Cold Crashing Cider

[Sol_Om_On]

Good to know, thanks!

 

[palantier]

Hi, any idea what temp range would be good for cold crashing? I've got next to no fridge space but it can get pretty cold here in the north, also after cold crashing for a week or so would it be fine to rack it off to a demijohn to see if I got all the yeast then repeat crashing if not?

 

[TheCADJockey]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question or has already been answered elsewhere, I would just like to reiterate what I've gathered to make sure I'm understanding correctly:

I have a 5g batch of cider. It has been fermenting for 2 weeks. It is just juice and EC-1113. It will stay in the carboy until it is fermented dry. Now this is where I stand since I've never crashed before... I'm going to remove shelves in the fridge and make the wife angry, put the carboy in for a day. Rack into bottling bucket the next day, prime and bottle?

 

[CvilleKevin]

any idea what temp range would be good for cold crashing?

Its best if you can shoot for 31 to 35 degrees. Dont go below 31 or the cider will freeze

I've got next to no fridge space but it can get pretty cold here in the north, also after cold crashing for a week or so would it be fine to rack it off to a demijohn to see if I got all the yeast then repeat crashing if not?

Yes, that usually works. If you have a CO2 tank, its a good idea to fill the new demijohn with CO2 before you rack to keep oxidation to a minimum.

It is just juice and EC-1113. It will stay in the carboy until it is fermented dry.

Did you mean EC-1118? If you are fermenting to dry, then you dont really need to cold crash unless you want to accelerate the clearing, which will happen on its own if you give it enough time. For purposes of cider, the main reason to cold crash is to shut down the fermentation, but you need to use an ale yeast for that. EC-1118 will not shut down if you crash it, but it will usually clear the cider up quite a bit.

 

[bernardsmith]

Why are you "cold crashing"? What are you hoping to gain from that action? If your cider is not clearing fst enough for you you can always add bentonite (clay) to help the fruit particles precipitate out and /or you can add pectic enzyme to help break up the fruit pectins. If you are cold crashing to remove tartaric acid I am not sure that reducing the acidity of your cider makes it taste better. If you are "cold crashing" to remove the yeast then it may be that you want to allow the cider to age a little longer. Wine yeasts flocculate and drop out of suspension when the CO2 has dissipated and that simply takes time.
If you really feel you must "cold crash". You live in Buffalo. The temperature outside must be close to freezing. Can you leave your cider outside for a few hours and let it get close to freezing then bring it back in again.. If you live in a single family home as opposed to an apt. then you perhaps have some area (a garage ?) that may be above freezing but still cold enough to "crash". That way you can "cold crash" without annoying your spouse.
Cider makers who come from a wine making background as opposed to being brewers don't cold crash anything (except perhaps to remove trataric acid crystals)...

 

[AidanSavage]

Cold crashing helps stall the fermentation and clear the cider when you're using yeasts like Nottingham. Why? Because you might not be fermenting to dry, and yeasts like Notty will drop out as you cold crash. It gives you greater control over the fermentation and resulting flavor as well, meaning after enough practice, you can control it to the point to get the flavors you want without needing to backsweeten.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Did you mean EC-1118? If you are fermenting to dry, then you dont really need to cold crash unless you want to accelerate the clearing, which will happen on its own if you give it enough time. For purposes of cider, the main reason to cold crash is to shut down the fermentation, but you need to use an ale yeast for that. EC-1118 will not shut down if you crash it, but it will usually clear the cider up quite a bit.

Yes I apologize. I used EC-1118, I was working from memory here. So I am correct in just leaving it in the carboy until it ferments clear then?

Why are you "cold crashing"? What are you hoping to gain from that action? If you really feel you must "cold crash". You live in Buffalo. The temperature outside must be close to freezing. Can you leave your cider outside for a few hours and let it get close to freezing then bring it back in again..

I was cold crashing because I thought I had to, but maybe I am doing it at the wrong point. Once it ferments clear, I will not crash it then...but instead go straight to bottle. I do plan on (per the recipe used) adding a can of Frozen AJ Concentrate as a primer. Is this where I should cold crash...or am I completely confused?

Also to answer your question, I guess I could leave it outside for sure. I just worry about it actually freezing but if all I have to do is drop the temp for a bit I can definitely do that. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[kgressler]

I was cold crashing because I thought I had to, but maybe I am doing it at the wrong point. Once it ferments clear, I will not crash it then...but instead go straight to bottle. I do plan on (per the recipe used) adding a can of Frozen AJ Concentrate as a primer. Is this where I should cold crash...or am I completely confused?

Also to answer your question, I guess I could leave it outside for sure. I just worry about it actually freezing but if all I have to do is drop the temp for a bit I can definitely do that. Thanks for the info guys.

