I’m in the middle of my first batch of cider. Used 5 gallons of local pasteurized cider, 1 pound of honey and a packet of Nottingham. Been 3 weeks in primary at 65 degrees or so, and airlock activity has slowed down a lot. My initial OG reading was around 1.045. Took a sample yesterday and it had nice apple flavor and wasn’t too dry with a 1.000 OG. When do I move to secondary and bottle? Was also thinking of using a can of frozen apple concentrate for priming? I really would like to add more apple flavor and a little more sweetness, but don’t want bottle bombs. I really don’t want to use un fermentable sugars. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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jnesselrode
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I would transfer to secondary at this point and give it some time. At 1.000, it's likely done, or close to it. The additional time will allow it to complete fermentation and clear before bottling. I'd probably go at least another 2 weeks.
I'm considering frozen apple juice concentrate for the 3 gallons I've got going now, so I hope to see some input from folks here about how much to add for priming and maybe adding back a touch of sweetness with apple flavor.
As far as bottle bombs, pasteurization sounds pretty scary, but it's really not. @Chalkyt has a number of excellent posts that supplement the information in the pinned post on pasteurization. I plan to prime mine (with sugar or concentrate) and use the plastic water bottle method to monitor pressure buildup, and do a pasteurization at 160 F for 10-15 minutes.
I'm considering frozen apple juice concentrate for the 3 gallons I've got going now, so I hope to see some input from folks here about how much to add for priming and maybe adding back a touch of sweetness with apple flavor.
As far as bottle bombs, pasteurization sounds pretty scary, but it's really not. @Chalkyt has a number of excellent posts that supplement the information in the pinned post on pasteurization. I plan to prime mine (with sugar or concentrate) and use the plastic water bottle method to monitor pressure buildup, and do a pasteurization at 160 F for 10-15 minutes.
I never use a secondary for beer or cider unless adding fruit after primary is done. To me it's more work and just another chance to add O2 and/or get an infection. I've left it on the lees for 6 weeks with no issues. I'd just leave it where it is then bottle. Your FAJC should tell you sugar levels per serving so you can use that to figure out how much to use to get the desired level of carbonation without bottle bombs. That's how I do, anyway. Good luck!
Welcome to the fun…
I usually rack to secondary off the lees after the initial turbulent primary fermentation has settled, then leave it for a few weeks or even longer to clear and mature. However, this is optional. You may well find the harshness of fully fermented cider goes away after a few months as it matures and you don’t really need to add any sweetness.
As @jnesselrode suggests, pasteurisation really isn’t scary if you follow the “rules” (i.e. keep carbonation and temperature as low as possible). Use the search function at the top RHS to search my various posts on this.
As far as “appleness” is concerned, let me paraphrase Andrew Lea (Craft Cider Making)… “wine doesn’t taste like grapes, nor beer like barley, cider is cider”.
Apple juice is roughly 80% water, 15% sugar and 5% flavour compounds. The unique flavour of cider comes from these flavour compounds in the way they are affected by fermentation. Adding AJ or AJC after fermentation can enhance these as well as provide sugar for sweetness and carbonation.
For carbonation, I take a slightly different approach to adding a certain amount of sugar. I add sugar (or AJ or AJC) to the bottling bucket to increase the SG by two gravity points per volume of CO2 required (i.e. for 2 volumes, increase SG by 0.004) and bottle. If a sweetened cider is the target, then increase the SG further and pasteurise once the two volumes CO2 has developed.
As a simple example, for say 10g/L sweetness (about the same as ½ tsp of sugar in a cup of coffee), add sugar to 1.004 for carbonation then another 0.005 for sweetness for a total SG of 1.009. Ferment the 0.004 for CO2 and pasteurise at 1.005 leaving the 0.005 for sweetness. Of course, you can do all of this “on the way down” but it is a bit harder to get right so simply adding to fully fermented SG 1.000 cider is the easiest way.
A word of caution when using the plastic bottle squeeze test for monitoring carbonation. Firm is firm (i.e. the bottle will be firm at above 2 volumes of CO2 and will still feel much the same at 5 volumes of CO2, so monitor and pasteurise once the bottle is firm otherwise potential BOOM!). A simple alternative (and check) is to open a bottle every now and then to see how carbonation is progressing… plus you can drink it in the interest of research!!
I hope this helps… enjoy the journey!
I usually rack to secondary off the lees after the initial turbulent primary fermentation has settled, then leave it for a few weeks or even longer to clear and mature. However, this is optional. You may well find the harshness of fully fermented cider goes away after a few months as it matures and you don’t really need to add any sweetness.
