First Timer, what now?

[cslater3]

So the apple trees in my yard had a bumper crop this year and as I tried to figure out what to do with them I had the great idea of making cider. The next idea was to go the full way into hard cider.

I did two batches about a week apart. The first was smaller 3 separate 1 gallon jugs. I didn’t “properly” sanitize these just to see what would happen. Just did soap and water into brand new jugs, rinsed and filled with fresh pressed apple juice. I also did not use yeast because it is naturally occurring in the apples from what I read.

These gallons never came to a roaring bubble in the airlock and now only bubble ever few minutes. It has been 2.5 weeks for these gallons. There are tiny bubbles still rising in the jugs but not very many. Is this batch ready to bottle or do I need to siphon and let sit again in secondary for a month or two?

The second batch is in a “properly” sanitized 6.5 gallon carboy and 1 individual gallon jug. The individual gallon jug followed the same script as the first batch. The carboy bubbled pretty good after two days then settled down a bit. Now it is 1.5 weeks old and started bubbling so much it over flowed the bubbler twice so far today. Is it normal to have that pause and then resume heavy bubbling a week later?

No sugar added and no yeast added to either batch.

Should I add yeast this late in the process for the first batch if they never bubbled all that much?

Also how would I know the first batch is good or bad currently?

It seems you can find whatever answer you are looking for and there’s no consistent way that everyone suggests.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Chalkyt]

I am sure you will get lots of replies. Wondering what to do with a bumper crop was how I started, so welcome to the "addiction" of making cider. My first batch was horrible so don't be too bothered if yours isn't what you expect.

I have had "natural" fermentations take quite a while, but the only way to know what is happening is to measure the density (or specific gravity) which tells you how much sugar has been converted to alcohol and C02. If the SG is still high (i.e. say, over 1.040), monitor it for a week and if there is no change, then adding a cultured yeast might be worthwhile. At this stage, get some numbers then come back with questions before you "shoot from the hip" as I don't think there is any urgency to do something.

I suggest reading Yooper's post near the top of the forum, then buy a hydrometer and use it to find out how your fermentation has progressed. This will tell you how much of the sugar has been fermented and how close you are to finished (i.e. the finished cider specific gravity should be close to 1.000 when all the sugar has been consumed). Once you have that information you will get informed answers from the forum.

Ask questions, read articles, buy books (most people will recommend Claude Jolicoeur's and Andrew Lea's books on cidermaking).

And have fun!

 

[cslater3]

I am sure you will get lots of replies. Wondering what to do with a bumper crop was how I started, so welcome to the "addiction" of making cider. My first batch was horrible so don't be too bothered if yours isn't what you expect.

I have had "natural" fermentations take quite a while, but the only way to know what is happening is to measure the density (or specific gravity) which tells you how much sugar has been converted to alcohol and C02. If the SG is still high (i.e. say, over 1.040), monitor it for a week and if there is no change, then adding a cultured yeast might be worthwhile. At this stage, get some numbers then come back with questions before you "shoot from the hip" as I don't think there is any urgency to do something.

I suggest reading Yooper's post near the top of the forum, then buy a hydrometer and use it to find out how your fermentation has progressed. This will tell you how much of the sugar has been fermented and how close you are to finished (i.e. the finished cider specific gravity should be close to 1.000 when all the sugar has been consumed). Once you have that information you will get informed answers from the forum.

Ask questions, read articles, buy books (most people will recommend Claude Jolicoeur's and Andrew Lea's books on cidermaking).

And have fun!

Thanks for the info. Hydrometer just came in yesterday so can do that now.

Should I go through whole process of siphoning to get cider out or can I just put from top? May be dumb question but then do I trash that but I took out or put it back in?

 

[Chalkyt]

Your choice...

There seems to be two schools of thought. Some say to remove a sample to measure then discard it to avoid any contamination (this is probably O.K. if you have lots of cider and can afford to waste 100ml or so every time you measure the SG). Others (including me) sanitise the hydrometer (Starsan and rinse with boiled water)) and take a reading by dropping it straight into the carboy or take a sample in a sanitised container then return it. I haven't had any contamination/infection issues and of course you don't waste any cider.

If you are going to measure low SG often, it is worth spending a few extra dollars on a "finishing" hydrometer. These usually have a narrow range in the order of 0.980 to 1.020 and big graduations which make small changes easy to read. They can be a bit fragile (easy to break if you aren't careful...I have broken a few) and can be found on Amazon or some home brew shops.

An alternative is a low range refractometer which only needs a drop of cider and relies on refraction of light through the sample. Measuring low SG with these is a bit more complicated because alcohol distorts the result so you need to know the original gravity, then plug the results into an on-line calculator... just another toy to spend your money on!

 

[cslater3]

Your choice...

There seems to be two schools of thought. Some say to remove a sample to measure then discard it to avoid any contamination (this is probably O.K. if you have lots of cider and can afford to waste 100ml or so every time you measure the SG). Others (including me) sanitise the hydrometer (Starsan and rinse with boiled water)) and take a reading by dropping it straight into the carboy or take a sample in a sanitised container then return it. I haven't had any contamination/infection issues and of course you don't waste any cider.

If you are going to measure low SG often, it is worth spending a few extra dollars on a "finishing" hydrometer. These usually have a narrow range in the order of 0.980 to 1.020 and big graduations which make small changes easy to read. They can be a bit fragile (easy to break if you aren't careful...I have broken a few) and can be found on Amazon or some home brew shops.

An alternative is a low range refractometer which only needs a drop of cider and relies on refraction of light through the sample. Measuring low SG with these is a bit more complicated because alcohol distorts the result so you need to know the original gravity, then plug the results into an on-line calculator... just another toy to spend your All we’re measuring 1.056 if I was reading right.

 

[cslater3]

All were measuring 1.056 if I was reading correctly. Added yeast to three of the four individual gallons. The big carboy has settled down a little and is no longer over flowing into the airlock. May be because there was a temperature drop here into the mid 50’s.

I added sugar to two of the four to see what results those produce.

Any idea on time frame I should be expecting for these to finish off?

 

[bwible]

Thanks for the info. Hydrometer just came in yesterday so can do that now.

Should I go through whole process of siphoning to get cider out or can I just put from top? May be dumb question but then do I trash that but I took out or put it back in?

There is also a thing called a thief. Its a tube you sanitize and put your sanitized hydrometer inside of. Then you dip the whole thing in your carboy, pull out a sample, read the hydrometer inside the tube, then return the sample to the carboy. The standard thief is too big to fit inside the neck of a 1 gallon jug, but it works on all the carboys.

1.056 is unfermented. Also remember that cider, unlike beer, should ferment all the way to 1.000 or even a little under that, like .998. Beer has unfermentables and will stop at 1.012 or so. So if you’re reading 1.056 its not going to be 5% ish like a beer would, its going to be a little over 7%.