Apple cider kit

[Aushunter]

Hi, Im brand new to brewing. So I bought a mangrove jacks apple cider kit. I was expecting things to be pretty straight for but after a bit of reading I realized there's a lot to it. Mine has been fermenting for exactly one week. I read about the eggy sulphur smell, and mine smells like it. The bubbling has slowed down significantly now. I do have a secondary carboy, but do I even need to rack it into a second carboy?. Is it bad to take test samples every couple of days from now? (Because of infection). How or when does it clear up? I have bottles and carbonation drops and all that. Apparently the sulphur smell goes away with time. I like a sweet fizzy cider. If you were me, what do you do next, and why? Shooting heaps of questions sorry, thought i may as well. Any help would be fantastic as I have no idea what to do. thanks.
Jonathan.

 

[oldmate]

If I was you I would leave it for one month or until it clears, whichever happens first and then rack to a secondary vessel. Alternatively you can wait another week or so and pull a sample and measure the specific gravity, assuming you have a hydrometer - stable reading over a few days indicates that fermentation has stopped and you can rack to your secondary/bottles. It is up to you if you want to bulk age it but at this stage it is also acceptable to bottle and age in bottles.

If you are after a sweeter, carbonated cider you have a couple of options. You can add some non-fermentable sugars such as xylitol and then use your carb tabs. I would highly recommend reading the stickied thread in this sub-forum about bottle pasteurisation by Pappers which allows you to have a sweet, carbonated cider but is a little tricky if this is your first time.

 

[Aushunter]

If I was you I would leave it for one month or until it clears, whichever happens first and then rack to a secondary vessel. Alternatively you can wait another week or so and pull a sample and measure the specific gravity, assuming you have a hydrometer - stable reading over a few days indicates that fermentation has stopped and you can rack to your secondary/bottles. It is up to you if you want to bulk age it but at this stage it is also acceptable to bottle and age in bottles.

If you are after a sweeter, carbonated cider you have a couple of options. You can add some non-fermentable sugars such as xylitol and then use your carb tabs. I would highly recommend reading the stickied thread in this sub-forum about bottle pasteurisation by Pappers which allows you to have a sweet, carbonated cider but is a little tricky if this is your first time.

Thanks heaps for the reply mate, really helpful. Yeah I have a hydrometer. Waiting is so hard haha was hoping for "yeah no worries bottle it up and should be ready in a week or so". Oh well that's how it goes haha

 

[oldmate]

Best thing you can do is find a spot to put it so that you can't fiddle with it, best thing I ever did was move my set up to the back of the garage. Now when I brew a cider I make sure fermentation has started then come back a month later, all about the patience!