Bottled 11 gallons/3 batches of cider, didn't add campden tablets - what to expect?

[Kyle05STi]

Last weekend we bottled about 11 gallons of cider - the first 3 of out of the 4 batches I've made. Batch #1 was made with fresh pressed cider from a local orchard, #2 from organic apple juice and #3 from a 75/25 blend of organic apple and organic pear juice. All were fermented to dryness and I did not backsweeten as we like completely dry cider.

(the carboy with the checkered tape and special edition carlo rossi aging vessel in front of it is a ~10% batch that tastes great 2 months in but I'm going to let it age and see what happens - should I sulfite it too? I haven't yet)

It just hit me today that I didn't add any campden tablets after transferring to the bottling bucket to prevent oxidation:

I added campden to batch #1 a few months ago when I racked it from secondary to another carboy. Batch #2 has never been sulfited (I didn't add any when I racked to secondary) and batch #3 went straight from primary (it was in there for about 11 weeks) to the bottling bucket, also with no campden tablets added.

Obviously, a lot of oxygen was introduced between racking to the bottling bucket and then filling the bottles.

How big of a mistake did I make and what should I expect with the cider? it all tasted fine, although a bit bland (I used champagne yeast which I've recently learned can strip the apple flavors out). Do we need to drink all of these now as opposed to letting them age in the bottle for a while?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Silver79]

My limited experience has shown me that without the campden, I haven't noticed much difference in vs with campden, regardless of aging. Disclaimer none of mine is aged more than 3 months. I too often use champagne yeast, but will often cold crash, sweeten keg and carbonate and then it sits. My dry cider with or without campden and ksorbate didn't seem too different either. I vote drink it at your desired pace and keep notes for yourself. It all looks very good!

 

[bigplunkett]

I did a pear split 1/3 frsh pear anout 1# sugar and 2/3 treetop cider. It was great. I think i used montech yeast.

 

[dmtaylor]

I never use Campden. Your cider will taste better for it. Campden adds sulfur, which can cause stinkage problems. So of course, sulfur character out of your bottles won't happen as much if you don't add any. True, the cider might begin to taste slightly stale after like 6-12 months of age, but if you're going to drink it in a reasonable amount of time, Campden is truly unnecessary IMO. I don't use it at all and my ciders are pretty dang tasty for a long time.

P.S. There is zero reason to age a cider. Drink it as quickly as you like. Today! if you want one. Or 5 or 6.

 

[Yooper]

I always use sulfites in my wines, meads, and ciders. I keep the amount low, under 50 ppm, and it does dissipate rather quickly so it's not like it has a flavor impact.

I have a lot of wine and cider around, and so some of my drinks age a bit just because I have so much of it. I have some ciders that are over 3 years old in the basement. It's not intentional to keep it that long usually, it's just too much to drink at one time.

 

[Drewed]

What is with the "lime jello" in the measuring cup in the second picture?

 

[HomebrewHandicapper]

What is with the "lime jello" in the measuring cup in the second picture?

My guess......green bottle caps being sanitized. Had me for a second also.

 

[Kyle05STi]

My guess......green bottle caps being sanitized. Had me for a second also.

Bingo bango, green caps in Starsan solution.




Thanks for the reassurance everyone! I may crack open a few over the next few weeks to see how things are going but it's good to know I most likely didn't ruin anything.

 

[Drewed]

Bingo bango, green caps in Starsan

Lol! Whoops, I really shouldn't look at pictures on my phone!

I have heard of using jello to clear meads, but never thought of using flavored jello to do it. Lime mead? Perhaps not, but I wonder what a peach jello might do.....