Quick background: I've made lots of batches of apfelwein and mead but this season I tried my hand at ciders for the first time. I wanted to make a draft-style cider, off-dry but with some carbonation. My plan was to ferment dry, rack onto apple juice concentrate and use Pappers' stovetop pasteurizing to stop it at around 1.010.
I got fresh, unpasteurized cider from the LHBS specially blended for making hard cider. It seemed legit from what I've been reading, as it wasn't exactly what you'd choose to drink. A little more complex and tart. Anyway I started with a gallon, pitched a whole sachet of rehydrated S-04 into the gallon when it was cold, and let that ferment out. No campden. Then I decided I wanted more so I got another 2 gallons and racked it all into a 3 gallon BB. I let that ferment out fairly cool, around 63, then let it come up to room temp after a couple weeks. Today I went to rack it onto concentrate, assuming it would be dry (from the start of the one gallon batch to today is 80 days, 50 days in the BB. But I took a hydro anyway and it was more like .008 and holy crap it is the best fruit-based thing I've fermented. It's perfect. The apple taste hasn't lost its integrity, just the right sweetness, crystal clear.
I guess I don't understand how it's possible for a robust yeast that hasn't hit its alcohol tolerance to not eat remaining fermentables. I'd really like to just add a bit of priming sugar and bottle it as is but since I don't really understand why the yeast have stopped I'm concerned. I suppose I could always just pasteurize anyway but if it's really hit a stable FG I don't want the hassle. So can someone please 'splain me what is going on and what I can expect if I add some priming sugar and bottle? I feel like a noob but just can't wrap my head around this one. Cheers!
I got fresh, unpasteurized cider from the LHBS specially blended for making hard cider. It seemed legit from what I've been reading, as it wasn't exactly what you'd choose to drink. A little more complex and tart. Anyway I started with a gallon, pitched a whole sachet of rehydrated S-04 into the gallon when it was cold, and let that ferment out. No campden. Then I decided I wanted more so I got another 2 gallons and racked it all into a 3 gallon BB. I let that ferment out fairly cool, around 63, then let it come up to room temp after a couple weeks. Today I went to rack it onto concentrate, assuming it would be dry (from the start of the one gallon batch to today is 80 days, 50 days in the BB. But I took a hydro anyway and it was more like .008 and holy crap it is the best fruit-based thing I've fermented. It's perfect. The apple taste hasn't lost its integrity, just the right sweetness, crystal clear.
I guess I don't understand how it's possible for a robust yeast that hasn't hit its alcohol tolerance to not eat remaining fermentables. I'd really like to just add a bit of priming sugar and bottle it as is but since I don't really understand why the yeast have stopped I'm concerned. I suppose I could always just pasteurize anyway but if it's really hit a stable FG I don't want the hassle. So can someone please 'splain me what is going on and what I can expect if I add some priming sugar and bottle? I feel like a noob but just can't wrap my head around this one. Cheers!
