I dont have a kegging option.
1) Im considering letting it complete ferment out to dry, bottling with some corn sugar and bottle aging for a sparkling dry cider. Will aging only in bottles suffice? I only have a 5 gallon carboy to do a secondary in and suspect the amount of surface air is less than ideal. I guess I could rack to the carboy, clean/sanitize the 3 gal bb, then re-rack to that.
2) I have no clue what really dry sparkling cider tastes like. Ive had JK Skrumpy, Crispin, Magners, Stongbow, and the Woodchuck stuff (way too sweet for me). Are there any commercial sparkling dry ciders you recommend trying to see if I like dry cider? Im in Chicago, so have access to a lot of stuff if someone can name a brand.
3) I am also considering doing bottling when it got to the sweetness I liked, adding the appropriate corn sugar, and pasteurizing. Im wary of the stovetop method as there seem to be a lot of explosions. I couldnt find any definitive threads on successful dishwasher pasteurization. My dishwasher has a sanitize setting. Anyone do this and have it work out?
Thanks. Hurrumph.
1) Im considering letting it complete ferment out to dry, bottling with some corn sugar and bottle aging for a sparkling dry cider. Will aging only in bottles suffice? I only have a 5 gallon carboy to do a secondary in and suspect the amount of surface air is less than ideal. I guess I could rack to the carboy, clean/sanitize the 3 gal bb, then re-rack to that.
2) I have no clue what really dry sparkling cider tastes like. Ive had JK Skrumpy, Crispin, Magners, Stongbow, and the Woodchuck stuff (way too sweet for me). Are there any commercial sparkling dry ciders you recommend trying to see if I like dry cider? Im in Chicago, so have access to a lot of stuff if someone can name a brand.
3) I am also considering doing bottling when it got to the sweetness I liked, adding the appropriate corn sugar, and pasteurizing. Im wary of the stovetop method as there seem to be a lot of explosions. I couldnt find any definitive threads on successful dishwasher pasteurization. My dishwasher has a sanitize setting. Anyone do this and have it work out?
Thanks. Hurrumph.
