First Cider

[Chad_laughlin]

Ingredients
4.5 gals Flavorite apple cider
about 1 cup brown sugar
2.5teaspn yeast nut.
1 tblspn pectic enzyme
1 pack redstar champagne yeast
2 cinnamon sticks
5 or so cloves

Starting gravity 1.050
started 12/20/10

5 days later
gravity 1.0
Alc says 0-1%
Heavy ring of sediment on the bottom
Bubbles once every 5-10 seconds
room tempature about 65 deg F
added about 1 cup brown sugar/honey mix

Questions
should I add more sugar? Some recipes have up to 5lbs of sugar, and some have none.
does this sound/look about right?

Any information would be much appreciated. Also this is my first time, so go easy on me

 

[MeadWitch]

Chad, the sugar taste is up to you. How sweet to do like your cider or not? I personally prefer mine with just a bit to back sweeten it with. I use a combo of lactose for mouth feel, AJ concentrate for more apple taste and 1/2 cup brown sugar to round out the taste and give it a bit of carbonation. I recently did a winter spice winter with quite a bit of brown sugar and molasses, which turned out too sweet for me, but my friends loved it. It made great holiday gifts. So the question is: How sweet do you like your cider?

 

[Chad_laughlin]

I like all Woodchucks, hornsby, and hardcore ciders. But I really enjoy the granny smith style woodchucks. Just something about that tart taste.

How about clarity, it looks pretty cloudy still. Will that settle over time?

 

[PJford15]

I would recommend pectic enzyme in the secondary. That'll clear it up pretty well in my experience.

 

[Calder]

Adding sugar will only make it stronger (more alcohol), and take longer to get something 'smooth' to drink. Leave it alone.

Started 1.050. Now 1.000. That's 6.5% alcohol.

Flavorite is a clear juice. This will eventually drop clear (a couple of weeks), so there is no need to add any pectic enzyme. Unless you boiled some of the juice with the sugar, in which case you will have set the pectins and it will never clear. Either way, it will not affect taste.

5 days is not very long. Most people here will tell you to leave it for 3 months or more.

 

[Chad_laughlin]

1 inch top layer thinning out and more translucent than the rest. Bubbling slowed, about 1per every 30 seconds.

How long does the fermentation process to last?(The bubbling?)
And the time before you would back sweeten, if you were to backsweeten?

Also I would like to bottle some still, and some with carbonation. How will that affect the process?

 

[Chad_laughlin]

10 days later
grav 1.0
tastes a lot better than other siphons

left is starting Flavorite apple cider, and the right is the fermentation.

 

[Chad_laughlin]

How long should I let this ferment for? Some say untill your around a 1.0 or your fermentation slows, and some say 1+ months.