Keg/aging question.

[vze2hnvz]

I am presently fermenting out 30 gallons of my local cider mill's batch that they press a couple days each year for hard cider makers. Cant remember the exact mix/ratio of apple's, but the juice's OG was 1.060, nothing added, unpasteurized. Campdened the juice and after 48 hours, pitched 11 grams re-hydrated notty yeast per 5 gal. along with 1/2 tsp of wyeast nutrient per 5 gal. with temp at a steady 60-62 deg. F. Juice went to 1.042 in a week, and I plan on stopping fermentation at 1.015 or so. This is where my questions comes in:

1 - Is it better to rack and bulk age in the glass carboys, or can I rack it to my 15.5 gallon sankey kegs and bulk age right in them?

I will be racking on to campden and sorbate to keep gravity where I want it.
Just wondering which aging method is best. The kegs will be stored at around 60-62 deg. F. for 4-5 months at this temp.

2 - If I go the keg route, is there any ill effects to carbing the kegs and aging? Or is it better to age cider still? Just not sure if force carbing would drop the ph significantly and effect the aging process or taste i any way. There should be no malolactic with the campden/sorbate as well, correct?

3 - Lastly, is it better/less prone to problems to let this go dry, age it, then sorbate/campden before back sweetening with concentrated apple juice?

I've never tasted a cider that's gone through malolactic and I'm unsure if I would like it or not.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Yooper]

Well, I don't think you'll have much luck stopping fermentation with campden and sorbate. Neither kill yeast, but instead sorbate inhibits yeast reproduction and works better in the presence of sulfites (that's why you add the campden). Since an active fermentation doesn't need yeast reproduction to ferment, adding campden and sorbate won't do a thing.

You can crash cool the fermenters to get the fermentation to stop, though. That's probably easiest to do in kegs. If it warms up to 60-62 degrees, fermentation will probably restart unless you continue to rack as it clears. I'd suggest reading up on the "sticky" made by cvillekevin to see how it does it as I've never really been successful in being able to do it well.

 

[vze2hnvz]

Thanks Yooper,

I didnt write it down here in the post, but I was going to cold crash for a few days and re-rack after most of the yeast fell out of suspension. Maybe even repeat the process twice for sh*t's and giggles. At least that way what little yeast that is left, cant bud/reproduce and die off naturally. Worst comes to worse, it goes dry and I have to backsweeten.

Any info/experience with aging in carboy's vs. kegs?

Thanks again

 

[Yooper]

Thanks Yooper,

I didnt write it down here in the post, but I was going to cold crash for a few days and re-rack after most of the yeast fell out of suspension. Maybe even repeat the process twice for sh*t's and giggles. At least that way what little yeast that is left, cant bud/reproduce and die off naturally. Worst comes to worse, it goes dry and I have to backsweeten.

Any info/experience with aging in carboy's vs. kegs?

Thanks again

Aging in carboys vs kegs doesn't make a difference. As long as it's protected from oxygen and light, the vessel itself doesn't matter. Kegs are a lot easy to lug around, that's for sure!

 

[vze2hnvz]

*Update* FWIW

Cold crashed these at 1.015, 3 times in three/four day intervals at 40 F. The last time was at around 35 F. (garage temps). The last crash/rack had no lees/yeast and is quite clear with no pectin enzyme added at any time. Those carboys I added 1 tab/gal campden just in case. I let these sit for two days at the same temp. then racked about 14 gallons to a 15.5 gal. sankey with 5 tsp pot. sorbate added (also, just in case) pressurized to 20 psi for about 20 minutes (blowing it off a few times to clear any O2. That keg I'll leave to sit for four or so months. The leftovers were very apply and nice, although a bit tart. I would imagine that should mellow out with a bit of aging. Gravity was still stable at 1.015 with a final ABV of 6%. Not sure if I lucked out getting it to stop where I want or just diligence.

The fun's going to be stopping the batches with the wild yeast I let go. I let them "run wild" for about a week, then added a starter of S04 that took over the operation the next day. While fermenting with just the wild yeast, the smell was....well....horrible. Kinda bready with a nasty underlying funk that spouted a ton of krausen. After the S04 took over the smell got way better in 24 hours or so. Also, the funny thing is, while checking gravities with this mix, the "test" sample's taste terrific. I can't explain it, but I can taste the underlying smell that was there before, but it's wonderful. The other plain S04 batch taste's nothing like it. Still fruity/good in it's own right, but nothing like this. It almost seems a shame to drink it. Now hopefully I have the same luck crashing the wild yeast/S04 mix at these same temps. I'm not hopeful, but I am determined.

Cheers.