Applejack/Cider question

[cider1]

Doin my first batch of applejack ever. Got supplies, used 4 gallons apple juice and 1 gallon worth of apple juice concentrate- without any preservative, mixed in 8lbs dark brown sugar,and pitched Lavlin EC-1118 yeast. Its been 9 days now, and air lock is bubbling, but barely pushing up...I have seen similar recipes and it took over 3 weeks, which is what I am expecting. I also used a yeast nutrient- with 6 gallons product I pitched 2 extra teaspoons of nutrient to help yeats. I am not sure if the airlock should be pumpin like a presure cooker, or it is right on the money...my house is around 75 degrees, brew is in a fermentation bucketwith a blanket wrpped around it to keep it darker... should the airlock be pumpin more or should I not be worried...someone at work ( who has no clue) said i need to put a heating pad under the bucket on low, that the yeastys were to cold...nothing i researched or saw said anything about that....the first 3 days in the fermentation bucket i sturred gently with a sterile spoon..and yes before making all my gear was sanitized properly...i read and watch a lot before i decided to try this...so far its fun, but just have some questions...thanks for help....

 

[WayFrae]

I think you should be fine. Relax, don't worry and have a homebrew.

 

[cider1]

LOL THANKS MAN really.getting into this...cant wait.to.see what I made and make.some.carbonated cider...kinda fun for me and the wife

 

[WayFrae]

Yeah, its a lot of fun. I love the taste of homemade cider but it is way too dry for my girlfriend's tastes. I mix her's with some apple juice in the glass and she likes it.

 

[cider1]

Makin the hard stuff for.me...my hydro was topped...1.155...lol...20% before freezing...figure I should at.least get.60% when done...the carbonated we will.do around 8% and back sweeten...we both like angry orchard style...so if my air.lock.stops.after only 2 weeks should I re.pitch or rack to secondary and finish it?

 

[paperairplane]

The air lock tells you nothing about fermentation. Go by your hydrometer. I'd give it 3 weeks in primary, if not more - then secondary for a while - at that gravity, probably quite a while - I used that yeast before and it makes alcohol for sure, but ended up like a cheap dry sauvignon blanc. No apple flavor at all.

 

[cider1]

Thanks! how often should I check.gravity, and where should I shoot for on hydro?

 

[sixt3]

Have you read through the cider-making forum? Lots of info there. Search for Apfelwein ....

 

[cider1]

Not yet..still navigating the site...did a check today..hydro showed it was already @ 10 %mark after 8 days...tasted good, appley and kind of a caramel finish...I am thinking because I used dark brown sugar...still a while to go.....

 

[MindenMan]

What do you mean @ 10% mark. Are you calculating from your Gravity scale, or using the other side of your hydrometer? Making high proof cider or Apfelwine, when fermentation is over, there will be very little apple taste at that point. Fear not, as time in the bottle will bring the flavor back, but it may take months. One of my hard cider batches took 3+ months to taste like apple again.

 

[RPCidery]

Just be aware that when you freeze hard cider to concentrate the ethanol, that you will also concentrate the undesirable higher alcohols as well. Not necessarily dangerous, but will definitely make for worse hangovers. So I hear.

 

[MindenMan]

Can we please stop with the methanol scare, no really, knock that sh!t off. I am so frustrated with unsubstantiated methanol comments. Here's the deal, sit your ass down and get the answers for yourself, by yourself, in other words, do the research yourself before you waste your time and that of others as well reading your useless drivel. There, am I being a full fledged d!ck yet? Good, that was my intention. There is no (practical) way to stop the by-products of fermentation that produce methanol. Let's do this the easy way, 1 gallon of distilled alcohol contains 20 ml (2/3 of 1 ounce) of methanol. The whole gallon has less than one ounce; 1/3 of 1 oz can cause blindness, and 1 oz can cause death. Look at it this way, if you drank enough moonshine to suffer from methanol poisoning, methanol wouldn't be what killed you, ethanol poisoning will be the killer.
Are we all clear now?
Wait, I almost forgot, if fermentation control is poor/too high, there will be fusel alcohols produced that cause nasty hangovers. Not methanol. If it even remotely smells like acetone or nail polish remover, wait a couple of months before you drink it, and leave it in the fermenter the whole time. Just the natural breathing caused by room temperature change will usually flush it out. I speak from experience, my first batch was fermented too warm, and it took a couple of months before it was drinkable.

 

[RPCidery]

Can we please stop with the methanol scare, no really, knock that sh!t off. I am so frustrated with unsubstantiated methanol comments. Here's the deal, sit your ass down and get the answers for yourself, by yourself, in other words, do the research yourself before you waste your time and that of others as well reading your useless drivel. There, am I being a full fledged d!ck yet? Good, that was my intention. There is no (practical) way to stop the by-products of fermentation that produce methanol. Let's do this the easy way, 1 gallon of distilled alcohol contains 20 ml (2/3 of 1 ounce) of methanol. The whole gallon has less than one ounce; 1/3 of 1 oz can cause blindness, and 1 oz can cause death. Look at it this way, if you drank enough moonshine to suffer from methanol poisoning, methanol wouldn't be what killed you, ethanol poisoning will be the killer.
Are we all clear now?
Wait, I almost forgot, if fermentation control is poor/too high, there will be fusel alcohols produced that cause nasty hangovers. Not methanol. If it even remotely smells like acetone or nail polish remover, wait a couple of months before you drink it, and leave it in the fermenter the whole time. Just the natural breathing caused by room temperature change will usually flush it out. I speak from experience, my first batch was fermented too warm, and it took a couple of months before it was drinkable.

Did I say methanol specifically? Did I not say that it wasn't necessarily dangerous? I wasn't trying to scare the guy from anything. Whether you want to admit it or not, every liquid that doesn't freeze with the water content will be concentrated right along with the ethanol.
Will it cause blindness? Not likely. Will it possibly give you a more gnarly hangover than usual? Quite probable.

 

[MindenMan]

RPCidery, I was wrong about your post, and I openly apologize. I still stand opposed to all the methanol scare jockeys. I actually did the research, which is why I posted the info above.

 

[RPCidery]

Accepted. Misunderstandings do happen sometimes.

 

[cider1]

My hydro has wine and beer readings and the other side has abv percents.....it was dead on the 10% mark....sounds like I need a hyro class...lol.

 

[cider1]

I have done homework, freezing doesnt raise bad stuff....however, to remove some particulate which can cause hangovers I was going to filter through activated carbon