If your trying to follow phug's recipe then there is no need to cold crash. Just let it ferment all the way down to 1.000. He said it took 4 weeks. You can let it go longer to clear if you want. The can of FAJC is just to carb the bottles. Pout the thawed can in the bottle bucket and then sophin the cider into the bucket then bottle and cap and store in room temp for a few days.
He said it shouldnt blow up since you are using just enough sugar to carb. But I would use 1 or 2 soda bottles as test to see if they over carb. If they do you can pasteurize if they dont you can just enjoy chill and enjoy them.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Thanks man... I think that is what was worrying me. Reading about crashing and pasteurizing. Its my first cider so I'm used to just bottling my beer and throwing it in the fridge until its ready.

 

[MarkKF]

Cider makers who come from a wine making background as opposed to being brewers don't cold crash anything (except perhaps to remove trataric acid crystals)...

I come from neither and don't crash. I ferment dry in my basement. I start in the fall when temps are perfect in the 60's. Then rack and age over the winter when temps are in the 50's. It clears wonderfully. Then bottle before summer. Old school!

 

[LeBreton]

Just to clear things up for new folks, unlike grape juice, there is virtually no tartaric acid in apple juice. It's 99% malic acid. Cold crashing won't effect the overall acidity of cider.

 

[phug]

Thanks man... I think that is what was worrying me. Reading about crashing and pasteurizing. Its my first cider so I'm used to just bottling my beer and throwing it in the fridge until its ready.

Like kgressler said. If it's for the everyday simplest dry cider, then there's no cold crashing or pasteurizing required at any point. It may seem like a step has been left out, " it can't really be that simple, there must be something missing" but I'm pretty sure that all the steps are there. If anyone wants to poke their heads in the thread to verify and chime in, please do. But please keep the intention of the thread in mind. Simple, reliable, tasty and dry.

 

[bernardsmith]

If your trying to follow phug's recipe then there is no need to cold crash. Just let it ferment all the way down to 1.000. He said it took 4 weeks. You can let it go longer to clear if you want. The can of FAJC is just to carb the bottles. Pout the thawed can in the bottle bucket and then sophin the cider into the bucket then bottle and cap and store in room temp for a few days.
He said it shouldnt blow up since you are using just enough sugar to carb. But I would use 1 or 2 soda bottles as test to see if they over carb. If they do you can pasteurize if they dont you can just enjoy chill and enjoy them.

If I prime cider I allow the cider to ferment dry then add no more than 1 oz of sugar per gallon. I have no idea how much sugar will be in the concentrate... but that does not matter. One ounce of sugar will increase the gravity of one gallon by about .0025 (1 lb /gallon raises the gravity by .040). You will need to check how much additional sugar you are adding... Unlike beer all sugar in fruit is 100 percent fermentable.

Bottles can easily withstand the pressure that .0025 of sugar will add if that ferments out, BUT you need to be sure that your cider has fermented dry before you add more fermentable sugar, otherwise you may add 1 oz per gallon but the gallon may still be pumping out many volumes of CO2. (Note, of course, that while bottles can withstand the pressure that 1 oz of residual sugar will produce when it ferments, corks won't so you need to use either beer caps or the kinds of wire cages that are placed on corks in bottles of sparkling wine...

 

[AidanSavage]

I think most cans of FAJC will have 27 grams of sugar per serving.

 

[seabrew8]

If you are going for a sweet cider I would recommend racking as soon as it is at point that you like, regardless of whether you cold crash. I've found that with the yeast I mainly use (Nottingham), bumping the juice with sugar to at least 1.064 allows fermentation to be stopped just by racking.

Very old post, i just racked my cider yesterday too and it seems it stopped fermenting, i thought it was strange.... Its in the fridge now!

 

[JCBeagett]

Hey everyone, I have kept about 4 gallons of cider with airlock in the garage for a couple months now.No yeast, all natural. The racking kinda got away from me, but the cold temperatures have made it dormant. I can mess with it now that I have time. What step should I take now? I was thinking of racking it and moving it inside. I could pitch some champagne yeast back in to reboot.
What should I expect from taste? What would you do at this point? I love a dry cider.

 

[OriolesMagic]

Has anyone tried to backsweeten to reduce dryness, bottle and let ferment a few days for carbonation and then cold crash the bottles? I am thinking of trying to do this with a one gallon experimental batch and want to make sure I understand the risks.

 

[Maylar]

Has anyone tried to backsweeten to reduce dryness, bottle and let ferment a few days for carbonation and then cold crash the bottles? I am thinking of trying to do this with a one gallon experimental batch and want to make sure I understand the risks.

I did that many times before I could keg. The important part is to be certain that the ferment is done before adding sugar. My ciders have always used pectic enzyme and when they finish (at or below 1.000) within a couple weeks they're perfectly clear. At that point I've bottled with sweetening/priming sugar and put them in the fridge when bubbly. At typical fridge temps (38-40F) some yeasts will continue to ferment, so the level of carbonation continues to increase but I never had one that was a gusher before it was consumed. The longest I've had them in the fridge is about a month.