First batch of cider.

[McRedimus]

After about a week my airlock bubbles have slowed to one bubble about every 5 minutes. I want to clarify this cider but have a few questions. When I siphon from one fermenter into the second do I need to add anything? I did not plan on adding any flavors or adjuncts with my first batch, but is there anything I "have" to add to make sure it doesn't spoil?
My second question is, do I have to be careful not to aerate when moving from primary fermenter to secondary?

 

[ACbrewer]

As long as you sanatize you shouldn't ahve any issues with spoilage.

Now for clearing, consider adding a clarifying agent - bentonite (aka grey clay) will help grab yeast out. Or Pectin enzyme helps with clearing pectin haze which is often a problem with fruit- although I don't know about apples having alot of pectin.

And then there are afew other agents like sparkoliod or islinglass. The only caution in using artifical agents is that they might create another alergen problem - I'm not sure what sparkoliod is, but I think islinglass is some part of shellfish. Yooper says given enough time all wines clear - cider is loosly a wine, so why use them. Also the more clarifing agents you put in, the more things get striped out and thus flavors are lost.

 

[McRedimus]

Thank you for the quick reply. Allergens are a problem because my wife is allergic to wheat AND dairy, sort of a double wammy. I homebrew my own beer but this will be the first homebrew that my wife can drink. I am really looking foreward to enjoying this with her and her mother. They are both big cider fans from the UP.

 

[McRedimus]

Racked the cider today, and had no problems. The hydrometer just about sank to the bottom of they test tube so I do believe my fermentation is complete and the extra dry taste seconds that. The flavor I can only describe as a dry green jolly rancher wine. I cant wait for it to clear a bit so I can prime and bottle. Thanks for the help. Ill let u know how it turns out.

 

[Monkey55]

I'm curious as to what recipe you used.

I'm thinking about brewing a batch this weekend. I'll probably try EdWorts's Apfelwein recipe.

Thanks,
E

 

[louie0202]

You can always use some gelatin if to clarify it.

 

[McRedimus]

My recipe was, one bushel of mutsu (green apples) and one bushel of very sweet gold apples. I put them through a new (never used) in sink food grinder. I then pressed the apples on my home made press and ended up with about 6.5 gal of cider. I added a pound of honey to the 5 gal carboy, and nothing to the other. I then pitched ec1118 and let ferment. so basically,
-grind
-press
-ferment

Cider IS that easy. Getting something great...well the wonderful experienced people here on this forum can tell you more than I can. We will see how it is after the priming sugar and a little aging.

That is all I did, until racking today. I did not boil, or hit with tablets, just added ec1118 and let it go.

I did this as a test batch to test my equipment, method, and recipe. I wanted a test batch because I have about 20 bushels of apples coming in November. Those will be a mix of Mutsu, Jona gold, and jonathan varieties. I plan to take a 5 gal batch of these and rack to a carboy with jack danials used oak barrel chips that have been doused with a bit of jack, and then let it sit for a few months. (I can not afford a actual barrel) The rest will be fermented like one of the two batches above. Btw the abv of the one with honey is ~8.5% and the one without is ~5.0% with a distinct difference in flavor and aroma. I learned several different techniques and designs for grinding and pressing by watching youtube videos. Most people ground the apples with a scratter, and get about 2 gals per bushel. I got about 3.25 with the finer grind put out by my in-sink-erator. (new, never used). For my press I used 2 4x4's for the uprights and strong pallet wood for the rest. (free hardwood) My press is eight feet tall and the deck is 3x2 feet. I don't know how many bushes of apples I can press at once bot will find out in November.

I hope this helps.

 

[Monkey55]

Wow.. Fresh Apples.. Cool... Sounds tasty.

Thanks for the info. I plan on doing apple juice..


E

 

[McRedimus]

O. I see. Well, I don't have a recipe for that, but I am sure there are several on this forum, and around the internet.

 

[Jsmith82]

My recipe was, one bushel of mutsu (green apples) and one bushel of very sweet gold apples. I put them through a new (never used) in sink food grinder. I then pressed the apples on my home made press and ended up with about 6.5 gal of cider. I added a pound of honey to the 5 gal carboy, and nothing to the other. I then pitched ec1118 and let ferment. so basically,
-grind
-press
-ferment

Cider IS that easy. Getting something great...well the wonderful experienced people here on this forum can tell you more than I can. We will see how it is after the priming sugar and a little aging.

That is all I did, until racking today. I did not boil, or hit with tablets, just added ec1118 and let it go.

I would LOVE to get my hands on a press, this sounds absolutely fantastic. I've used juice thus far with my ciders and wines but one day.......

With my experience using juice, time + 1/2tsp pectic enzyme per gallon of cider clears everything out, I could sit across the room and watch TV through a glass of my last apfelwein batch.. Hope that helps, good luck! I'm jealous.

 

[frankstoneline]

would you mind posting a link to the inspiration for your press or taking a picture and posting that? considering (I think) building something similar.

 

[smyrnaquince]

Racked the cider today, and had no problems. The hydrometer just about sank to the bottom of they test tube so I do believe my fermentation is complete

If the hydrometer hit bottom, you can't tell what the SG is. Get a deeper test tube (I use the tube the hydrometer comes in) or put more cider into the tube you are using. A bottomed-out hydrometer is meaningless.

 

[Elweydoloco]

Oh yeah there's some Cider recipes on the site.

5 gallons no preservative Apple juice
2 apple juice concentrate cans
2 lbs brown sugar

Pitch your yeast I typically use S-05 some may want to use champagne yeast for the taste.

It comes out dry as there's a lot of sugar you can sweeten it up with a cup of Splenda or if the people drinking it like extra sweet add 2 cups.

It's a cold mix too so no need for brewing.

SPLENDA it works wonders for taking away the dryness.

 

[McRedimus]

All I did was watch some youtube videos, decide on a design, and make it. I used scavenged materials. (with the exception of the lag bolts) I would be more than happy to help you or anyone with a design. After tasting the fresh pressed cider, I will never drink apple juice again. now i see what all the hype is about.

I do have a question though, when I mix in the priming sugar before bottling, what should I raise the gravity to? I am currently at nothing and will be using honey.

 

[McRedimus]

Smyrnaquince,the entire hydrometer is under cider.

 

[McRedimus]

would you mind posting a link to the inspiration for your press or taking a picture and posting that? considering (I think) building something similar.

Here are two good examples of how I made mine. I used a food grinder instead of a scratter and got a real fine grind. Then I used a press very similar to the bottom video with multiple holes in the uprights so I can adjust the top bar height. Make sure it is strong. There are several videos of people breaking them. It is not nice. That bottle jack can put out a lot of force.

 

[jpar345]

This was my attempt which is still a work in progress:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/noob-here-brewing-my-first-batch-cider-267112/

I've since had some questions go unanswered so I stopped bumping my own thread and have kinda been learning as I go. I'm looking to bottle it next Monday, although instead of Splenda I may just kill off the yeast with Campden tablets and add more apple juice concentrate for both sweetness and apple flavor. I'll bump my original thread when it's bottled and I try some of it.

 

[McRedimus]

I would love to know how it turned out.

 

[smyrnaquince]

Smyrnaquince,the entire hydrometer is under cider.

I don't understand how this is possible. The lowest reading on the scale is what, something like 0.990? Then there is more glass above that. For the entire hydrometer to be submerged, you'd have to be below 0.950, maybe lower.