First time trying to make anything! Need help with cider

[BadgerBrigade]

Hi everyone, I'm totally new to all this and have a few questions if you guys wouldn't mind helping me out...
I have never brewed anything before in the past but my dad has a few winemaking kits at his business. He is not really knowledgeable on this subject so I need to seek more advice...
I wanted to do some cider for Christmas, and I found a few YouTube videos on homebrewing apple cider the easy way...
This is what I have done so far and the equipment I am using: I have a 5 gallon water jug that is plastic (like the kind you put on top of the water cooler)... I have an airlock, Lalvin yeast from the Champagne region, I'm not quite sure if it's champagne yeasts? I added 4 gallons of pasteurize no preservative apple juice to that jug, I took the fifth gallon and warmed it (not warm, just Luke warm, enough to dissolve the brown sugar) on the stove... I added 1 cup of brown sugar for every gallon of apple juice (5cups total) and the recipe for the holiday cider said add cinnamon and nutmeg so I added 7 teaspoons of cinnamon and 3 teaspoons of nutmeg.. I made sure I cleaned everything really well with bleach and water (one Cap of bleach to 1 gallon of water)... I put my bung and airlock in, added hot water to the lock and took it to the garage... It has been there for 2 days but it's only 40° or so at night and I'm told that's too cold so I've brought into the house... I got "suck back" because I picked up the plastic jug and it moves or flexes and the level dropped so now I've added vodka to my airlock (better for suck back right?)... The thing that makes me nervous is I hear fruit flies or bugs are attracted to the smell of alcohol... I'm also worried that I did not sanitize everything perfect, when I added the brown sugar, nutmag and cinnamon I forgot to sanitize the spoons that I stirred with... They were washed with hot water and dishwashing soap a few days before and put in the drawer but I don't know if that did it? I'm just kind of nervous. Since I brought the jug in the house I'm starting to see some bubbling now but I had to move it a few times and each time I get suck back and keep having to add vodka to the airlock...lol... (2 or 3 times)
Someone said it's pretty hard to screw up but a few other guys are scaring me about bacteria and fruit flies...
Anything anybody can add or tell me would really really help me out a lot!
Also when do you guys think this will be done? I heard fermentation should only take three weeks but again I am totally new?

 

[pericles]

(1) Ordinarily we don't use water-cooler jugs for fermenters, because of their oxygen permeability. You'll get better results with a better-bottle or a glass carboy.

(2) If I remember right from the Jamil Show, cider can take a long time to ferment and condition properly. I don't think that good cider is usually a three week project - hence the increased importance of correctly choosing your fermenting vessel for oxygen permeability.

(3) The recipe you describe. . . just isn't want I would think of as a quality cider recipe. Cidermakers spend a lot of time buying juice from specific orchards and apples, and grabbing something without preservatives just won't give you the same result. You may love it, but I would advice buying a real cider kit for your first attempt, and then branching out from there.

(4) The suckback you describe isn't a problem, but if you're concerned about your sanitation, then yes, you can get an infection. Bleach is rarely the best sanitation method, but it can be effective; if you're confident everything was properly cleaned and then sanitized in a no-rinse bleach solution, then you're probably fine on that front.

 

[HerbieHowells]

I did essentially the same recipe without the brown sugar this September. I think it is possible that the fermentation will be done in three weeks, if you keep the fermenter at room temperature. Conditioning is going to be a different matter. This cider is likely to be quite bitter three weeks from now. Only time will mellow that out. In addition, since you used wine yeast (as I did, at the suggestion of websites and the LHBS), you are going to end up with very dry cider.

Now, you don't want to dump this stuff out just because it isn't going to be what you hoped it would be in three weeks. If I were you, I would come up with a different idea for Christmas, and start thinking about working with this cider over months rather than weeks. You could bottle it when it is done fermenting, and then open a bottle in a months to see how it is mellowing out. In a few months, you could have something quite tasty. If you are concerned about the dryness, search the forums for information about back sweetening with non-fermentable sweetener, or look for information about artificial apple flavoring.

