first time making cider, does this sound ok?

[PitRow]

I had posted this in the recipe section for the unicorn blood cider recipe, but it occurred to me there's probably not as much traffic in there, so it might be better to ask here. Does anybody have any comments or suggestions on my plan below? Thanks.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=7942174#post7942174

I started a 1 gallon batch of this last friday (3/17/17) using 3 quarts of tree top and 1 quart of the Just Black Cherry. This is my first time ever making cider, so we'll see how it goes.

I was planning on adding a little brown sugar to get the OG up but I was surprised when I checked the gravity of just those two mixed it was already somewhere around 1.060 (I didn't look too closely at it) so I just let it go without adding anything.

Pitched a whole vial of WLP060 and it took almost 24 hours before any noticeable fermentation started, but then it took off. Without a whole lot of headspace in the 1 gallon carboy it pushed quite a bit of gunk out the blowoff tube. Monday I switched over to a regular airlock. It's still bubbling about 3 or 4 bubbles a minute.

I'm looking for a slightly sweet, lightly carb'ed, bottled cider so I'm planning to start checking the gravity once the bubbles slow to about once a minute, aiming to hit about 1.010ish. Then add slightly less priming sugar than I normally would for beer (maybe use honey instead) and letting it bottle carb for a couple days (4 maybe?) then stove top pasteurizing. I will definitely try one before pasteurizing to ensure no gushers and that the carb level is about where I want it.

Anybody see any flaws in my plan? Thanks!

 

[Drewed]

Watch it like a hawk, it can drop faster than you think.

 

[Maylar]

Rather than trying to stop an active ferment at just the right moment, I suggest a different approach. Let it ferment dry and allow the cider to clear. Then add sweetening/priming sugar and bottle. That way you'll have a lot more control and there will be a lot less sediment in your bottles.

 

[MarkKF]

Or backsweeten with more juice, FAJC or freeze concentrated juice. Yummy!

 

[PitRow]

Rather than trying to stop an active ferment at just the right moment, I suggest a different approach. Let it ferment dry and allow the cider to clear. Then add sweetening/priming sugar and bottle. That way you'll have a lot more control and there will be a lot less sediment in your bottles.

Or backsweeten with more juice, FAJC or freeze concentrated juice. Yummy!

Ooo. I like this idea rather than trying to take multiple SG readings from a 1 gallon batch. Especially since it's using an ale yeast I kind of doubt it'll go too dry anyway. Thanks guys!

 

[PitRow]

Another dumb question. How long does it usually take for cider to ferment? This past Friday was 3 weeks since I pitched the yeast and it's still bubbling through the airlock. Down to about 2 bubbles a minute but it's still going. I wouldn't expect it to go so long. WLP060 yeast at about 66-68 degrees.

 

[dmtaylor]

Another dumb question. How long does it usually take for cider to ferment? This past Friday was 3 weeks since I pitched the yeast and it's still bubbling through the airlock. Down to about 2 bubbles a minute but it's still going. I wouldn't expect it to go so long. WLP060 yeast at about 66-68 degrees.

It usually takes at least a month, often even 2 months. Patience will be rewarded. If you like you can prevent fermentation to total dryness by adding sorbate, which injures the yeast. Then you'll still have a bit of sweetness in the finished product. However, you might not be able to achieve natural carbonation if you do that. If you don't mind a flat or "still" cider, then it works well.

 

[PitRow]

It usually takes at least a month, often even 2 months. Patience will be rewarded. If you like you can prevent fermentation to total dryness by adding sorbate, which injures the yeast. Then you'll still have a bit of sweetness in the finished product. However, you might not be able to achieve natural carbonation if you do that. If you don't mind a flat or "still" cider, then it works well.

Ok thanks. I had a feeling it took longer (than the beer I'm used to) but I was reading a bunch of posts saying they dropped like 40 or 50 gravity points in just a couple days so I was starting to get worried.

Should I transfer it to a secondary at some point or is it ok in primary the whole time?

 

[dmtaylor]

If you like it dry or want it to ferment as fast as possible, leave it in primary. If you want a sweeter end product and can wait another month, rack it to secondary right away. Choice is yours. Either one will make good cider.

