First Cider - Fermentation and Bottling Questions

[JayAre]

Ok, so I'm taking a short break from all-grain brewing, and I'm going to do a 5-gallon batch of cider. After searching through the forum and doing a bit of google surfing, I have decided to go with a quality pasteurized juice with no preservatives and Safale US-05 yeast.

I have read a few posts about stoping fermentation once I reach my desired gravity (not too dry), but I'm sort of unclear as to how to specifically go about this process. My main concern is that I want to bottle with priming sugar (as I would with my all-grain beers to carbonate), and I want to avoid the dreaded bottle bomb. Does anyone have any helpful advice so that my first cider goes smoothly?

 

[sashurlow]

If you can't keg, then don't kill the yeast and unfortunately, don't stop the fermentation. Camben tabs are a good way of killing yeast.
scott

 

[JayAre]

Kegging is not an option as of right now, so what do you suggest I do if I want to bottle?

 

[AR-Josh]

Kegging is not an option as of right now, so what do you suggest I do if I want to bottle?

I have no experience here but this is my thought process. I would think you would prime just like with the beer. You are putting in a fixed amount of sugar so there is only so much the yeast can eat and thus only so much co2 they can produce.
If someone has experienced different then please correct my thinking.

 

[wildman]

Read Pappers sticky on pasteurization, if your comfortable with AG you should be able to do this.

 

[JayAre]

Read Pappers sticky on pasteurization, if your comfortable with AG you should be able to do this.

You know what, I read the other two stickies, but didn't read this one. I'll check it out. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[wildman]

Keep an open mind if your not happy with the results. Understand that unlike beer, award winning cider cannot be made from off the shelf ingredients or by following a recipe. Get yourself some real juice this fall. Keep reading. Unlike beer where most of the science is pretty clear cut, there is in general a lot of disagreement and bad information concerning making good cider or what a good cider tastes like. The more you read the more you'll understand what is relevant.

If you like your cider be prepared for a major frame of mind about brewing. I used to make a lot of very good beer, since my first batch of cider I lost all interest in brewing beer and have not made any for a couple of years now. I'll probably start again once I reach my goal of having a years supply of cider every fall.

Keep reading and get yourself some real juice this fall.

 

[dinnerstick]

I have no experience here but this is my thought process. I would think you would prime just like with the beer. You are putting in a fixed amount of sugar so there is only so much the yeast can eat and thus only so much co2 they can produce.
If someone has experienced different then please correct my thinking.

this is wrong- the yeast will consume everything until they run out of sugar or key nutrients, or suffer alcohol poisoning, which they will generally not below 15%. you will get bombs

 

[dinnerstick]

sorry- to clarify previous post, this concerns bottling before your cider has fermented dry only!

 

[AR-Josh]

sorry- to clarify previous post, this concerns bottling before your cider has fermented dry only!

Thanks for the clarification. I was actually thinking in regards to a fermented dry cider but didn't say so. Good catch!

 

[nate_ive]

To preface: I have only made a 5 gallon batch of cider. I followed Graham's English cider recipe from this site. I mixed 5 different brands of pasteurized apple juice(1 gallon each). The OG was 1046 and the fermentation started off well. The s-04 yeast started to slow down around a gravity of 1018 big time. I have an uncle who was a yeast research for a major brewer -- he told me apple juice doesn't have much ph buffering so the ale yeast can run into ph issues. I wanted sparkling cider so I bottled half the batch at 1018 and the other half was bottled with two 12 oz cans of frozen apple juice concentrate for a sweet cider(FG 1028). I didn't kill the yeast before bottling. I checked the sweet cider bottles every 2 days for carbonations -- it took a week. I then put all the sweet cider bottles in my dishwasher(3-3-2011) and started it up with a normal wash cycle(no heat boost, no heat dry). This effectively pasteurized the cider -- I noticed a large yeast clump in the bottom of the bottles when I took them out of the dishwasher. The cider still has great carbonation and good flavor. The cider is still cloudy, but that is not a hang-up I have. The semi-sweet cider (1018) has carbonated slightly, I still haven't run them through the dish washer for pasteurization.