do you have to do a secondary?

[ShaneKasey]

i have made 2 batches of cider and they were both really good, even though i let them both clear completely in the first fermentation. My question was, would they have been better if i would have done a secondary? i don't really want to cantaminate them, and sometimes i let the cider age in the keg. the last cider was literally in the primary fermentation for 4 months. it didn't clear, so i just left it in the carboy.

 

[david_42]

Probably not. If it won't clear in the fermenter in 4 months, it isn't going to clear. I only secondary ciders if it had fruit in it.

 

[fratermus]

I let cider clear in primary. I've been running a 60-day primary for all my cider then bottling/kegging.

Like many folks, I'm getting away from secondary unless I'm adding something to the beer at that point or there is some other extraordinary situation.

You might also want to download the recent Basic Brewing "extended primary" experiment podccccast.

 

[ShaneKasey]

thanks a lot you CIDER PIMPS!

 

[benjita]

Fratermus,
Where can I find the podcasts?

Thanks

 

[GamePreserve]

Basic Brewing™ : Home Brewing Beer Podcast and DVD - Welcome