3 weeks ferementing and no booze content?!!!

[Jawbreaker]

greetings friends!

please first allow me to excuse my complete lack of brewing know how and terminology on every level. i live in oak glen, ca, in a pple country, and so i live and work around the orchards and have in the past thrown some cider into a bottle and put a baloon on it and that has been the extent of my brewing. however, 3 weeks ago i went to the home brew place and bought some goods and now 3 weeks later i took my cider out for the "hydrometer" testing (which yielded the same level as water... does that mean nothing fermented?), and i think i have botched it (5 gallons) because;

1. the hydrometer reading is at about 1.002 (but this is the same as the water i tested) and i didnt test my sample cider before i "pitched" it so i cant really see if there was a difference.

2. i tasted the cider tonight and it has a slight smell of booze and slight taste of it as well, but to be honest, my ghetto way with the ballon and cider in a milk jug tatsed more boozy than this. also the cider right now tastes pretty bad, almost mettalic.

3. also there is a layer of white cottage cheese looking sediment floating on top of the cider, and it looks like it might be the yeats.

so... im wondering why i my hydrometer has the same reading for my cider as it does for water, does this mean that i dont really h ave any booze in there? should i even bother taking it to the next step of botteling or should i just freeze distill it and have make some rubbing alcahol to show off to the boys and induce a case of the jake leg walk?

thanks for any pointers for m y probably novice questions.

NOTE: despite my failed batch here, this is really fun, can anyone reccomend an exhaustive and comprehesive book on cider/beer making?

 

[Lcasanova]

No, I think you have some hard cider there. Usually when I make apfelwein the yeast eats everything up and the hydrometer shows FG of ~1.000. The OG of pure juice ranges from 1.050-1040 or something around there.

My guess- it's fermented fully. The metallic taste should go away after bottling and the sediment on top- no clue. Maybe others will chime in.

 

[Jawbreaker]

o wow thats great news (that i have some cider here)!!!

but it just tates like watery apple juice, any tips on making it a bit more stiff?

also, this is the furthest ive been in the process, so do i know just siphon it into bottles or need i have it go a second round in a secondary bucket? and if i do put in bottles i hear that i am to put corn starch in the bottles, but how much?

thanks so much for taking the time and giving me a response

 

[northernlad]

A hydrometer measures the sugar content in water. If you have sugar, as you do in apple juice, you will have a number above 1.000. When you add yeast it eats the sugar thereby lowering the reading closer to 1.000. If you started with apple juice and you ended with a reading near 1.000, Drink it-it will get you drunk.
The off flavors you may find will be eliminated by time and patience. The resulting headache will be eilminated only be a guillotine.

"Stiff" does not have anything to do with body. My batch at almost 2 months tastes good but is dry like Sauvignon Blanc.

 

[Jawbreaker]

"If you started with apple juice and you ended with a reading near 1.000, Drink it-it will get you drunk." he he, i love it. thanks for the response.

so then, would you reccomend that i bottle it now or go another round in a carboy (and why do people do that, is it because the longer it sits the better it tastes but doesnt have any more potential for further fermentation)?

thanks again,
jason

 

[Lcasanova]

id bottle it, prime it if you want it carbed.

secondary is for further clearing, fruit additions, spice additions, etc. no need for cider IMO

 

[Jawbreaker]

yeah i think i will make this one easy and bottle it, but, and please excuse the ignorance, but when you say "prime" it if i want it carbed (which i do want), does that mean i put in corn sugar? and if so, do i put that 3/4 cup of corn sugar in the bottle and then put the cider in there? or should i heat the corn sugar in with something else and then put it in the bottle? also, how long do i need to let it sit before i can drink it and its carbed (and that metallic taste goes away)?

and last question, is there anything i can do to make it a little sweeter without doing secondary, like maybe adding raspberry flavoring?

thsnkd for your help, i am so pumped for this!

PS is that a queensland/blue healer? i have 2 and they are the smarterst dogs in the world.

 

[smokinghole]

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

Look there you can calculate how much priming sugar you need. 3/4 cup per bottle is WAY too much. Unless you're talking about the 5 gallon bottle then forget my last statement.

 

[Lcasanova]

yeah i think i will make this one easy and bottle it, but, and please excuse the ignorance, but when you say "prime" it if i want it carbed (which i do want), does that mean i put in corn sugar? and if so, do i put that 3/4 cup of corn sugar in the bottle and then put the cider in there? or should i heat the corn sugar in with something else and then put it in the bottle? also, how long do i need to let it sit before i can drink it and its carbed (and that metallic taste goes away)?

and last question, is there anything i can do to make it a little sweeter without doing secondary, like maybe adding raspberry flavoring?

thsnkd for your help, i am so pumped for this!

PS is that a queensland/blue healer? i have 2 and they are the smarterst dogs in the world.

You got! If you have a scale, you'll want to use 1 oz of corn sugar (dextrose) per gallon- so 3/4 cup which is close to 5 oz, for a 5 gallon batch of cider. I like to use a pint of water, boil it then add the corn sugar and stir until it has dissolved, then cool it to about 70 or so and then rack the cider on top of it in your bottling bucket. The racking action will create a nice agitation to mix the sugar mixture with the cider.

If you want to sweeten it, add some lactose (don't know how much) in with the corn sugar and water and let that dissolve too.

And yes, although I think he is a mix of something else too, just not sure what