racking didn't stop my fermentation - advice appreciated

[microbiology]

Hi guys,

I racked an 11 day primary with a SG of about 1.007 yesterday and its still bubbling away today. IM using s04, heat pasteurized cider with a starting OG (added some sugar) of about 1.06. I racked it once and must have done a bad job because only an hour later there was significant sediment at the bottom of my carboy. After seeing the sediment i racked it again.

Today there is more sediment! Are the yeast still growing or are they falling out of solution? Although my airlock is still passing gas it has slowed now to one burp every 4 seconds. Is this normal for a secondary or should I have left it in the primary longer? I read here that you could stop s04 without cold crashing <1.01.

Excited regardless I'll take SG readings daily to see what's up

 

[Yooper]

Fermentation will continue until it's done. No need to worry!

Racking doesn't stop or slow fermentation, and gravity will still cause sediment to fall. So just wait, and when it's done, then it's done.

My last cider with S04 stopped at 1.004, but sometimes it's higher and sometimes lower. Once it's done, and clear (so4 clears well), then it can be racked and/or bottled.

Daily SG readings are pointless, though. It's done when it's done. Whether it's .990 or 1.008, it'll still be done when it's done.

 

[bu_gee]

Racking doesn't stop fermentation. As long as there is sugar and the yeast are alive, you'll get bubbling.

 

[BigRob]

Offgassing doesn't mean it's still fermenting, gravity readings tell the truth, bubbles in your airlock can happen for a large variety of reasons.

 

[paperairplane]

Cold crashing also does not stop fermentation - just puts yeast in time out, but as soon as they warm up again, if there's sugar, they are going back to work.

Don't worry about it for a few weeks. Once it goes nice and clear, evaluate what's going on.

 

[javalin]

If you're still getting bubbles every four seconds you probably put it in secondary too soon. I usually wait until there is one bubble every 30-60 seconds. At that point it is most likely just offgassing, but you will continue to get some sedimentation until your cider is clear enough to see through

 

[microbiology]

Thanks guys. It makes sense to me that fermentation would continue regardless of racking but in one of the stickies here a guy specifically states he stops fermentation early to leave some sweetness in his cider by racking. Am I misreading this?

 

[bu_gee]

You must be missing something. You gotta kill the buggers if you want to stop fermentation. Even at very low temps it will continue albeit at a much reduced rate.

 

[MindenMan]

Trust Yooper. She is a veteran at making ciders and apfelwine. It's not done until it's done, and the more racking, the greater chance for oxidation and infection.

 

[bernardsmith]

I guess I must be the only person that is confused by your first post that said that after 11 days the gravity was 1.070 but at day 1 the starting gravity was 1.060. Is you 11th day reading 1.007 or 1.070? If the former that suggests that there is still a fair amount of fermentable sugar for the yeast to convert to CO2 and alcohol and that unless you have removed the yeast through filtration or you have stunned them so that they no longer can reproduce (bud) by adding K-sorbate with K-meta , then the colony of yeast - despite your attempts to remove them by racking while they are still eagerly reproducing and consuming the sugar are going to be working on the remaining sugars (equivalent to a good 3 oz of sugar or more)

 

[microbiology]

I guess I must be the only person that is confused by your first post that said that after 11 days the gravity was 1.070 but at day 1 the starting gravity was 1.060. Is you 11th day reading 1.007 or 1.070? If the former that suggests that there is still a fair amount of fermentable sugar for the yeast to convert to CO2 and alcohol and that unless you have removed the yeast through filtration or you have stunned them so that they no longer can reproduce (bud) by adding K-sorbate with K-meta , then the colony of yeast - despite your attempts to remove them by racking while they are still eagerly reproducing and consuming the sugar are going to be working on the remaining sugars (equivalent to a good 3 oz of sugar or more)

shoot man, sorry. typo it was supposed to be 1.007.

 

[oljimmy]

Not to disagree with the inestimable Frau Yooper, but according to Claude Jolicoeur (cider expert) racking does slow your fermentation. That's why he recommends, in his book, an "early racking" around 1.030 to slow the fermentation down. It's not clear that it will result in a higher FG (though he claims it does). Just wanted to get this perspective in there. Racking will of course never halt fermentation completely.

 

[carlnpa]

SO4 will stop fermenting at 9-10% abv, even with excess sugar.

If your og is higher, say 1.08/1.09, your fermentation will naturally stop with fg of 1.00/1.01.

Cold crash, and it is very unlikely you will have a fermentation restart even with excess sugar.

With your og of 1.06 the fg will be completely dry at 0.990/1.00.