How long to mature in bottles?

[Angus MacDonald]

So I currently have 12L of cider fermenting away and I plan on bottling maturing my cider in glass bottles. How long would I be best maturing them before drinking them? I've seen various ranges from 2 days after bottling to a year. I know that ale takes roughly a fortnight to mature in the bottle before being drinkable but how long for cider?

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Everyone will give you a different answer. I drink most of mine right away, with very little if any aging (but I make it 1 gal at a time). I have aged some for 3 months, but I did not notice a significant difference. Better? Maybe, but not by much.

 

[Maylar]

The answer is, "It depends". Higher ABV ciders mellow a bit with age. Flaws like H2S (sulfur) often diminish with age. In my personal experience, 4 months is the point of diminishing returns.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Hmm thanks for the replies. I'll probably give it the same time as my ale before trying one bottle. I haven't exactly planned for this to be White Lightning levels of abv. Somewhere around 4% - 5% does me.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I've heard adding sulfite to prevent oxidation makes a huge difference if you plan to age.

 

[ebbelwoi]

Hmm thanks for the replies. I'll probably give it the same time as my ale before trying one bottle. I haven't exactly planned for this to be White Lightning levels of abv. Somewhere around 4% - 5% does me.

I'm with you on this one. The problem is that once the yeast gets started in a cider, it won't stop until all of the sugar is fermented, whether that's in the primary container or in bottles. To get 4-5% ABV, you'll either have to stop the fermentation early, or add something back to the cider after fermentation has completed.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Hmm ok. I may be in for a bit of scrumpy then, the OG was 1.032. Ach well I'll deal. Live and learn, and get drunk from this batch it'd seem.

 

[ebbelwoi]

Hmm ok. I may be in for a bit of scrumpy then, the OG was 1.032. Ach well I'll deal. Live and learn, and get drunk from this batch it'd seem.

Wow, that's some low-sugar apple juice. It's not the Lidl stuff, is it?

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Yeah it is the Lidl stuff. Think the apple juice had 4.5% sugar for 1.5L. I added about 500g of sugar on top of it, also 6 Granny Smiths chopped and crushed.

 

[ebbelwoi]

4.5% (if we're talking grams of sugar per liter of juice) is very low... that doesn't sound right. I did some checking, and apple juice generally has 45-49 calories per 100ml, and 11g of sugar per 100ml. Using this calculator, that works out to about 5.6% abv before adding the extra sugar (which takes you to about 7.8% before the grannies).

 

[Angus MacDonald]

4.5% (if we're talking grams of sugar per liter of juice) is very low... that doesn't sound right. I did some checking, and apple juice generally has 45-49 calories per 100ml, and 11g of sugar per 100ml. Using this calculator, that works out to about 5.6% abv before adding the extra sugar (which takes you to about 7.8% before the grannies).

Yeah, I was at work and couldn't check. The apple juice is 4.5g per 150ml. So at 1.5l that's 45g per carton. That's 540g with all the juice. Basically 1kg of sugar in 12l of juice before adding the grannies.

 

[ebbelwoi]

Is this it?View media item 69301

 

[Angus MacDonald]

No it's another brand now in my Lidls, can never find that brand anymore in there. The brand is called Naturis and it's proving next to impossible to find the correct pic online. Lidls make it so difficult to look for food on their website. I'll fish a carton out of the recycle bin and take a pic when I get home.

The yeast seem happy enough, they're busy converting all the sugar.

 

[ebbelwoi]

Hmm. The sugar just can't be that low. You'd have to dilute it by over half to get down to 4.5g/100ml. Is it this stuff (11g, which is about the usual)?

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Yeah that's the stuff. I'll have to check the carton again later when I'm home but I'm fairly sure it said 4.5g/150ml.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Heh I apparently lucked out by accident. Got the No Added Sugar kind and there's no preservatives that I can see.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Lol, no added sugar only sucralose and molasses, acid, "flavorings" vitamins, spices... and juice from concentrate.
Gotta love it.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Rofl I know, but it could have been higher.

 

[TwistedGray]

The problem is that once the yeast gets started in a cider, it won't stop until all of the sugar is fermented, whether that's in the primary container or in bottles. To get 4-5% ABV, you'll either have to stop the fermentation early, or add something back to the cider after fermentation has completed.

Cider yeast will get you 6%+/- and leave behind the right amount of sweetness.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Aiming for about 4 - 5 but I'll take 6

 

[TwistedGray]

Aiming for about 4 - 5 but I'll take 6

What yeast is it on?

