thanks for that explanation. i'm still on my first batch of mr. beer, so i'm taking the experience from that and applying it to my other batches. from what people have been saying on the mr. beer thread is that it takes 2+ weeks for the beer to carb (using the table sugar in the bottle method). people have stated that even though the plastic bottles felt rigid due to inside pressure, when they cracked one open, the beer was still flat so it was suggested that even though the bottles felt pressurized, it didn't mean the beer was carbed; so let it carb for longer was what was prescribed.
i'm definitely not trying to argue with you, just trying to understand the science behind it and not screw up my own batch.
also, i've read conflicting reports of leaving it on the yeast cake may result in off flavors so putting it in a secondary is advised. what's your take?
Ok, so they opened the bottles before it was really ready. When I say full pressure, I mean full pressure. Take a bottle of unopened soda. That's how hard the bottle should be. You will have some pressure almost immediately. It seems like those people popped the bottles before they reached full pressure. It's something pretty much everybody does the first several times they bottle carb.
The good thing about apfelwein is that its good still or carbed so if you pop one open and it's not carbed up yet you can still enjoy it.
True that. If you don't mind drinking a bottle that may be a little young and undercarbed, then just pop one and try it. It's pretty good even when it's really young.
As for leaving it on the yeast cake, I've read a lot of conflicting things. My own experience has shown that when you do pick up a nasty "soy sauce" flavor it can happen any time after about six weeks. I think the reason so many people disagree here is that only about 20% of the people I've had taste a batch that's gotten that flavor have been able to taste it at all. I don't mean they were being polite, I mean they still couldn't taste it after I pointed it out.
I prefer to rack off the yeast once the brew, any brew, is either at FG or within 0.002 points of the estimated FG. Even if other people can't taste the "soy sauce" flavor, I can. I'd rather not have it in my brew.
i'm using montrachet and pitched on saturday evening. the only time i had airlock activity was @ 24-48hrs after pitching. i have zero airlock activity since then, but i can see the bubbling inside the bottle. how long do you guys normally have airlock activity for?
Usually, all this means is that one of your seals isn't perfect. Since you're probably done with high krausen, you aren't producing enough co2 pressure to cause the airlock to bubble. The co2 is leaking out of one of the seal since there is no water to provide resistance to the flow. This happens more in fermenting buckets then carboys, but it happens in both.
If you want to know if it's fermenting, take gravity readings a few days apart. If your gravity is dropping, it's fermenting.
...So I guess my questions are, if I keg it now, can I just throw another batch on top of the existing yeast cake? I don't have any dextrose, can I use table sugar instead? How would it affect the flavor? Is 1 lb of sugar = 1 lb of dextrose? 1 gallon jugs of apple cider are on sale now (I saw a BOGO sale), anyone used apple cider instead of apple juice?
I guess I just want to take advantage of the yeast cake so I want to have a plan in place before I keg this batch.
Thanks!
Yes you can. I wouldn't toss another batch on top of it after this one, but you can do that once.
You can use table sugar. Table sugar adds nothing in any direction to flavor. It increases the alcohol content only. It's a little more of an increase to the gravity then dextrose. If I remember correctly, dextrose is 42 gravity points per lb and table sugar (sucrose) is 46.
Apple cider is apple juice with the pulp left in. Usually apple juice has been treated with pectin enzyme to clear it. Cider usually hasn't been. It's also common for cider to have spices in it.
IMO, cider generally makes superior hard apple cider. If you want it to clear, you will need to add pectin enzyme. I prefer to not even try to clear it when it's been made with commercial cider. I would say that the flavor of cloudy hard apple cider made from commercial cider is more well rounded. Since commercial cider is mostly a seasonal item, I make hard apple cider with it in season. I can make apfelwein or apple juice based hard cider any time of year.