Newb with a 12 gallon predicament..

[Yates501]

Hello everyone. I have searched and been unable to find answers to my specific newb mistake...

Last year I pressed and made 12 gallons of cider that was destined to become hard cider. Cortland apples only.. I couldn't get a good mix at that time.

I used heat to process( 165°f then cooled...) Half of the batch had honey added. I used yeast..I believe Redstar Champagne..I fermented in 6 gallon carboys. I have lost all my notes and I can't remember the exact yeast I chose..but pretty confident it was the redstar, possibly one of the lalvins.

Long story short.. I miss understood my next steps for storage. I thought I was suppose to store them in the carboy with airlock in place until I was ready to bottle. The batch was really cloudy so I wanted to wait and see if it cleared... then I got covid and was hospitalized and the whole thing was pushed aside until now. A year after pressing.

Here I am now with all this hard cider and I'm lost. I reached out to the brewer supply store and the guy said I need to add some more yeast to the carboy.. swirl and then bottle. Wait two weeks and then can drink with a shelf life of 3-4 months. Then he said he doesn't do cider so thats just what he thinks.

I was going to bottle in 1/2 or 1 gallon glass jugs with metal tops and give to my family. I do have a hydrometer if its needed at this point.

Do any of you have some guidance for me to save this batch if possible!? Thank you

 

[Dr_Jeff]

If the airlock didn't go dry, it's likely fine.
The best way to tell is simply to taste it.

 

[Yates501]

Thank you. Airlocks are still full. If it tastes good.. just bottle?

 

[NTBeer]

Yep, just bottle unless you want it sparkling, in which case you should probably add some fresh yeast with your priming sugar.

 

[ncguire]

If you want sparkling cider, I would use beer bottles or champagne bottles, not jugs or growlers, which usually aren't rated to hold carbonation and may explode. Not sure the metal screw tops will keep a good air tight seal long term either, so if you are planning to use jugs it may be better to not add carbonation and use stoppers unless you can get a good seal with the metal caps.

 

[scott.campion]

I personally prefer sparkling so would add a bit of yeast and sugar.

But if you do go that route, I would recommend using smaller bottles. As the above suggest, you definitely want crown caps or flip tops for the pressure, which often don’t come on gallon or half gallon growlers. But for me, I find the smaller bottles are more convenient if you’re going to do a secondary fermentation in bottle, as there is often but not always a fair amount of sediment on the bottom. In a 12 or 16 ounce bottle It’s very easy to just pour off carefully as you serve it. In a 23 ounce or 750 ML wine bottle, it’s easy to pour it off if you’re pouring two or three glasses at once. But with a half-gallon or gallon you’re going to need decant into a pitcher, otherwise multiple pours will be stirring up all that sediment.