First time cider

[Nogud247]

It's not perfectly clear but it's pretty nice looking IMO.

 

[podz]

Yep, it's looking good!

 

[TipsySaint]

indeed it is!

 

[Nogud247]

Okay so it's been 3 weeks so I've placed it into the fridge. It no longer smells of anything except apple wine. Everything's clearing very nicely.
My next question; a few tiny pieces of the raisins I used for nutrients have made it this far, what's the best way to get that out? It doesn't seem to be dropping like the yeast is.

 

[TipsySaint]

Your teeth??

most methods you have available with your limited setup would oxidate the cider and add an off flavor....

If it's a must to remove them, some boiled cheese cloth lining a sanitized pot and a pouring that causes as little splashing as possible, then remove the cheese cloth.....then put into your carbonation bottles and drink your first brew!

Also look up back sweetening and see if that's something your interested in....

 

[Nogud247]

Thanks tipsy, I'm ok with the bits I think. I'm not going to back sweeten this batch. If anything I'll do it per glass. When I get a proper brewing setup I'll probably try back sweetening and the like. This time I'm going to drink the gallon myself lol. Cheers.

 

[ericbw]

Thanks tipsy, I'm ok with the bits I think. I'm not going to back sweeten this batch. If anything I'll do it per glass. When I get a proper brewing setup I'll probably try back sweetening and the like. This time I'm going to drink the gallon myself lol. Cheers.

Nice!
A little honey in the glass is good.

 

[Nogud247]

Nice!
A little honey in the glass is good.

What a great idea. I love honey in all forms. Why not in my apple whateverthehell

 

[Nogud247]

If you look at the very top you can see the few little raisin bits I was talking about. They're nothing really. Going to leave this in the fridge while we drive to Atlanta for the kids band comp. I think I'll need a nice cold glass when we get back on Sunday night.

 

[Nogud247]

This has been in the fridge since 10/22 and it's really clear. Tiny bit of lees on the bottom of the bottle.
Thoughts of putting some in these ?

I have like 8 of the because my family loves their desserts.

 

[ericbw]

This has been in the fridge since 10/22 and it's really clear. Tiny bit of lees on the bottom of the bottle.
Thoughts of putting some in these ?
View attachment 236716
I have like 8 of the because my family loves their desserts.

As long as you're sure it is done fermenting. I wouldn't use those if you think it might still make gas. But if it is still and refrigerated, it should work.

 

[HowardW]

I am waiting on a hydrometer to be delivered, I think the snow may be part of the delay, in any case my primary is bubling at about 1 per 6 seconds but I am not sure when to rack the lees out, do I wait for the bubles to stop or should I just go for it? Comming up on about three weeks now, 5 gal orchard pasturized with 5 lbs dark brown sugar and EC-1118. Oh and this is the first time I have attempted to this the right way.

 

[MarkKF]

Wait til it slows a lot. You can't wait too long. I usually shoot for 10 days - 2 weeks. Unless the temps are too low that should do it.

 

[Nogud247]

So this is super clear now and mellowing out nicely. Despite my worst fears and what I've read from others there no off or bread flavors despite my choice of yeast. Next time I will use a different yeast for other reasons (faster ferment, residual sweetness ect) but I'm happy overall. It's pretty dry but a bit less wine like than my last taste.

 

[ericbw]

I am waiting on a hydrometer to be delivered, I think the snow may be part of the delay, in any case my primary is bubling at about 1 per 6 seconds but I am not sure when to rack the lees out, do I wait for the bubles to stop or should I just go for it? Comming up on about three weeks now, 5 gal orchard pasturized with 5 lbs dark brown sugar and EC-1118. Oh and this is the first time I have attempted to this the right way.

Are you saying that at 3 weeks, you're still getting bubbles every 6 seconds? If so, you're still fermenting, and you should leave it on the lees until the bubbles stop at least. I don't know if you mentioned it previously, but did you add sugar to the cider? Sometimes it can go for a while if you add extra sugar.

 

[Nogud247]

I'm curious how the brown sugar makes the finished taste. Molasses without sweet IMO is harsh.

 

[HowardW]

to: Nogud247

Not sure, I got the receipt from a youtube video and I could tell that the guy was from Pittsburgh and living there for a long time I know those folks know there hooch.

 

[HowardW]

To: ericbw

Yes 5 pounds of dark brown sugar.

 

[Yooper]

I'm curious how the brown sugar makes the finished taste. Molasses without sweet IMO is harsh.