As @jnesselrode suggests, pasteurisation really isn’t scary if you follow the “rules” (i.e. keep carbonation and temperature as low as possible). Use the search function at the top RHS to search my various posts on this.
As far as “appleness” is concerned, let me paraphrase Andrew Lea (Craft Cider Making)… “wine doesn’t taste like grapes, nor beer like barley, cider is cider”.
Apple juice is roughly 80% water, 15% sugar and 5% flavour compounds. The unique flavour of cider comes from these flavour compounds in the way they are affected by fermentation. Adding AJ or AJC after fermentation can enhance these as well as provide sugar for sweetness and carbonation.
For carbonation, I take a slightly different approach to adding a certain amount of sugar. I add sugar (or AJ or AJC) to the bottling bucket to increase the SG by two gravity points per volume of CO2 required (i.e. for 2 volumes, increase SG by 0.004) and bottle. If a sweetened cider is the target, then increase the SG further and pasteurise once the two volumes CO2 has developed.
As a simple example, for say 10g/L sweetness (about the same as ½ tsp of sugar in a cup of coffee), add sugar to 1.004 for carbonation then another 0.005 for sweetness for a total SG of 1.009. Ferment the 0.004 for CO2 and pasteurise at 1.005 leaving the 0.005 for sweetness. Of course, you can do all of this “on the way down” but it is a bit harder to get right so simply adding to fully fermented SG 1.000 cider is the easiest way.
A word of caution when using the plastic bottle squeeze test for monitoring carbonation. Firm is firm (i.e. the bottle will be firm at above 2 volumes of CO2 and will still feel much the same at 5 volumes of CO2, so monitor and pasteurise once the bottle is firm otherwise potential BOOM!). A simple alternative (and check) is to open a bottle every now and then to see how carbonation is progressing… plus you can drink it in the interest of research!!
I hope this helps… enjoy the journey!
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jnesselrode
Well-Known Member
I like that quote! It has me thinking ….
I guess it’s not really pure apple flavor I’m looking for but that sweet/acid balance that brings out fruitiness.
Yep, as my cider is made from my own apples, which are mostly low acid culinary types (Red Delicious Fameuse, Granny Smith, Ballerina plus some Cox's Orange Pippin) I have to play with acidity, tannin, etc a bit. The Beverage People have a good download about this.
Generally, my initial blend can end up something like 3-4 g/L TA so adding Malic Acid up to 5g/L before fermenting makes a heap of difference. I will then fine-tune up to 6 or 7 g/L before bottling as the biochemical changes to the flavour compounds usually improves things as well. Certainly, getting the right TA enhances the "appleness".
Sadly, this year I may have to supplement my own cider with store-bought juice since we have had an Antarctic breakout with severe frosts and winds at just the wrong time as blossoms and fruit were forming. Most of the apple trees in the district have been devastated. So, playing with TA will be important.
Generally, my initial blend can end up something like 3-4 g/L TA so adding Malic Acid up to 5g/L before fermenting makes a heap of difference. I will then fine-tune up to 6 or 7 g/L before bottling as the biochemical changes to the flavour compounds usually improves things as well. Certainly, getting the right TA enhances the "appleness".
Sadly, this year I may have to supplement my own cider with store-bought juice since we have had an Antarctic breakout with severe frosts and winds at just the wrong time as blossoms and fruit were forming. Most of the apple trees in the district have been devastated. So, playing with TA will be important.
My suggestion is to adjust the pH of the raw cider before fermentation and then to adjust the TA before bottling. The pH is important for the chemistry of the wine during fermentation. Usually a pH of around 3.4 to 3.5 is good. Of course you can measure the TA at that point as well, but you should also measure the pH. There is not a simple, linear, relationship between the two.
Then before bottling you can adjust the TA to optimize the flavor. At that point your focus is on flavor rather than wine chemistry.
Then before bottling you can adjust the TA to optimize the flavor. At that point your focus is on flavor rather than wine chemistry.
Yes , @Raptor99 is right. I should have also mentioned that my initial blends usually have a pH of 4.0 or above. It is just a convenient coincidence that bringing the TA up to around 5 g/L prior to fermentation also drops the pH to somewhere in the range 3.6 to 3.8. In fact I first started doing this to get the pH down rather than to be a flavour adjustment. The pH adjustment was so that a large dose of sulphite wasn't needed.
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