Ist Cider Question

[DrVertebrae]

I started a Mr Beer cider, a caramel some such, can't remember the name. Its called for extra sugar, both brown and white. It said to ferment for at least 3 wks and has a target SG of 1.019. It still has a few days to reach three wks and the temp has been maintained at or about 70(its in my bedroom). I took a gravity reading this morning and it was 1.010. In addition it was effervescing almost like a sparkling wine. I tasted it and it tasted fine, a slightly sweet, appley flavor. You could even taste the hint of caramel. I guess I'll bottle it ASAP and see how it ages. I'm just wondering how it bypassed the gravity target. I'll also say that it was a bit "thin" if that's the word I need to describe it.

 

[dinnerstick]

unless you have some unfermentable carbohydrates in there (apple juice on its own has none, white or brown sugar has none) this is going to ferment to below 1.000, and blow up your bottles. i don't know why they would say it will stop at 1.019 unless 1. they are idiots, or 2. they think that the low alcohol tolerant yeast will conk out around there, which it obviously hasn't. or 3. there is something unfermentable in there, don't know what that might be
the effervescence is normal of something saturated with CO2 like a fermenting juice
if i were you i'd hold off on bottling until the gravity is stable, and meanwhile read up on backsweetening and bottling if you want it a bit sweet. it might taste a bit sharp young and dry. good luck

 

[DrVertebrae]

Regular white (sugarcane) sugar and brown sugar certainly have ferment-able sugars, mostly in the form of a disaccharide called sucrose. But I guess I can see it bypassing the target gravity if the yeast is supposed to conk out by then. I'm still thinking I'll bottle it sometime this weekend. I'm worried about too much alcohol and a medicine taste. It currently doesn't have that. Then I'll let it bottle condition and carbonate for a couple of weeks and throw it in the frig for a few weeks before trying it.

 

[DrVertebrae]

And yes, dinnerstick, I know sucrose in and of itself is not fermentable but yeasts have enzymes which can convert sucrose into fermentable sugars. Like many carbohysrates, they are indirectly fermentable. Anyway, thanks for the help and I'll look into the back-sweetening you mentioned.

 

[dinnerstick]

if you read my post again, i said that everything IS fermentable (well, i said it isn't non-fermentable, but who doesn't love a double negative). that includes the sucrose, your treasured disaccharide! it's completely fermentable, that's why it's fermenting way below 1.019 and why your bottles stand a good chance of exploding if you bottle at 1.010

 

[andyhat]

Dinnerstick is right. 1.010 is way too high to bottle (unless of course you are planning on pasteurizing your cider in a short amount of time. Cider (if its anything like beer) only needs to drop a few thousandths in specific gravity to achieve the proper carbonation.

As he said, you should read the back-sweetening and pasteurizing threads. Unless you bottle and pasteurize, back-sweeten bottle and pasteurize or back-sweeten as you drink it, you won't have a "sweet" cider.

 

[ajbram]

1.010 is a perfectly acceptable gravity at which to bottle if 1) you intend to pasteurize within a couple days. 2) You like shrapnel in your brewing area.

 

[DrVertebrae]

Sorry dinnerstick. The double neg got me. I'll have to double check what they say the target gravity is. I don't need exploding bottles. As it is right now, could it be bottled without priming sugar and end up with some residual carbonation. I think it'd be better with that effervescence. At present, I like the taste and I really don't want to do the pasteurization thing either.

 

[ajbram]

If you like the taste right now, the only way to keep that taste is to pasteurize. Otherwise the yeast will keep going until the S.G. is down around 0.996. A drop of 14 points is a huge amount of CO2. If you bottled now, you would likely have a bunch of bottle bombs in a couple days. If you got really lucky and didn't have any bottles explode, the fermentation would still continue until about 0.996 and you would have very dry cider that gushed out of the bottles when they are opened. If you like the sweetness where it is now, you either have to let it go, and then backsweeten with something unfermentable, prime and bottle or bottle now and pasteurize.

 

[DrVertebrae]

Thanks guys. I'd like it a bit sweet but hate to stop the fermentation. I'll go ahead and give it another week or so and if the gravity is lower as you say it will be, then I'll bottle, and try it in a few weeks. In the mean time I'll read up on back sweetening and if it isn't too difficult I might back sweeten it. The reviews on this recipe are very mixed.

 

[DrVertebrae]

Well, its Sunday the 12th and I decided to check the gravity just to see where it is and it appears to have stoppedd fermenting. SG = 1.010. So risking exploding bottles I went ahead and bottled it as the instructions dictate. We'll see. They are boxed and will sit for a couple of weeks atleast at the same temps.

 

[DrVertebrae]

Welp, its been a week and no explosions. They are crystal clear and just sitting tight.

 

[DrVertebrae]

Welp, these things have been sitting at room temp for nearly three weeks and I thought I would try one. Definitely green but you can see it'll be good with much more time. So with aging cider, is it better to get'em in the frig or leave'em at room temp for a while? I would imagine they need to age a good two to three months more at this stage. So room temp or cold?

 

[LeBreton]

I would vote room temp over cold, assuming the room temp was relatively constant.

 

[kiwibrew]

did you notice any change in carbonation since time of bottling?

 

[DrVertebrae]

None. Barely any carbonation.