about to brew my first cider batch, some questions

[EvilTOJ]

Adding sugar to cider won't do anything except give it a high alcohol taste to it. Personally, when I want to taste that burn, I'll drink the hard stuff. Aging does diminish it somewhat though, which is a good thing. nickmpower, I'd suggest reading howtobrew.com. It's more focused on beer, but it will answer a lot of your questions as to what is happening with the fermentation.

BrewinJack, seriously you need to look into using paragraphs. That WALL OF TEXT is very hard to read and I ended up just skipping over it.

 

[nickmpower]

so this stuff should be more then done when i get back, but what are signs to look for to know thats its done? any bubbles per minute guideline?

also i plan to carb some in 2 liter soda bottles. How much sugar should i be looking to add per gallon? about how long will it take a 70 degrees

also, will I be able to do a full ferment of this stuff in the brewing bucket that i have or do i need to stick to carboys?

 

[lapaglia]

The bottle you use does not change the amount of sugar. 1 oz per gallon. There is no bubble per minute ratio. Get an SG and then 2 days later get another one. If it hasn't changed its done.

Yes you can do a full ferment in the bucket. Just siphon it to the bottling bucket when you are ready to bottle. 2 liter bottles is a lot of cider to drink at once but it will carbonate. Give it 3-7 weeks at 70 degs. You can feel how much its carbed by squeezing the bottle. when they are really hard you can put one in the fridge and let it sit for 48 hours then try it and see if its carbed enough.

All these questions have been answered in this forum. Most in this thread. It really helps if you read some before asking. We all like to help but its nice to see the person showing some effort and not just expecting it all handed to them. Just my opinion YMMV.

 

[nickmpower]

get back on suday, cant wait!!! With the 28g/ sugar per serving of the juice (about 3g more then the normal i think) and the 5 cups of cane sugar i put in, I calculated that the avb will be at least %11. (this is all an approximation and assumes that cane sugar changes the avb as much as dextrose). I will need to move it from the floor to elevate it slightly, hopefully i will have very steady hands and will not disturb the sediment at the bottom too much.

For my next brew i want to try a quicker ferment. Maybe aim for like %4-%5. I am going to use less sugar and crash it for a slightly sweeter taste. I am also going to try beer yeast. Can anyone recomend a SG to crash it at? I dont want it to be super sweet, I tried some store bought cider and thought it was a little too sweet. I will research it also...

 

[RugenBrau]

I put up a couple of 5 gallon batches experimenting with notty/safale 04/ coopers. Fresh pressed juice @1.055. The Notty is now at 1.015 so it is approx 5%. I did not add any sugar. It is sweet and has a strong apple taste. It reminds me of the old farm ciders years ago which I enjoy. I don't have any room in the fridge so I stuck it outside a few hours ago and buried it in the snow bank. I'm going to rack it of tomorrow night and then will do it once more. Hell Maybe I"ll just leave outside buried and draw it off as I want it. In fact I'll have to until I get room! I'll keep you posted

 

[EvilTOJ]

In the US, cider and apple juice are virtually identical (except for marketing purposes). For a good beer yeast, pretty much any dry yeast will work. Munton's or anything put out by Danstar is good, since they tend to end with a high FG anyways.

Also, when you move the carboy up for racking, do it a day or so beforehand, so you give the sediment time to settle out again.

 

[nickmpower]

well I siphoned it off yesterday. I took a sip and didnt really like it. I put it in the fridge and tried it later. long story short, my friends and i went through 2 gallons of the stuff