Bottom line, the cider is probably not going to be delicious in time for Christmas 2011. But don't give up on it, because with a little patience, you could end up with something very tasty to drink next Christmas.

 

[HerbieHowells]

(3) The recipe you describe. . . just isn't want I would think of as a quality cider recipe. Cidermakers spend a lot of time buying juice from specific orchards and apples, and grabbing something without preservatives just won't give you the same result. You may love it, but I would advice buying a real cider kit for your first attempt, and then branching out from there.

This is true, but just so you don't panic, you will see that the favorite apfelwein recipe around here is pretty much what you say your recipe was. That thread should give you a lot of ideas about what you can do to make this cider awesome.

 

[BadgerBrigade]

Wow! Thanks guys...
To perciles: yes I wondered about glass of my father told me that was a clean sterile plastic jug.. But I will buy a glass one.. As far as the quality of the juice goes I just wanted to start with something to learn.
To herbiehowells: yes I had a feeling that this was going to have to sit for longer... I can mix up some tainted eggnog for this year! & thanks guys...
One last thing I forgot to mention, it could be a Biggie... A guy in the liquor store who said he makes cider told me I should put some pineapple juice in, just a little, I used 12fl. Oz. to my 5 gal of apple juice...
Is this bad? I saw someone say you could kill the fermentation process with the acid in the pineapple juice? It's day 3 and I do see bubbles.. About one a sec..

 

[IXVolt]

There's a pretty good cider section of this forum with lots of great pieces of advice.

I've made in the realm of 10 batches of cider over the last few years, biggest thing I recommend is time. Cider takes quite a bit more time to mellow out. But once you give it time, it's usually really really good.

As to the pineapple juice, was it concentrated or just drinkable juice like out of the can of pineapples. It will change the pH of the cider. Also if it had a bunch of preservatives in it that can affect your yeast as well.

 

[jamesjensen1068]

I would recommend this recipe for any future ciders you do.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/grahams-english-cider-107152/

 

[BadgerBrigade]

As to the pineapple juice, was it concentrated or just drinkable juice like out of the can of pineapples. It will change the pH of the cider. Also if it had a bunch of preservatives in it that can affect your yeast as well.

Well. it doesn't have preservatives... I don't think? but it is not from concentrate
they can says Dole pineapple juice not from concentrate 100% juice
On the back in the ingredients it says pineapple juice ascorbic acid (vitamin C) vitamin D and vitamin A, that's it...
Is this okay? It's bubbling about twice a second (the airlock)... I think fermentation pretty much just started..

 

[BadgerBrigade]

I would recommend this recipe for any future ciders you do.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/grahams-english-cider-107152/

That looks great.... I think that will be the next one!

 

[BadgerBrigade]

Should I see condensation in the airlock?
For the first two days this was in the garage and 39°, a cider maker told me it was too cold and to bring it inside, he also suggested I warm it up a little bit in the bathtub... not hot, just put some Luke warm water in the bathtub and put the carvoy in to bring the chill off of it but now I'm noticing some condensation in the airlock? did I get it to warm?

 

[neovox]

Condensation in the airlock is normal. You want your temp to be consistent. Broadly speaking around the mid 60s, but look at your yeast packet to see the ideal temp range. My experience has been that homemade cider can be a little harsh when it's young and gets significantly better after aged several months.

 

[BadgerBrigade]

I have a problem
I found my airlock is overflowing... I had my girlfriend wash her hands well and put her finger on my bung hole (OMG I GOT TO REALLY USE THIS SENTANCE IN REAL LIFE...lol).. While I pulled the airlock out and washed it and poured vodka all over it and inside (back up to the level) and put it back in... Now it's over flowing again??? I brought it inside I guess it's too warm in here... But the garage is too cold... DANM!
What do I do???