couple newb questions

[bigbosky]

I am about to start my first batch. quick question does it matter if the cider im using is pasturized?
also how long should I let it sit after the bubbling has stopped?

 

[phug]

Pasteurized is fine, and means you don't need any campden tablets. As long as there are no preservatives other than vitamin c or ascorbic acid you'll be okay. In terms of how long to wait, if you have a hydrometer, wait until the SG is stable over several days, and if it's clear you're good to go. If it's stable but not clear, you can bottle then if your personal taste swings that direction


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[bigbosky]

awesome...thanks. the other thing is it ok to filter it when its done to get out any left over yiest.

 

[podz]

I think I read that a 50 micron filter will remove about 80% of the yeast. You need a pretty expensive and powerful pump to push liquid through something smaller than 50 microns, i.e. professional equipment.

Last night we racked a 4 liter demijohn of crystal clear wine into 2 1.5 liter bottles and backsweetened. Put rubber caps over the tops. This morning one of the bottles had thrown it's cap off across the room, while the other one was still in place. This was after final gravity had been reached and potassium sorbate added several days ago.

 

[bigbosky]

I was thinking about just running it through a coffee filter

 

[podz]

I was thinking about just running it through a coffee filter

My wine that had been treated with potassium sorbate after it had reached final gravity and held it for three days was passed through a coffee filter then backsweetened. It was clear enough to read a newspaper through it. And then it shot the corks off the bottle tops just a few hours later.

 

[bigbosky]

My wine that had been treated with potassium sorbate after it had reached final gravity and held it for three days was passed through a coffee filter then backsweetened. It was clear enough to read a newspaper through it. And then it shot the corks off the bottle tops just a few hours later.

im not sure I understand. why did it shoot the corks off the bottles. was it because of the coffee filter?

 

[podz]

im not sure I understand. why did it shoot the corks off the bottles. was it because of the coffee filter?

Obviously it shot them off because there was enough yeast remaining to ferment the added sugar. Even in my crystal clear wine, there are still microscopic yeasties swimming around.

Just showing you that a coffee filter won't do **** except for filtering any possible sediment. You can even use high-end filtration equipment and you will still not trap all of the living yeast.

 

[bigbosky]

oh ok I get it now

 

[bernardsmith]

K-sorbate (with K-meta) does not kill yeast. It simply inhibits their reproduction (through budding) . That means that if you have a large colony of viable and active yeast and you add sugar after adding the stabilizer (K-sorbate + k-meta) your fermentation will continue in the bottle. What you can do (at least what I do) is to allow the cider to age and every two months or so rack the cider into a clean and sanitized carboy. Each time you rack you leave behind much of the yeast. When you come to bottle your cider you have very few viable yeasts in the bottle. You can then safely back sweeten after stabilizing the cider.

 

[aellis]

You can then safely back sweeten after stabilizing the cider.

can you explain stabilizing? i'm not familiar.

 

[bigbosky]

ok if I do have to backsweeten what can I use that will not ferment

 

[phug]

You could xylitol, sorbital, any no cal sweetener essentially


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