Fermentation of first cider

I mixed a pint of fresh cooked crab apple juice with two gallons of Apple cider. I added a little sugars to bump gravity to 1.050 I split and put SafCider in one jug and Nottingham in the other. I am really curious how the flavors will compare.

 

Took almost 24 hours for the Safcider yeast to start fermenting and now airlock is a bubbling. Nottingham is starting to ferment as I can see small bubbles forming along the glass. Happy camper now.

 

I read your first post as "crab juice" and nearly vomited.

 

Looks like you have a good side-by-side test in the works... be sure to keep us updated!

-Andrew

 

I hear it's way better than Mountain Dew. Pairs well with khav khalash, too.

 

Well since the cider is clearing I decided to take a measurement using my refractometer. OG was 1.050, i used my refractometer and read 1.016 and 1.018 on it today without correction for alcohol.

Taste is weak and i know it has only been two weeks but I thought it would at least taste ok. Same with both yeasts.

To bump up the alcohol and give it some flavor can I add a can of apple juice concentrate to each gallon jug at this point with the cider clearing? Or would it be better to just let it sit for another month, stabilize and play with acid and apple juice to give it flavor and give some bite?

 

That or dump it?

 

When fermentation is finished I would stabilize with campden tablets and potassium sorbate, then back sweeten with apple juice concentrate and malic acid to your liking, well that's what I do.

 

It's probably just about done fermenting already. Corrected SG from the refractometer is close to about 0.996. Lowest I have seen in a cider is about 0.992. Go ahead and add your concentrate and stabilizer right now if you want to keep it appley sweet.