We have a cider making club and do a lot of ciders each year (100?). We're all pretty experienced but one odd thing has us all puzzled. Maybe 5-10% of the ciders each year really drag their fermenting feet. Almost all the ciders finish in 4-6 weeks but these few can go on for months sometimes, althought do eventually finish (finish= SG .995). There's nothing much we do as far as a "recipe" goes: 6 gal. apple juice from fresh unsprayed apples, 1/2 tsp. sulfite on day 1, pectic enzyme on day 3, aerate and yeast (EC-1118) on day 4. Original SG is around 1.055. Some of us have been doing this for decades. I hate to use the expression, but what could go wrong???
Slow apple ciders
- Thread starter DougBrown
- Start date
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Could be nutrient deficiency. I didn't see nutrient listed in your recipe.
Don't get me wrong. Personally I don't use any nutrient. I like my ciders just fine that ferment for several months. Not in any hurry. And if you're not in any hurry, then you don't need to worry about it either.
Don't get me wrong. Personally I don't use any nutrient. I like my ciders just fine that ferment for several months. Not in any hurry. And if you're not in any hurry, then you don't need to worry about it either.
The nitrogen content of different apples varies by variety and even the trees and orchard. If the juice all came from the same pressing then I don't know. There's also temperature that plays into fermentation speed.
I’ve noticed when using bitter apples that fermentation is slow and they sometimes don’t clear until I pasteurize.
I’ve had a batch of Porters Perfection not drop clear after 12 months in secondary (glass carboy).
As soon as I kegged, back sweetened and pasteurized, it finally dropped clear.
I’ve had a batch of Porters Perfection not drop clear after 12 months in secondary (glass carboy).
As soon as I kegged, back sweetened and pasteurized, it finally dropped clear.
Shrug. Then I don't know why it happens. Too many unknown variables. Could just be a bad batch of yeast, or who knows what else. Don't forget, yeast is a living organism; it does whatever it wants, on its own schedule, and not always necessarily in a consistent manner.