 

[Angus MacDonald]

What yeast is it on?

I've used Youngs multi purpose brewers yeast. It doesn't say what type but I've emailed the company to ask.

 

[TwistedGray]

@Angus MacDonald - Do you still have the packaging, can you post a pic and/or link.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

I can, but it'll be a while before I do. Currently doing the dishes/cleaning up after dinner.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Ok here goes, this is the only writing on the package.

*Edit* The company got back in touch. Very prompt, which was nice. The answer is: The strain of yeast is saccharomyces cerevisiae, the alcohol tolerance is 18%

 

[TwistedGray]

I can't find the attenuation of this yeast, which is what is important here to figure out if you'll have a dry, semi-sweet, or sweet cider. That's what I was trying to figure out, to no avail.

Let it run through fermentation, I guess, and see where it end. In the future, though, consider a cider-specific yeast. Young makes one, but I have no experience with it.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Soon find out in two or three weeks.

 

[TwistedGray]

Soon find out in two or three weeks.

Let us know

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Will do.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Well I'm not too worried about it being too cold for the yeast right now, we had a record temp today at 30C. For Inverness, that's unheard off. Scottish water even had to put out drought advisories, which I've never heard of in Scotland. Thankfully raining now but my flat is built to Scottish specs, it's retaining all the heat of the day and we don't really have air con in our houses. Sooo waarrmmmm at 1am. Bluegh. The yeast must be loving it though.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Heh I apparently lucked out by accident. Got the No Added Sugar kind and there's no preservatives that I can see.

Thats only 30% apple juice. Are you sure you can even call the results "cider"? Sounds like you are mostly fermenting sweetener and molasass. Can't say that sounds too yummy to me. But to each their own.

I too must use store bought juice, but I only use 100% apple juice.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

I've managed to find 100% stuff in Aldi. I've now got 12 cartons of it waiting patiently for this lot to be done fermenting.

 

[nilanxz]

I've managed to find 100% stuff in Aldi. I've now got 12 cartons of it waiting patiently for this lot to be done fermenting.

I'm in USA but I have to say Aldi's apple juice from concentrate is amazing for cider and it's all that I use - they also had a "from concentrate" Cranberry Cherry flavored juice which is mostly apple with some other juices including cranberry and cherry added - I used 25% that in my last batch of cider and added some Aldi brand 100% black cherry juice to carbonate and it tastes amazing.

I did also fermented with like 2.5 teaspoons of malic acid and 3 whole 12oz cans of FAJC to that 4 gallon batch too though lol. So good.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

1 and a bit weeks in and the living room is starting to smell faintly yeasty despite the fermentation happening in the airing cupboard. I take that as a good sign. Now I need to start sourcing bottles and I've run into the problem of not getting enough glass bottles. I'm going to have to resort to using plastic bottles which i'm not too happy about. Not sure how I'm going to stop that "plastic" taste transferring to the cider.

 

[NateBodnar]

1 and a bit weeks in and the living room is starting to smell faintly yeasty despite the fermentation happening in the airing cupboard. I take that as a good sign. Now I need to start sourcing bottles and I've run into the problem of not getting enough glass bottles. I'm going to have to resort to using plastic bottles which i'm not too happy about. Not sure how I'm going to stop that "plastic" taste transferring to the cider.

Local home brew stores have bottles relatively cheap, or just throw a party and collect people’s glass empties and wash/sanitize them extra good. I wouldn’t settle for plastic bottles.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

I'm already grabbing all the glass bottles I can from mates, family, and work colleagues. Also drinking my way through a few as well, my poor liver is suffering for my needs. There isn't a local home brew place here for me to peruse, the nearest being Edinburgh which is an 8 hour round trip for me by bus or train.

 

[TwistedGray]

Try a nearby pub, bar, restaurant, or anyone that goes through beer in bottles. They likely toss their bottles or recycle...surely they don't use them for anything else.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Usually pubs chuck them in a blue bucket. Would need chainmail gloves to dive through that. Might ask the pub down the bottom of the hill next time I'm in.

 

[TwistedGray]

Usually pubs chuck them in a blue bucket. Would need chainmail gloves to dive through that. Might ask the pub down the bottom of the hill next time I'm in.

I am sure you could ask them for a single night to set aside and pick up that night, but I would go in with some trash can of sorts so they don't have to deal with anything.

 

[Maylar]

And if you can be choosy, request Guinness or Smithwick's bottles - the labels come off easily after soaking in water.