Yes, I hate the taste of fermented brown sugar or fermented molasses. Others may like it, but it's very odd. I love brown sugar, especially on fruit, but once it's fermented and the sugar is gone all that is left is a weird flavor that I can taste a mile away. It may be ok if the cider is sweetened after fermenting, but I don't sweeten my ciders as I like them tart and fruity.

 

[HowardW]

to: markf

This morning 11/20 the bubbles seem to have stopped. That said, I siphoned off the most of the carboy, dumped the bottom inch (although there seemed to be no excessive collection of spent yeast) cleaned, re sanitized and put the siphoned cider back in. Now, I see bubbles again. The smell is incredible and is sticking with me; I imagine I smell it everywhere in the house. What I notice is it don’t quite smell like wine but then again I haven’t smelled what cider wine smells like and there seems to be an enormous amount of apple bits in the (mash?).

 

[HowardW]

to yooper.

Chevy took a chit... sorry couldn’t help myself; I have a good friend from Menominee that always joked about the UP dialect.

But back to the subject, I have not yet tasted what fermented molasses tastes like so I don’t know if I will love or hate but what would you sweeten with afterwards?

 

[Yooper]

to yooper.

Chevy took a chit... sorry couldn’t help myself; I have a good friend from Menominee that always joked about the UP dialect.

But back to the subject, I have not yet tasted what fermented molasses tastes like so I don’t know if I will love or hate but what would you sweeten with afterwards?

Well, that's the thing. Taste is soooo subjective. I have no sweet tooth at all- in fact, I have the opposite and can't even drink something that has sweetness. I can't drink something like soda (pop) or even sweetened ice tea. I don't eat anything with sugar in it, even things like sweetened coffee creamer. So I would find any cider that is sweetened very unpleasant to drink. Others like sugary sweet things, and would find a tart dry cider unpleasant to them.

My best advice is to wait until it's done and taste it. Then, try a small sample sweetened with simple syrup, one with honey, one with brown sugar, one with apple juice concentrate, etc, and see what you like.

If you taste something "weird", that's the brown sugar once fermented. simple sugars boost the ABV, but since they ferment out and leave no sugar behind what comes through is not the great brown sugar flavor. If I had to boost the ABV of a cider (and I haven't needed to, because then that's 'wine'), I'd use honey. Honey doesn't have an off-flavor when it ferments out, and neither does plain old table sugar.

I think adding ANY sugar to a cider to boost the ABV is a mistake, though. So I'm probably biased. It does boost the ABV, but then it makes a hard cider that is more wine-like, and far less apple-like, plus in things with some flavor impact (like molasses or brown sugar), it can have an unpleasant finish. In my opinion, it's much better to maintain that "cider" flavor, with apple notes, and ferment it straight and then add sugar to taste later after stabilizing if desired.

I do make apple wine and crabapple wine. While those are excellent, they are nothing at all like hard apple cider. They come out more like a pinot grigio wine- crisp, dry and fruity, but nothing that screams "APPLE" like cider would.

 

[MindenMan]

Yooper, you so rock! IMHO, you are the one all, be all, source when it comes to making hard cider, apple wine, or other fermented fruit beverages. I am grateful for your willingness to help out the new folks, of which I once was, and even now, in my almost 3 years as a home brewer, when I am stumped you are my go to gal. Thanks again. MM

 

[Nogud247]

Yooper, you so rock! IMHO, you are the one all, be all, source when it comes to making hard cider, apple wine, or other fermented fruit beverages. I am grateful for your willingness to help out the new folks, of which I once was, and even now, in my almost 3 years as a home brewer, when I am stumped you are my go to gal. Thanks again. MM

This

 

[Yooper]

Yooper, you so rock! IMHO, you are the one all, be all, source when it comes to making hard cider, apple wine, or other fermented fruit beverages. I am grateful for your willingness to help out the new folks, of which I once was, and even now, in my almost 3 years as a home brewer, when I am stumped you are my go to gal. Thanks again. MM

Thank you for the kind words- but I'm not that great of a source! I like what I like, so others may find things done differently to be just fine.

I do have a lot of experience- some of it was because I learned some things the hard way- so I try to speak from that. I've been at this a very long time.

 

[MindenMan]

Yooper, I believe you are that great of a source, and the fact you are so humble about your skills, makes you even more attractive as a wealth of knowledge, to those of us that wish we also had decades of experience making fruit wines and ciders. Just because I do not prefer very dry ciders, does not mean ( to me at least) your years of experience would not be beneficial to improving or better controlling my fermentation process. MM

 

[HowardW]

Thanks for the info, I guess it's just like the other things I teach myself, trial and error but it sure helps talking with others that have already done it.