 

[PitRow]

If you like it dry or want it to ferment as fast as possible, leave it in primary. If you want a sweeter end product and can wait another month, rack it to secondary right away. Choice is yours. Either one will make good cider.

I'm hoping for slightly sweet (semi-dry?) but also lightly bottle carbed. My plan was to let it go dry, then sweeten with juice and honey for priming, then bottle for a couple days and stove top pasteurize. I'm aware of the risks with the pasteurization. Should I transfer to a secondary now and let it go until fermentation stops, then continue as planned?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Drewed]

If your going to pasteurize it, you can pretty much do that when ever you want. I like to let mine go longer, and clear some, before bottling.
It really is up to you and the "wrong" ways are pretty few. Some let it go totally dry and clearer than Jello, I like a little cloud to mine. I did screw one batch up and have about 1/4" of crap on the bottom of the bottles. But it tastes good when mixed up.

 

[PitRow]

Well I had some free time today so I pulled a sample of the cider to check the gravity. It was right at 1.010, which is where I had wanted to stop at originally. So I have it "cold crashing" in the garage, which is only about 55 degrees right now but I figured better than nothing. I need to pick up some more juice to sweeten with and will do that and bottle it on Friday when I have some more free time.

Incidentally I tasted the sample, and honestly there wasn't a whole lot of flavor there. A touch dry, leaning towards wine, but not quite. There was just a hint of cherry flavor left but I don't think you'd know if you weren't told. Is this normal for cider?

 

[dmtaylor]

Well I had some free time today so I pulled a sample of the cider to check the gravity. It was right at 1.010, which is where I had wanted to stop at originally. So I have it "cold crashing" in the garage, which is only about 55 degrees right now but I figured better than nothing. I need to pick up some more juice to sweeten with and will do that and bottle it on Friday when I have some more free time.

Incidentally I tasted the sample, and honestly there wasn't a whole lot of flavor there. A touch dry, leaning towards wine, but not quite. There was just a hint of cherry flavor left but I don't think you'd know if you weren't told. Is this normal for cider?

Low flavor happens. It depends on the source of juice and the yeast that you select. If you used commercial juice, I can see the product tasting kind of bland. Personally I like to use real juice from a real orchard. Nothing better than getting it fresh pressed from the source with no preservatives.

If you want to preserve that 1.010 and not let it go down farther, you should add gelatin and rack the cider immediately, and keep it cold, and consider adding sorbate if the gravity continues to fall. Check gravity again 3 or 4 days later. Then if it's not done fermenting yet, consider using the sorbate if you want to stop it. Just be aware that sorbate could hurt your chances for natural carbonation. If you want it also to carbonate naturally, then you need to skip the sorbate but add the gelatin and get it all cold as ice right away to knock the yeast out of there.

 

[PitRow]

I finally got around to bottling this yesterday, almost 2 weeks after I planned to. Came out really good though. I sweetened with about a pint and a half of black cherry juice, and got 11 bottles, plus about a half pint of leftovers I couldn't suck up. Flavor is really nice and smooth, everyone that tried it liked it. I curious to see how it changes with a little bit of carbonization in it. The plan is to let it carb for a couple days, then try it. One of the bottles chipped while capping it, so it's the perfect candidate for testing it. Depending on how the carbonization is at that point, I'm going to attempt to pasteurize it at that point. Wish me luck.

This picture doesn't really do it justice. The color is really nice deep red, like a black cherry would be.

 

[PitRow]

Just to bring closure to this thread, here's an update. These things were very slow to carbonate. Possible due to the fact I had forgotten to add priming sugar at bottling time. I had added some more cherry juice to get the sweetness level I was looking for but totally forgot to add priming sugar.

Anyway after about two weeks in the bottle I pasteurized, mostly because I was going out of town for a while and didn't want them to over carb, or go completely dry again. Pasteurization went fine, no problems there.

The other night I tried one. Still a little light on carb but very nice flavor. Very smooth and drinkable. I will definitely be doing this again.
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