How long to ferment cider?

[Gsusbrew]

So.. first batch of cider form pressed mcintosh apples. I have 3 gallon and OG was 1.056. I want a dry cider but not too dry. An ABV percentage no higher than 6 or so... What would anyones recommendation be for FG or length of fermentation. I have it sitting at 66F.


Thanks for the help.
I was goign to let it go for 2 weeks then cold crash.
Should i use more campden tabs to help kill the yeast and stop ferm?

 

[kgressler]

You can do a few things depending on the type of yeast youve used and if you are you bottling or kegs?

 

[Gsusbrew]

using lav 1118

 

[Gsusbrew]

and im bottling
thanks for the help!

 

[kgressler]

Well cold crashing may not do you much good with EC-1118. It will continue to ferment even in cold temps.
You really need Ale type yeast like Notty or S-04 etc to cold crash.

You can do a few things. You can let it ride till it stops and your gravity is below 1.00 then just add enough fermentable sugar to carb it. Or if you want a still cider just bottle it once it finished.

You could bottle the cider when it's at the gravity you want it at for semi sweet like say between 1.004 to say 1.010. Then use a few plastic bottles to use as a test bottles. Keep an eye on them and once they are hard then bottle pasteurize.

If you dont want to mess with bottle pasteurizing you could use a nonfermentable sugar like xylitol to sweeten and just enough fermentable sugar to carb the bottles.

 

[MarkKF]

If you dont want to mess with bottle pasteurizing you could use a nonfermentable sugar like xylitol to sweeten and just enough fermentable sugar to carb the bottles.

I carb in a keg these days but I'm a big fan of fermenting dry, letting it age a while then backsweeten with xylitol. It's so easy, so predictable.

 

[kgressler]

I carb in a keg these days but I'm a big fan of fermenting dry, letting it age a while then backsweeten with xylitol. It's so easy, so predictable.

My very first cider I made last year around November was just store juice EC-1118. Fermented it till it was completely dry and added one can of cranapple FAJC and bottled. The following 4-5 months it was so dry and tart(probably had to do with using Cranberry) that it was tough to drink.
We started to just add sugar after opening it to cut the tart and dryness out. After while it began to be a hassle so we just started drinking other cider I made and left that sit.
Forward to last month I decided to pop one open and and give it a try. It was soooo much better. Still semi dry and tart but there was no need to add anything to it. It was very drinkable and actually quiet enjoyable.

Ive used the xylitol in one batch and it was pretty damn good but I am one of those who it did affect as far as giving me a little bit of gastro problems.
So I dont plan on going that route anymore. But the taste was good and it wasnt "chemically" tasting at all at least to me.