First time Cider maker - usual questions

[k-trips]

Sorry guys - I bet you all get reeeeeeal sick of newbies.

I have questions that I am struggling to answer as I have read so many threads on this forum that I have managed to successfully confuse myself.

My first brew - a cider - has been brewing away for 4 and a half days and it is dropping down in SG quite nicely (OG 1.041 - planned FG 0.981)

I had the original recipe requirement of 1kg of glucose in the mix which was meant to bring the FG to 1.002. Yesterday it read 1.008 and had dropped down to 16 deg C. (had been sitting at 22 degrees the previous 3 days)

It was suggested that if I wanted to bump the ALC% I should add some apple concentrate once the krausen drops. As I have an opaque fermenter I had no idea if the krausen had dropped so I took the lid off quickly to check and there was none so I added the concentrate and sealed it all up again. It has now popped back up to 22 degrees and is merrily bubbling away. (not that it had stopped)

I will measure SG again in a couple days and see how the brew is going and if it is close to my desired FG then I'll need to know something (this is where the questions come)

What I want to make is a 7-8%, clear, semi sweet and still cider.
FG of 0.98X will give me the % I want. Not adding carbonation drops will keep it still.
Keeping it semi sweet and clear is the issue I have and need answers for.

First question (Have I stuffed up?) - did I make a fatal flaw in opening the fermenter to check if the krausen had dropped and allowing oxygen to enter? I have been so careful with hygeine and keeping a close eye on the airlock etc etc that I am now paranoid I have stuffed it up. (I read a post about the easiest way to turn cider to vinegar is to allow oxygen to get in there)

Second question (Sweetening) - once the SG has dropped down to 0.98X I will taste it for sweetness - if it is too dry I will add some apple concentrate (just before bottling) to sweeten and then pasteurise it as per the sticky thread to kill off any further yeast activity. Is this the correct way to backsweeten?

Third question (Clarity) - if I rack it to clear the cider, do I do it ONLY when the SG has dropped to my desired level or can I do it now? I'm concerned that if I rack it before the yeast has done its witch magic then I am removing some of the yeast and hence the magic. I am also going to add some finings to the cider to assist with the clarity - do I do this when I rack it or is there a better time? How much fermentation happens in the secondary stage if the majority of the yeast is left in the primary fermenter? I don't want to make cider wine so I really should knock fermentation on the head before/as I rack? Do I add campden tablets?



In summary- is this what I need to do to make a clear, still, semi sweet cider?

- I wait for the SG to drop down to 0.98X in my primary fermenter. (measured over 2 days - which will also allow the sediment to settle)
- Then I rack the cider to a sterile carbouy - add finings along with some crushed campden tablets once racked and add sorbate to stabilize - stirring in well
- When the cider is nice and clear (7-10 days?) I taste and sweeten to taste with apple concentrate, then bottle immediately.
- Once bottled I pasteurise it to halt ANY further yeast action and allow to cool to room temperature for AT LEAST a week for flavours to mix.
- Finally refrigerate for a day and consume?

Am I way off the mark here or am I overcomplicating things??

 

[cyberlord]

#1 Your cider is fine from opening the lid.

Sounds like you got the idea down.

#2 Sweeten to taste and pasteurize. You don't have to do it in the bottle since you're not carbonating it. Just warm it up to 140 in a pot for 10 minutes. Don't boil it, and siphon it don't pour it.

#3 You can rack it when the activity slows or wait till it stops. The active yeast is mostly in suspension so by racking it it's going with the juice. For beer and cider I leave on the lees until it's ready to bottle and rack it into a bottling container.

You can add campden if you wish but if you're drinking the cider soon it's not needed. Wine that will age for a year or more needs campden.

 

[k-trips]

Thanks heaps for the advice.. Most appreciated.

 

[fbangie]

Probably didn't need to open the primary and add concentrate. Depending on the yeast it'll go as far as it can or as far as you let it. That'll be pretty dry before backsweetening. Another way to get to where you want it is to bring the starting gravity up with sugar or concentrate and stop fermentation when gravity is where you want it to be finished. For example, start at a gravity of 1.065 and bottle it at 1.010. Stop the fermentation by pasteurizing or by campdens and whatever. I saw some where on here that typically a gravity of 1.015 to 1.025 would be considered semi-sweet. I have a tendency to think it's a matter of taste. For me anything below a gravity of 1.01 is to dry. My last 2 batches I let it go to about 1.005, backsweetened, bottled and pasteurized. That's working good for me and my taste testers.

 

[k-trips]

Oooo very good advice - I've never correlated the relationship between sweetness and SG. (bloody newbies )

I think you are right - next time I'll increase the OG and then work down to 1.000-5(ish) FG
I measured last night (its currently 7am here) and it was at 1.004 and tasted still sweetish - could be a little more dry to my taste.

OK question for the mathematical genuises that I see flinging numbers.

Day 1 - I mixed a Mangrove Jack Cider kit where I added a 1kg (2lb) dextrose - all as per the recipe. OG was 1.041 at 22 degrees
Day 4 - SG was 1.008 at 16 degrees and I added 2 x 250ml frozen apple concentrate to boost the alc% (but now realise I foolishly forgot to check the SG after adding it in)

My question is - What should I adjust my OG too - to account for the extra nutrients I've added.

Just though I would say I really appreciate the help I'm getting from you guys with this - I originally thought this would be an easy walk in the park (which it could be if I was happy with the results as the kit would produce) but I have found out I can get a much more "personal" result if I add some "craft" to it. I am really really getting into this homebrew thing - bug has hit HARD!

Not bad for a guy who was only musing about homebrew thoughts for the last couple of months and just bought my first homebrew kit less than a week ago. (other than a terrible attempt at homebrew about 18 years ago when I was a teenager)

 

[fbangie]

Adding fermentables and trying to figure gravity during fermentation would drive me crazy. There are guys on here that can figure that out. I'm not one of them. Was wondering what yeast are you using?

 

[k-trips]

Just the yeast that was part of the cider kit. I would expect they would be well matched.

This is the cider 10 hours after racking last night

I'll wait another 36 hours then I'm going to rack it into my bottling bucket while adding the finings. Then leave it for to settle further. (How many days do I leave it to settle after adding finings?)

I reckon I won't add any yeast retarding agents. Will just pasteurise the bottles after bottling. (Do I pasteurize with the lids off to allow expansion of product and expulsion of baddies?) Then I'll leave them to flavour for however long I want..

 

[fbangie]

You can leave it clear for however long you think it needs. There are some commercial cider maker that don't let it clear and bottle. As it sits in the bottle there is fallout. There's one maker that recommends giving there cider a few shakes before pouring it into a glass to mix up the fallout. Guess they figure there's apple goodness in that fallout. I don't get concerned about how clear mine gets. It continues to clear in the bottles wether still or carbed.
As far as pasteurizing, if I'm leaving it still (non-carbed) I bottle into wine bottles, pasteurize, and then cork. The only reason is the corks won't always stay in during pasteurizing. If your bottling to beer bottles for carbing then after the carbing period (1 to 2 weeks) you'll pasteurize. The beer bottles already capped are no problem. Read the sticky on pasteurizing if you haven't. That process works very well.