how long before racking into secondary carboy

[scottyspohn]

Making 5 gallons of blueberry hard cider my question is how long do I wait till I transfer inro the secondary carboy its only been 3 days so far and when I do the secondary carboy do I need to add anything else with it

 

[Yooper]

I like to wait until fermentation is just about finished, so that you don't get a ton of new lees in the carboy. With a blueberry cider, you may drop a ton of lees for a while. I'd probably rack after about 3 weeks for the first time, top up, and then rack whenever lees were 1/4" thick or more after 60 days or so.

 

[scottyspohn]

What do you mean when you say top up?

 

[AndrewTodd]

What do you mean when you say top up?

Reducing the open headspace in your secondary to prevent oxidation. Some use apple juice, some apple juice concentrate some use more sweet cider.

 

[scottyspohn]

Ok I have it in a 6 gallon carboy now with 5 gallons of cider 2 1/2 pounds light brown sugar 5-12 oz bags frozen blueberrys 1 1/2 pounds craisens and blueberry pomagranite concentrate with eg-1118 yeast and the yeast nutrient when I rack it into the secondary shoud I use my 5 gallon carboy so I don't have to add as much apple concentrate

 

[Yooper]

Ok I have it in a 6 gallon carboy now with 5 gallons of cider 2 1/2 pounds light brown sugar 5-12 oz bags frozen blueberrys 1 1/2 pounds craisens and blueberry pomagranite concentrate with eg-1118 yeast and the yeast nutrient when I rack it into the secondary shoud I use my 5 gallon carboy so I don't have to add as much apple concentrate

Yes! I usually make more, so I can fill a wine bottle or growler and have "top up" cider/wine handy until the very end. You'll lose quite a bit to the lees when you rack.

 

[scottyspohn]

Thank you for your info I will do that when I rack it off another question when racking to second carboy can I add more blueberrys or will that hurt the end finish