I am making 200 gallons of cider this month, in carboys, and I need some advice. I'm sure most of these things have already been explored in the forum but I looked and couldn't find what I was looking for. Anyway.
1) I am having my apples pressed on Friday. Unfortunately, they will be almost three weeks old by then. Since they are wild apples that haven't been sprayed, a lot of the apples have spots. Also, some of them are significantly bruised. I might try to pick some of those out. My real concern is about the spots -- which are some kind of fungus I guess. Some of the original funguses have really spread since they've sat in my basement. Some of them look a little bit like a flat, black mould, but really I have no idea. Does this mean I should use a little more K-meta before I pitch my yeast? Also, what's the magic number of K-Meta, CvilleKevin says 1/8 tsp, I have also read twice that much in other places. I would rather be safe than sorry, but I also don't like chemicals.
2) I am brewing in my basement, but I found a shipping company down the road who agreed to store my cider for three or four days in their huge walk-in cooler. It seems like an ideal place to cold crash, but I will need to bring my carboys home in my truck before I can rack... I can't just rack in the walk-in cooler. Obviously I should rack as soon as possible, but I will also need to let the cider settle for a little while after transporting it back into my basement. Will my transporting of the cider ruin the cold-crash process by stirring up the yeast?
3) After I've taken the cider home, I won't be able to return it to that cold storage facility, so I need to make sure fermentation doesn't start back up. My plan is to crash at 1.005. I am using low-nutrient apples from trees that are not fertilized. It seems like, to guarantee that it doesn't start up again, I will have to put some k-meta in. Is this reasoning sound? And if so, how much should I put in? Should I wait and see if it bubbles, just in case it has stabilized on its own?
4) At this point, stable or not, I will taste the cider and decide if I should do a MLF. Assuming I decide not to do a MLF, and I have stabilized it, then is it still desirable to let the cider sit for a long period of time before I bottle? Just from what I've read the "secondary" should go two to six months at least, but I don't think this is technically a "secondary" since I am trying to stabilize it. I plan on force-carbonating in the spring or summer.
5) I was told at a brew supply shop that I should be concerned with shelf-life. The last batch of cider I made was two years ago and it still tastes great. I was told that might have been because with that batch, I bottle-primed, and that the lees helped preserve the product. Should I be concerned with shelf-life considering I will not be able to refrigerate after I've bottled, and is this something that K-meta can help with, and if so, how much?
1) I am having my apples pressed on Friday. Unfortunately, they will be almost three weeks old by then. Since they are wild apples that haven't been sprayed, a lot of the apples have spots. Also, some of them are significantly bruised. I might try to pick some of those out. My real concern is about the spots -- which are some kind of fungus I guess. Some of the original funguses have really spread since they've sat in my basement. Some of them look a little bit like a flat, black mould, but really I have no idea. Does this mean I should use a little more K-meta before I pitch my yeast? Also, what's the magic number of K-Meta, CvilleKevin says 1/8 tsp, I have also read twice that much in other places. I would rather be safe than sorry, but I also don't like chemicals.
2) I am brewing in my basement, but I found a shipping company down the road who agreed to store my cider for three or four days in their huge walk-in cooler. It seems like an ideal place to cold crash, but I will need to bring my carboys home in my truck before I can rack... I can't just rack in the walk-in cooler. Obviously I should rack as soon as possible, but I will also need to let the cider settle for a little while after transporting it back into my basement. Will my transporting of the cider ruin the cold-crash process by stirring up the yeast?
3) After I've taken the cider home, I won't be able to return it to that cold storage facility, so I need to make sure fermentation doesn't start back up. My plan is to crash at 1.005. I am using low-nutrient apples from trees that are not fertilized. It seems like, to guarantee that it doesn't start up again, I will have to put some k-meta in. Is this reasoning sound? And if so, how much should I put in? Should I wait and see if it bubbles, just in case it has stabilized on its own?
4) At this point, stable or not, I will taste the cider and decide if I should do a MLF. Assuming I decide not to do a MLF, and I have stabilized it, then is it still desirable to let the cider sit for a long period of time before I bottle? Just from what I've read the "secondary" should go two to six months at least, but I don't think this is technically a "secondary" since I am trying to stabilize it. I plan on force-carbonating in the spring or summer.
5) I was told at a brew supply shop that I should be concerned with shelf-life. The last batch of cider I made was two years ago and it still tastes great. I was told that might have been because with that batch, I bottle-primed, and that the lees helped preserve the product. Should I be concerned with shelf-life considering I will not be able to refrigerate after I've bottled, and is this something that K-meta can help with, and if so, how much?
