First cider attempt

[Punbrewing]

Today I Started my first hard cider fermentation.
im brewing in a 1/2 gal growler (small batches for experiments).
Im relatively new at this (by relatively new i mean entirely new). I used Red Star pastur Champagne yeast (e491? at least thats the number on the packet) about a 1/2 to 1 tablespoon.
Personally i want to keep it in the fermentor (growler) for about 2 weeks and then maybe secondary although im not sure.

I have a couple of questions.
1. How long should i keep it in the fermentor?
2. Is secondary necessary if you don't intend to use flavoring (at least this time)?
3. Am i using too many () ?

Thank you

 

[Boohausen]

sounds great, with a wine yeast the secondary might not be necessary, but it would help with a small amount probably not needed, after all that i just did my first cider as well, only i made 4.5 gallons with s-05 yeast to produce a more commercial american cider, let keep in touch and share info on our newest creations

 

[rugman]

Keep it in the primary as long as possible 3+ weeks



My recipe is
wyeast cider yeast (4766)
1.5 # of molasses
2.5 lbs of clover honey
8 gallons of costco brand apple juice
2 gallons of fresh squeezed (Colombia river gorge brand ) unfiltered

 

[Punbrewing]

I'm deciding on wether or not to start another cider using an aliquot of the cider that i have started about a week ago.
I'm not sure if i should do this or if i should hold off until i can get more yeast or if i should go full steam ahead with this plan.
Any Ideas.

 

[outstretched]

Just a suggestion but here is what I'd do. Wait another week let the yeast finish up if it hasn't already. That yeast is a fat kid at a candy store and will eat quickly. Then rack (transfer top portion of liquid leaving just the trub (junk at the bottom) and throw new juice on top of the growler. Later on down the road you can read up in the beer forum on yeast washing and reuse healthy yeast, but yeast is also some what cannibalistic and will eat the dead yeast.

 

[MoonDawg]

1.)Hard Cider should be in Primary for an absolute minimum of seven (7) days. Of course this should not be a hard rule; If seven days have passed and the cider is still hazy, this could mean that most of the yeast is still alive and in suspension. If this is the case, i would monitor the carboy daily until the cider clears. This is important because a.) You dont want a finished Hard Cider that is hazy and full of live suspended yeast, and b.) You dont want to stop primary fermentation until the yeast is finished doing the job; The result will be an overly sweet, hazy cider that has not fully realized its ABV%. Also, if the cider has cleared but the carboy is still bubbling to beat the band- I would monitor the Cider daily until CO2 production slows considerably. 2.) To me "Flavoring" is irrelevant to Secondary fermentation. As far as i'm concerned secondary should be used almost exclusively to carbonate the cider, unless you prefer a nice, tepid "still" cider( I dont know why anyone would.) 3.) You can never have too many (). (),(),(),(),(),etc, etc, etc.