Is my cider supposed to be more carbinated out of primary????

[Saabmike]

Hello All,

Newbie here, thanks in advance for all the help. i made my first batch of cider about ~20 days ago

2.5 gallons store bought juice (stop and shop brand)
1.5 tsp pectic enzym
2 tsp yeast nutrients
1 packet of red star cote des blanc

starting gravity 1.050

the first couple days fermentation took off air bubbler was bubbling away after about a week bubbling ceased but thought nothing of it (very little bubbling) since home brewing is a waiting game and patient is virtue i let it sit until yesterday. the gravity measures about ~1.008. i tried a sip and it seems wine like. subtle apple taste a little alcoholic zing after the fact with the distinctive alcohol on the breath feel after wards. it was smooth but lacking something. i was actually surprised it wasn't more carbonated. ( is that okay?)

i am planning on back sweetening with apple concentrate and pull the old coke bottle trick and pasteurize once firm. If carbonation isn't strong now will carbonation pick up hopefully with the concentrate? and the primary doesn't look crystal clear should i wait longer? for pectic enzyme to work more???

sorry for all the newb questions

 

[TechFanMD]

20 days isn't long enough for that yeast to fully drop out and clear the cider.

Even once it is brilliantly clear there will be enough yeast to carbonate and backsweeten as you plan.

At this stage it doesn't taste like much. Cheap apple juice doesn't have a lot of complexity to begin with, then you strip the sweetness out with fermentation. Even after a little backsweetening with concentrate it with won't be as apple flavored as you might think unless you add so much that it is overly sweet as well. I like the flavor of it dry, and backsweeten the same way you plan and it is very good.

Be patient. Unless you use fining agents, you may need 45-60 days to get it to clear really nicely. The bonus is that it tends to taste better with that bit of extra age.

 

[Saabmike]

thanks for the reply TechFanMD will do ill let it sit for a while longer im with you about the store bought juice i ended up making a second batch the day after with local cider. im more excited about that one but i used safcider with that batch. i guess well see.

what are these fining agents you speak of?

 

[TechFanMD]

thanks for the reply TechFanMD will do ill let it sit for a while longer im with you about the store bought juice i ended up making a second batch the day after with local cider. im more excited about that one but i used safcider with that batch. i guess well see.

what are these fining agents you speak of?

Something like SuperKleer (Kielsol and Chitosan) or gelatin. Some use bentonite, though I've only used that in wine. It mostly depends on why it is cloudy, which in this case is most likely yeast, which time will settle anyway.

One note: Cider and wine tends to have more CO2 gas bubbles coming out of solution (time helps this too). As long as gas is still coming up, it is stirring yeast back up

 

[Saabmike]

Ooh okay I was actually thinking and doing research on the gelatin clearing but I might wait for a while longer. should there be like an overwhelming amount of bubbles or like watery one or 2 bubbles here and there taste (like wine)? I'm just curios/anxious i did something wrong.

 

[S-Met]

Thank you for using yeast nutrient and NOT using raisins. Silly, but its one of my peeves. Raisins work for prison wine or if you are somewhere that yeast nutes are not accessible, but to blindly drop some whole raisins... the bioavailability of nutes vs risk of infection are laughable.

There are countless topics on here about quick ciders from store juice. The short answer is that store juice is targeted l for drinking, not fermenting and the resulting cider/wine may be a little flat. Adding some bitter and/or sharp flavors will help compensate.

Clearing, just be more patient. Time heals all brews...

 

[Saabmike]

Thank you for your response s-Met! I have heard of people using raisins but idk about all of that my father used to brew bear and put a raisin in the bottles but thats as much as I know about it.