Conditioning/Aging better to do in carboy or bottle?

[seven_37]

Hello everyone! This is my first post on these forums. I've definitely found lots of helpful info on here by lurking. I've been brewing beer for several years, but I am currently working on my first batch of simple cider/apfelwine.

Does anyone have any advice or recommendations for whether to conduct cider conditioning/aging in a carboy or in bottles? I'm used to typical beer recipes - week one is fermentation, week two is conditioning (in a second carboy), weeks three and four are bottle conditioning...

The cider has taken a much longer route. I started with some store bought apple juice (no preservatives) and about a pound of sugar. I used Nottingham yeast for the first couple of weeks, then added some Lavlin EC-1118 when I was concerned that the ale yeast wasn't going to finish the job. It is finally fermented out to around 0.096 after about a month. The flavor is definitely rough and needs more time to develop. I'd like to put it in bottles (with a little bit of additional sugar to produce carbonation) so I can free up my carboy for a batch of beer. I don't know if this is a mistake, and perhaps the cider would do better to remain in the carboy for the duration of its conditioning period.

Thanks in advance!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I'd think the Nottingham would've finished up just fine, mine did. I let my cider sit in secondary till it's clear, then I prime & bottle. I carb all my cider, but I like to let it continue to condition/age in the bottle at least another 6 months. I like to bulk age my wines, meads & cysers in the carbouy though. Regards, GF.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

I think gratus fermentatio pretty much laid it out clearly.
Ciders are more like a wine than a beer, even if you don't bump up the sugar to a wine level, it can still take 6 months before the taste and flavour is the best it can be.
Of course it is drinkable before that, but by the time you get to the last bottle your kicking yourself for drinking the others too soon.
If I understand your post, your still in primary fermentation and its been a month. I would say you really need a second carboy to rack the cider into and let it bulk age for at least another month or more to let it clear on its own.
The only downside for me in making meads and ciders is the need for extra carboys and kegs to bulk age.
Personally I usually do around 2 to 3 weeks in primary, rack to secondary when the SG is around 1.010, then I let it sit in secondary for around a month until it is clear. Then I rack it into a 5 gal keg for bulk ageing for as long as I can stand it.
My process for mead is about the same with the time line extended out as needed depending on the SG.

 

[seven_37]

Thanks for the responses. My main challenge to extended aging is free space. I do my fermentation in a small coat closet, and if I utilize a plastic tub + ice water to control the temperature, then there is only room for one carboy. I was hoping to go ahead and bottle, as bottles would provide more flexibility with my limited storage. I just didn't know how this would impact the cider while it matures. After tasting two small samples while measuring gravity, I can tell that this is going to be a long-term project (six months+).

The cider has been racked to a second carboy. There has been little change to the gravity, and the yeast hasn't completely dropped out. I may have to do the unthinkable and try to reorganize one of our other closets in order to free up some space.