Hard Cider

Hi, I just made a simple hard cider recipe on 22 Nov made up of 5 Gallons Apple Juice, 5 pounds of brown sugar and I used Red Star Champaign yeast. It is now 4 Dec and this stuff is bubbling at a rate of every six seconds. I tasted it and it tastes good but the fermentation is going like crazy. What have I got here?

 

Strong apple cider....

 

What was you og? And what is the reading now?

 

The OG was 1.062 and it was 1.022 yesterday. It still has a very strong bubbling in the airlock every 5 to 6 seconds. Thanks...

 

I'd suggest checking every other day until you get three consecutive identical readings, then leave it for another week, just to allow cleanup.

 

Did you temp correct for accuracy? Why I ask is, that if you dissolve one pound of sugar in one gallon of water it will yield a sugar solution of, in this case, 1.046 SG. Based on general info store bought apple juice has a S.G. of 1.050. I could certainly be wrong here, but the math says 1.096 O.G. per gallon.

 

If it's still bubbling, just walk away and leave it be. Once you stop seeing visible signs of fermentation, give it a few more days and then check your gravity over the course of a few days to see if it's stabilized. I'd then give it a bit more time for the yeast to clean up after themselves and for the cider to clear up a bit and then you can keg/bottle.

 

I thank everyone for the input. I am going to take the suggestion and let it run it's course and then let it rest. I'll update when I get a result.

Thanks again...

 

OK everyone it has finished up at 1.008 with temperature correction. It tastes pretty good to me. Thanks everyone for your help and have a Very Merry HBT Christmas.

 

i have a question actually, i have had some hard cider going for 3 days and no bubbles if the airlock that i have noticed, is this normal?

 

Hi Mickey, normally you should get some bubbles in the airlock by then. Are you sure your container is air tight?