Will my cider be ready for Christmas?

[heatherdearest]

this is our first attempt at making cider.
We started our cider on 10/2 in a 6 gallon carboy, we racked it off on 11/1 topping it off with 1/2 gallon fresh cider and 3/4 cup of sugar...
the fermenting seems to have slowed down but still has an air bubbble appx every 25-30 seconds.
Does anyone know how about when it should be done and ready to bottle ?
I really wanted it in time for christmas.
Thanks!!

 

[humann_brewing]

I think the short answer is yes it will probably be drinkable but as with a lot of things it will get better with age. You don't want to drink most, 50%, 25% etc... and then realize it is amazing when you only have a little left.

 

[heatherdearest]

Do we have to wait to bottle it until it stops fermenting? Im assuming yes, becuase the pressure would blow out the cork right?

 

[greatsharkhunt]

Yes, if you want it dry. If you want some (natural) sweetness left you could cold crash for a day and then rerack until you are happy with the clarity and fermentation stops.

Depends on if you want carb as well, an oft discussed/ debate topic here

 

[heatherdearest]

We tasted our cider and it is real dry, a little carbonated, and a bit strong!! we got some campden tablets, we are going to add them to stop it from fermenting any more, and add a little sugar to smooth it out, and bottle in the next day or 2.
if anyone has any other suggestions i would love to hear them! this is our first batch so we dont quite know what we are doing.

 

[CvilleKevin]

Dont add campden if you want to drink this for Christmas. It wont stop the yeast by itself and will take months for the taste to burn off. If you want bottle carbed, read the sticky on pasteurization. What yeast did you use?

 

[heatherdearest]

we used champagne yeast... and while i was at work today my fiance bottled our batch. I dont taste the campden at all actually, its tasts pretty good but could be better. we are going to start a couple more batches within the next couple weeks. Should we use the champagne yeast again? Any additional tips/suggestions?

 

[Calder]

First, I think it was done, and the bubbles you saw was just out-gassing of disolved CO2.

You added Campden tablets. That kills the yeast. You will not get any carbonation in the bottle since the yeast are dead. Still cider is fine. You didn;t need to kill the yeast to have still cider since I think they were done anyway, but would have waked up with more sugar if you wanted to carbonate.

Try a different yeast and see how it turns out. I don't have much experience, but it seems ale yeast leaves a little more apple flavor. It may be the yeast adds a little fruit flavor that makes it seem like there is more apple to it.

 

[dinnerstick]

i have used champagne yeast a few times and wasn't that thrilled with the result. i usually press fresh and use wild yeast so i don't have much experience with different yeasts, but my last batch was with safale 04 and although it is far from the finished product i like the result a lot better than with champagne. it seems to leave a lot more of the 'appleness' remaining, in agreement with calder. champagne left my cider very dry (fine) but very flat tasting. too many other variables to attribute 100% of the blame to the yeast though. so there's my 2 cents, but do read this thread (sticky) if you haven't done so.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/
cheers

 

[heatherdearest]

OK so we are going to start 2 more batches right after the new year. I think I will take your advice and not use the champagne yeast again. with this batch I think with time it lost the apple flavor a bit. I dont mind the strongness, as long as it is smooth. I am a wine lover so maybe we will do one batch as cider and the other as apple wine? Any suggestions on how to achieve this? Maybe I should use try Safale S-04 or Nottingham yeast?
anyone have a good recipe link I should check out?
Thanks so much!