First Time Cider Brewers - Seeking opinions

[jesto68]

So after years of talking about brewing some cider in-house, my brother and I decided to take the plunge.

We started with 3 gallon sized batches of Whole Foods juice (since we could ferment in the bottle). So far it seems to be proceding well, but I have a few questions about what to expect next.

We added sugar to all three batches (1-White Sugar, 2-Brown Sugar, 3-Local Honey) - moving the original gravity to around 1.070. After 2 weeks, we racked to secondary 1gal glass jugs, tested the ABV and tasted the cider.

Batch 1&2 (sugar) tasted a little yeasty, and the alcohol was noticeable.
Batch 3 has a mixture of sweetness and tartness the first two lack, and the alcohol is less prominent. All three were around 1.000

Batch 3 has also deposited a noticeable amount of lees in the bottom ot the bottle after 1 day of secondary.

My questions are:

1. How long should we let these sit in secondary?
2. Should I expect to see the airlocks bubbling again anytime soon?
3. Will letting these sit for extended amounts of time in secondary mellow the flavors, or should we bottle condition for extended times?

Also, for furure reference -
4. Should we be using Yeast Nutrient? (will be using fresh pressed juice in the future)
5. Should we add any other additives? (Like Malo-Lactic Nutrient, DAP or Pectic Enzymes. We already are anticipating using a sulfite/campden tab in the fresh pressed juice to suppress wild yeasts.)

Thanks in advance for all of your help-it is appreciated.

 

[Yooper]

So after years of talking about brewing some cider in-house, my brother and I decided to take the plunge.

We started with 3 gallon sized batches of Whole Foods juice (since we could ferment in the bottle). So far it seems to be proceding well, but I have a few questions about what to expect next.

We added sugar to all three batches (1-White Sugar, 2-Brown Sugar, 3-Local Honey) - moving the original gravity to around 1.070. After 2 weeks, we racked to secondary 1gal glass jugs, tested the ABV and tasted the cider.

Batch 1&2 (sugar) tasted a little yeasty, and the alcohol was noticeable.
Batch 3 has a mixture of sweetness and tartness the first two lack, and the alcohol is less prominent. All three were around 1.000

Batch 3 has also deposited a noticeable amount of lees in the bottom ot the bottle after 1 day of secondary.

My questions are:

1. How long should we let these sit in secondary?
2. Should I expect to see the airlocks bubbling again anytime soon?
3. Will letting these sit for extended amounts of time in secondary mellow the flavors, or should we bottle condition for extended times?

Also, for furure reference -
4. Should we be using Yeast Nutrient? (will be using fresh pressed juice in the future)
5. Should we add any other additives? (Like Malo-Lactic Nutrient, DAP or Pectic Enzymes. We already are anticipating using a sulfite/campden tab in the fresh pressed juice to suppress wild yeasts.)

Thanks in advance for all of your help-it is appreciated.

1. Rack whenever you have lees 1/4" thick, or after 60 days if it's still throwing lees.
2. Maybe, maybe not. Airlocks might bubble if it warms up outside, or if the barometric pressure changes.
3. Leave them in the fermenters until they are clear and no longer throwing any lees after at least 60 days. That way, any sediment that falls will fall in the vessel, and not your bottles!

4. Can't hurt.
5. I don't like cider that has been through MLF, as I like a nice tart cider. Pectic enzyme is good, as it breaks up the pectin in fruit and helps prevent a pectin haze. That's more important with fruit than with juice,though.