Do you bottle when fermentation done, or wait to clear?

[callmebruce]

Title says it all! My cider did a week in primary. It's been in secondary for a week and two days. It reads 1.000. Good sedimentation on the bottom, but the cider is not clear.

Do you give it a full two to three weeks in secondary before bottling? Is the idea to clear it up a little more, let more stuff fall out before bottling it?

I plan on carbing it, so will either add a little sugar (mixed with water and boiled first) or juice before bottling and capping. If I leave it dry, and just give enough sugar for carbonation - do I need to pasteurize it?

 

[yeastluvr]

Give it another 2-3 weeks if you already have it in secondary now. I usually bring some sugar to a boil pour in my bottling bucket and bottle. I don't know if you need to bring it to a boil, but I always do. Its such a small amount of sugar water it doesn't really take any time. If your asking about pasteurizing juice I would say yes if its fresh. I use store bought so I never heat it up, just dump it in.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I wait till it clear, clear enough to read a newspaper thru. If you're priming with boiled sugarwater, no need to pasturize. If you're priming with store-bought pasturized juice, no need to pasturize. Regards, GF.

 

[callmebruce]

Thanks. I'll leave it alone for a few weeks. Appreciate the info.

 

[mattib]

i´m wondering if waiting for 2-3 weeks to clear won´t it just be more like wine then cider ?