Noob.

[krichardson]

Hey guys go easy on me here I'm new to brewing and to the site but need some advice.
Here is where I'm at:
I am a big fan of ciders so I decided for my first brew that where I should start, man was I wrong. I found a site online that made it seem pretty simple but the more I read the more I kick myself in the nuts. Thank god I don't have much into it.
Here is what I did.
First for my base I used organic fresh pressed apple juice. No preservatives, it was pasteurized with UV so I think ill be all set there. I took my juice and warmed it up and added a cup of brown sugar, I was told that it would give it some more kick and sweeten it up as well. This is for a one gallon "pilot batch". As for the yeast I used Red Star Pasteur champagne yeast. Its been about six days since I initially pitched the yeast and I am still having a lot of airlock activity. My problem is when and how I should stop fermentation. I'm not opposed to back sweetening but would like to avoid it. Thought about letting it "dry" but cold crashing is an option too. Please help and please go easy on me, like I said I'm just a Noob.

 

[Noz03]

I'm also a noob and also on my first cider, cheers to that

From what I have read (as I am also not at the drinking stage yet) is that the fermentation will stop on its own once the yeast runs out of sugar or the alcohol level kills the yeast. If you are still worried though you can freeze it which also kills the yeast.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Welcome!

To stop fermentation via cold crashing, you will need to figure out how 'sweet' you want it to be.

Since you are new, and didn't give any gravity numbers, I'm guessing you don't have a hydrometer to measure sugar content? Don't worry, that's just the best method, not the only one.

Taste your brew over the next few days, looking for sweetness level. Now, this brew will be a bit yeasty and a bit harsh, but focus on sweetness. When you get where you want, stick the brew in the fridge to 'cold crash' the yeast into suspention. Then rack off the lees (that's the gunk at the bottom) into a new vessel and keep it in the fridge so that fermentation doesn't restart!

Now, this means drinking it soon, but for your first batch that shouldn't be a turn off.

Good luck, and skim through the old threads. There's tons of great info here on the Forum!

 

[krichardson]

what is the best way to rack it without stirring up the yeast? I have the old container ( a glass jug) that i plan to put it back into. should i siphon from the top or siphon the bottom out? thanks for the info! what would be the best gravity reading for sweetness if i was to get a hydrometer?

 

[DaveVanO]

what is the best way to rack it without stirring up the yeast? I have the old container ( a glass jug) that i plan to put it back into. should i siphon from the top or siphon the bottom out? thanks for the info! what would be the best gravity reading for sweetness if i was to get a hydrometer?

the hydrometer would be used to check the gravity readings at certain stages throughout fermentation. It lets you know when fermentation is finished, the potential ABV, and brix. He suggested a hydrometer because you could take a reading, taste it, and decide when you want to stop your fermentation.

For the racking part. I heard it was better to rack from the top down. and if you stop before you hit the bottom, you wont disturb sediment. Best suggestion I can give you is to move your cider to the spot where you plan to rack it at about an hour or two before you rack it to allow the sediment that was disturbed (from moving it) to settle back down.

Good luck, and im sort of new, pretty much did all the reading up before i began

 

[WilliamSlayer]

what is the best way to rack it without stirring up the yeast? I have the old container ( a glass jug) that i plan to put it back into. should i siphon from the top or siphon the bottom out? thanks for the info! what would be the best gravity reading for sweetness if i was to get a hydrometer?

If using a very simple 'tube siphon', then go from the top down, and keep the tube up against the side of the container so that you can closely monitor the liquid/sediment levels.

As for gravity readings, I backsweetened my last cider to 1.010 after fermenting it dry. But a 'best' reading is very subjective, as each person has different tastes.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

From what I read, that yeast is a low flocculating yeast. Meaning it doesn't create a very compact yeast cake on the bottom and will definitely require cold crashing or fining agent to get the yeasties to drop out completely. A syphon would definitely be your best bet.

I use an ale yeast on my 1 gallon batches and with a high floc yeast like these, I just tip up the jug and pour it off to rack. You'll still get a little sediment, but you don't have to clean more gear. Pop it in the fridge and it will continue to clear on it's own.

Just FYI, in my experience freezing yeast won't kill them. I store my bread yeast in the freezer and when I pull it out, it proofs back up for baking.

 

[krichardson]

Sweet thanks for all the info guys! I taste tested it last night and it seems a bit sweet right now. hopefully soon enough it will be a bit more dry. I cant wait to try it. Im going to find a hydrometer around town, should be tough, but if not ill go by taste for now. Ill let you know how it turns out!

 

[meettm]

I know there was a post somewhere on here about pasteurizing cider after bottling to get a less dry carbonated cider. I will try to find it again all I reall remember is that it involved heating water and putting them in it for a while, but specifics excape me right now.

 

[Fossey]

I know there was a post somewhere on here about pasteurizing cider after bottling to get a less dry carbonated cider. I will try to find it again all I reall remember is that it involved heating water and putting them in it for a while, but specifics excape me right now.

In the Cider Forum, there are "stickies" at the top of the list - as opposed to "threads". The sticky you are after is "Easy Stove Top Pasteurising..."

 

[meettm]

In the Cider Forum, there are "stickies" at the top of the list - as opposed to "threads". The sticky you are after is "Easy Stove Top Pasteurising..."

Yep that is the one did not realize it was a sticky, I just found it too.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/

 

[Schott703]

My experiment. I used the sticky for stove top pasteurizing you are going to use. Great for un carbonated. Bottle bombs for lightly carbonated. I ran some tests. If you follow all the instructions on the sticky, but lower the water bath to 170, the internal bottle temp will be around 145 for close to 4 min. 140 is almost instant yeast death. I haven't run carbonated bottles through it yet, but its the least common denominator temp vs time, at least from my experiments. I tried 165 and barely got the bottles over 140

 

[krichardson]

I think ill probably try this with my next batch, I only made a pilot batch for 1 gallon hardly enough to store, it should be consumed within a few days proceeding the bottling. I tasted my cider again last night and its getting close to where I want it. I think Ill cold crash it probably tomorrow all day and rack it tomorrow night. Ill let it sit in the glass growler it came in for a week in the fridge. The champagne yeast I used gave it a bit of a carbonated texture (enough for what I like). I do plan on making a cider press possibly over the next week or so, so I can do this with fresher juice and make more hopefully for cheaper. but we will see. For now I'm going to drink and be merry! Cheers everyone for the info! Ill take pictures and do a write up on the press if I end up making it.

 

[buckeyeintexas]

What is the equation you use to calculate ABV? I saw OG-FG*131. Is that correct? What is the tolerance of ale yeasts such as safale 05 or Nottingham?

 

[krichardson]

so guys here's the deal. I racked my cider tonight after cold crashing it all last night and today. here is what I came out of this experience with. I'm no brewmaster yet. I mean about 3 tall glasses in, this stuff Isn't half bad. Im finding the more I drink the better it gets. I really think that I put too much yeast in for the amount of juice I had. one packet for a gallon is a bit overkill but hey. Its pretty dry so iv added some more juice too it and its not all that bad now. I wish I knew exactly where I went wrong. I think for my next batch I will follow a pre-established recipe. I think I will try it with the lavlin 1118 or some nottingham this next time. I suppose for my first venture, blind as hell going into this I didn't do so bad. Im going to let the remainder sit for another week and if that doesn't work ill just suck it up and drink it anyway. It all ends the same no matter the taste. Well I appreciate the info from everyone.