Aging Cider at higher temperatures

[Parkhopper]

I live in Georgia and during the peak apple season it is still pretty hot here. We have a 7.0 cubic foot chest freezer that we use as our fermentation chamber, but it only holds two 6 gallon buckets/carboys at a time. Since I'm also brewing beer, that means juggling the primary and secondary stages for everything in just two slots is very limiting from a production standpoint.

Ideally, i'd like to make enough cider to get through the entire year, while still being able to brew up some beer every once and a while. One way to do this would be to do the primary fermentation in the fermentation chamber, and then bring the secondary in the house and let it age at room temperature (about 78F/25.6C).

I understand that fermentation at higher temperatures is not a great idea, but since the secondary stage is really more of a clearing and aging stage, my expectation is that there would be little to no yeast activity to negatively effect anything. That's my theory anyway. Does anyone have any experience with this, or could perhaps explain the science of why this wouldn't be the best idea?

I'd really hate wasting a 2.5 hour trip to the mountains to get cider, 2 weeks in primary and then at least 6 weeks in secondary only to find out we wasted a batch with a failed experiment.

Jason

 

[gregbathurst]

Cider in storage, like wine, goes through a lot of slow reactions that change the flavour. At higher temps these reactions go faster and can cause the cider to deteriorate. That's why it'a better to store at low temperatures. At 25C you should be ok for a year, especially if it is a bit cooler in winter.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I'm in Central Arkansas, hot and humid like Georgia. I age my ciders in a shed behind the house. But they never make it past 6 months or so. They do fine with the heat at the end of summer, and most of the year it is cooler in the shed, so no worries unless you are aging really long term.

Shoot, I have aged wine in that shed for 3 years without problems. Of course cooler would be better, but you got to work with what you got.