Bottling cider, not sure what to do?

[patc890]

Hi, I've been making beer for years without any problems so I decided I'd give cider a try. I got a recipe from this forum and made it. This stuff started to ferment really fast(I made a starter) and for about 3 days it was like a volcano. I had spots all over my walls. So it really fermented. It finally settled down(after about a week) and I left it for about 3 more weeks.
When I checked the FG it was just about 0.0 and very bitter. I decided to add (as suggested by some) some apple juice concentrate to sweeten it a bit. Having added that I'm worried about it exploding when bottled. So I left it in the fermenter for a few days again but I see no signs of fermentation? Could the yeast be dead? With that extra sugar I'd expect it to show some signs.
Should I just bottle it. Should I add sugar when bottling? Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Yooper]

Hi, I've been making beer for years without any problems so I decided I'd give cider a try. I got a recipe from this forum and made it. This stuff started to ferment really fast(I made a starter) and for about 3 days it was like a volcano. I had spots all over my walls. So it really fermented. It finally settled down(after about a week) and I left it for about 3 more weeks.
When I checked the FG it was just about 0.0 and very bitter. I decided to add (as suggested by some) some apple juice concentrate to sweeten it a bit. Having added that I'm worried about it exploding when bottled. So I left it in the fermenter for a few days again but I see no signs of fermentation? Could the yeast be dead? With that extra sugar I'd expect it to show some signs.
Should I just bottle it. Should I add sugar when bottling? Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

If you didn't stabilize the cider with sorbate and campden, it will ferment again. I assume the FG was 1.000? I've had some ciders go to .990 so at 1.000, it may not have been finished.

If you want to bottle it now, you'll want to pasteurize the bottles or something to make sure they don't explode.

Otherwise, wait until the gravity is stable over at least a few days (preferably longer), and then you can stabilize and sweeten if you want, or bottle it dry, or prime it like beer for carbonated cider.

 

[patc890]

Thanks for getting back. Yes I meant 1.0 for the FG. I tried one bottle last week. I put a little priming sugar in and left it for a week and then opened it. Not the slightest bit of fizz...totally flat? I've tried beer after a week and it's shows a lot
of fermentation. So I'm worried I'll bottle and end up with flat cider?

 

[hallerobin]

What was your starting gravity and what kind of yeast did you pitch? If it's a beer yeast and your OG was high enough, it might just be exhausted.