Headspace needed in 1 gallon glass jugs?

[pantherburn]

Hello,

I am going to attempt my first batch of cider. I will be fermenting in a 1 gallon glass jug. Batch will be made from store bought Musselmans apple cider. I will be using SO4 yeast and was planning on primary fermentation at 60 degrees F, unless someone has a better recommendation.

My question is, how much headspace is needed for primary fermentation with this yeast/juice combo? I don’t really want to have to clean up a blowoff if not necessary!

Thanks!

 

[Maylar]

Remove 2 cups to be safe. If there is any foam it'll subside in a day or so and you can pour it back in.

 

[pantherburn]

Thank you very much Maylar!

 

[MarkKF]

I would suggest you put more than a gal. in a larger container then when it slows rack into a one gal. with very little headspace.

 

[pantherburn]

I would suggest you put more than a gal. in a larger container then when it slows rack into a one gal. with very little headspace.

I’ve some old better bottles I used to use for beer until I upgraded my fermenter, but smallest is probably 5 gals. I have two 1 gal glass jugs. My plan was to primary in one, then rack to other for secondary. Do you think it better to split 1/2 gallon into each 1 gallon glass jug for primary?

 

[MarkKF]

I would do that. But start with more than 1 gal. of juice so when you combine it fills it up without sucking up the lees. I use a plastic bucket that holds a little less than 2 gal. You don’t even need a lid & airlock. You can use s piece of cloth and an elastic.

 

[pantherburn]

I would do that. But start with more than 1 gal. of juice so when you combine it fills it up without sucking up the lees. I use a plastic bucket that holds a little less than 2 gal. You don’t even need a lid & airlock. You can use s piece of cloth and an elastic.

Gotcha - thanks!

 

[MarkKF]

Also if you find a 3 gal. carboy BUY IT! Sometimes people sell em cheap as they scale up. Perfect for starting 2-1/2 gal. then rack into two 1 gal. glass jugs. That will get you 18 12 oz. bottles. Great small scale operation.

 

[Maylar]

Also if you find a 3 gal. carboy BUY IT! Sometimes people sell em cheap as they scale up. Perfect for starting 2-1/2 gal. then rack into two 1 gal. glass jugs. That will get you 18 12 oz. bottles. Great small scale operation.

I just ordered another 3 gallon carboy. I find myself using them all the time. A 5 gallon batch often racks to 4.5 gallons and the simplest arrangement is 3 + 1 + 1/2 for aging. Can't have too many small glass carboys.

 

[TwistedGray]

Hello,

I am going to attempt my first batch of cider. I will be fermenting in a 1 gallon glass jug. Batch will be made from store bought Musselmans apple cider. I will be using SO4 yeast and was planning on primary fermentation at 60 degrees F, unless someone has a better recommendation.

My question is, how much headspace is needed for primary fermentation with this yeast/juice combo? I don’t really want to have to clean up a blowoff if not necessary!

Thanks!

On my ciders I use cider specific yeast, and I only need about 2-3 inches of headspace at most. I pour out a small coffee mug's worth of cider. At least with cider yeast, you get no krausening. I imagine it would be the same with S04, no?

 

[pantherburn]

I imagine it would be the same with S04, no?

That would be extremely beneficial information.

 

[TwistedGray]

That would be extremely beneficial information.

Dig around on some of the posts because I know people have used it before with ciders.

 

[KaiB]

That would be extremely beneficial information.

At 60F, no, you won't get a lot of action with SO4. I use it for over 70 gallons a year.

Speidel, FWIW, 20 and 30L. Life is far to short for small batches, and this way one can ferment during the winter.

 

[Blacksmith1]

At 72F S04 didn't give enough to get to the top of mine with only the neck for headspace. YMMV

 

[pantherburn]

Thanks all, as an aside, what is your preferred fermentation temperature schedule for SO4 and why?

 

[Blacksmith1]

Personally i've bought one packet of S-04 split across 3 one gallon batches. First one stank bad, second and third had nutrients and did not. Next for me is S-05 as it is reported to like a higher temp range. All finished primary/active ferment in 4-5 days. It's already in the 80 deg range here, so I'm probably not going to try the 04 again till our next annual two weeks of winter.

 

[CKuhns]

For store bought Apple Juice or FAJC. SO4 ferments out in 7 to 10 days from 1.065 to 1.004 - 1.008 at 60 to 62 Deg F. I like the temp range as it gets done pretty quickly and if you bump the OG up with more FAJC it leaves enough apple flavor although does strip some of it. As the FG above suggests it does leave some residual sugar.

Like Blacksmith I will be trying SO5 as I hear it saves more of the apple flavor. But will still be targeting 60 to 62 deg.

 

[pantherburn]

Thanks Blacksmith1 and CKuhns,

I am planning on using yeast nutrient and can control fermentation temps. Have brewed lots of beer, but this I’ll be my first try at cider. The reason I chose SO4 was from reading it will not ferment completely dry.

 

[Blacksmith1]

That does depend on the starting OG. It may not go as far as some wine yeasts but it won't just stop at the fg you want if it hasn't reached it's max abv.

 

[KaiB]

The reason I chose SO4 was from reading it will not ferment completely dry.

My experience tells me otherwise.

Over 30 gallons with SO4 and it always ferments dry (0.098) from ca. 1.050 or so. This occurs regardless of temperature (from 55F to 65F).

 

[MarkKF]

I’ve done numerous 5 gal. batches with fresh pressed juice & S-04 with yeast nutrients. 55-65 deg. F.
It ALWAYS stops at 1.004 in 7-10 days for me.

 

[Maylar]

I’ve done numerous 5 gal. batches with fresh pressed juice & S-04 with yeast nutrients. 55-65 deg. F.
It ALWAYS stops at 1.004 in 7-10 days for me.

And mine has NEVER stopped above 1.000. One batch (2016) stopped and cleared at 1.002 in my 62° basement but when I brought it upstairs to the kitchen it started up again and went to 0.996.

 

[KaiB]

And mine has NEVER stopped above 1.000. One batch (2016) stopped and cleared at 1.002 in my 62° basement but when I brought it upstairs to the kitchen it started up again and went to 0.996.

I honestly believe that much of the differences we see in SG reporting have to do with the precision of the instruments used, as well as calibration and temperature correction.

I have a large scale cheapie, do not correct for temp, and toss out SG here as though it means something. What matters to me is only my accuracy as I approach FG...if it's stable at 0.098 for long enough, all is good in my world.

 

[CKuhns]

As Blacksmith suggests where the yeast stop is very dependent on the OG i also would suggest apple juice or FAJC, pH, water, temperature, nutrients, aeration and when you rack and cold crash make a difference as well.

Each of us have differing AJ, conditions, protocols and practices and the yeast will react or behave differently under the conditions they are placed in.

I agree, how we read a hydrometer and if a temp correction is used does add some variability. A 1.004 by some may be viewed as a 1.000 by others.

The bottom line for me is that the practices and protocols I use makes my yeast of choice SO4 (at the moment) It gives me a pretty good base cider that I like with just a bit of residual sugar. As noted, by the replies, slightly differing conditions will of course produce different results.

 

[pantherburn]

Interesting the differences in final gravity using SO4. Perhaps I should have started another thread. I will post my results when available. Thanks to all for contributing!

 

[MarkKF]

The funny thing is Maylar & I are about 5 miles apart and often use juice from the same pressing. The major difference is the nutrients we use and I do 5-6 gallons while he does 1-3 gallons. I never correct for temp. My bad!