My first batch, looking for tips/ advice

[jamrs90]

Hello everyone, I've been reading through several sites on brewing and decided to start my own batch of cider last weekend. I am trying to make 2gals to be ready around Christmas.

Equipment used (and purchased for use):
- 2gal fermentation bucket
- 3-piece airlock
- Hydrometer
- Potassium Sorbate (I don't want to carbonate)
- (1)1gal jug/ (2) 1/2gal jugs (all glass;and a rubber cork with a hole)
- Mini Auto Siphon

What I Did:
1) Nov 1, 2013; filled fermentation bucket almost to top with not-too-hot water and mixed in sanitizer. I don't know the brand since water got on and the words ran, but I did get the 2gal per packet instructions from my local shop
- soaked everything to be used in the beginning in the bucket for about 15min
- emptied and shook dry, no towel drying
2) Mixed the following ingredients in fermenting bucket and let sit for ~24hrs
- 4 bottles Simply Apple juice, since it is essentially sweet cider
-- A total volume of about 7.2qts
- 1cup Florida Crystals natural cane sugar
- 1tsp pectin enzyme
- 2tsp fermax yeast nutrient (per container instructions)
- 2 crushed Campden tablets
3) Nov 2, 2013
- Checked SG for a reading of 1.052
- Warmed 1/2cup water in microwave for 15sec
- emptied 1pkg Lalvin EC-1118 yeast into the water and stirred, let sit about 2min before pouring into the must. I later read that I only needed 1/5th of the packet per gallon, but the whole packet shouldn't hurt it.
*This is where I think I messed up because I recently read here that it should sit for 20-45min
- capped the bucket, put in the airlock (it was in a bag I dunked in the sanitizing rinse to store the airlock overnight)
4) Nov 5, 2013
-This part is in progress. I have the bucket on top of my fridge to maintain an average temp of 75F.
-I am getting about one "lift" out of the piston every second or so (usually a fraction longer)


-I am planning on siphoning to the glass containers on November 30. That will be 4 weeks of fermentation.
-I will be getting another 1gal jug and racking to (2) 1gal jugs until a few days before christmas, where I will rack one jug to (2) 1/2gal jugs to bring to dinner and (4) 1qt jugs to be dispersed among family/ friends (success and taste willing that is)

Does this seem like a good plan of action? When should I add my potassium sorbate in order to prevent bottle bombs? I won't mind slight sparkling, but I am of an "all or none" attitude about carbonation. Links to threads I will follow through, and I am still reading on.

Hopefully hints to my family will get me some more equipment than I'll have built up come christmas.

 

[Yooper]

-I am planning on siphoning to the glass containers on November 30. That will be 4 weeks of fermentation.
-I will be getting another 1gal jug and racking to (2) 1gal jugs until a few days before christmas, where I will rack one jug to (2) 1/2gal jugs to bring to dinner and (4) 1qt jugs to be dispersed among family/ friends (success and taste willing that is)

Does this seem like a good plan of action? When should I add my potassium sorbate in order to prevent bottle bombs? I won't mind slight sparkling, but I am of an "all or none" attitude about carbonation. Links to threads I will follow through, and I am still reading on.

Hopefully hints to my family will get me some more equipment than I'll have built up come christmas.

It may be ready to go to secondary in just 10 days or so- no need to wait until November 30. My last batch of cider was totally clear (using S04 yeast) in about 7 days. Once it's finishing up, that's the time to rack it to the glass jugs.

If you're not sweetening the batch, and just drinking it dry, you don't need to add sorbate. If you want to sweeten it, you use the sorbate once the cider is completely clear and no longer dropping any lees after 45-60 days. Since you're already past that time table, at least wait until it's totally clear in the jugs and there is little sediment on the bottom. Then put the sorbate (1/2 teaspoon per gallon, dissolved in a little water) and 1 campden tablet per gallon (crushed, and dissolved in a little hot water as well)- they can go into together- into a new jug and rack the clear cider into it avoiding any yeasty lees. Wait three days, and then sweeten to taste. Wait about three more days, to ensure fermentation doesn't restart, before capping. Use an airlock until then.

 

[jamrs90]

So, if I just want dry cider I could rack it to the glass jugs and be done? Or do I still need to let it set with airlocks in the glass until it stops completely?

 

[Yooper]

So, if I just want dry cider I could rack it to the glass jugs and be done? Or do I still need to let it set with airlocks in the glass until it stops completely?

You just wait until it's done, as verified by hydrometer readings. But you'll want to wait until it's clear as well, as it should drop quite a bit of sediment for a while.

When that happens, you can bottle it however you'd like but keep it airlocked before then.

 

[jamrs90]

Awesome thanks!

 

[BrownBottle]

Also for furture reference when using store bought apple juice such as "Simply Apple" the juice is already pasturized so you you do not need to use campden tablets. Also, pectin enzymes are used to help clear out the cloudiness of unflitered cider so if you're using an already clarified apple juice such as "Simply Apple" then you could skip this step.

 

[jamrs90]

Good to know. I used a recipe that was mixed between using store bought cider and making from apples at home. It seems like a simple straightforward recipe, but every time I get to the "if you want to carbonate" sections I get lost. Time to go read through some carbonating info.

I just re-read the recipe and noticed it says to rack it at SG < 1.010, then again when fermentation is complete at SG < 1.000

I'm going to have to get some more sanitizing agent and a proper container for testing specific gravity on payday.

 

[BrownBottle]

Carbonation confused me at first as well but that's because I was actually reading too much . Here is what I do and what I'd recommed to any beginner.

Ferment out to 1.000. At that point go ahead and back sweeten if you choose with some FAJC (concentrate). Rack to your bottling bucket and begin to bottle. In addition to your glass bottles, bottle into a small coke bottle. Every day feel that coke bottle for firmness. Once it feels firm like a new bottle of coke (mine took about 36 hours) go ahead and pasturize your cider using the stove top method. The method is basically: Heat water to 180, put a towel in the bottom of the bucket, place your bottles in the bucket of water with a lid. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

Let your bottles cool on the counter then place in the fridge. You're then good to go.

 

[jamrs90]

Okay, so today I noticed a major drop in the rate of fermentation. I'm using the solid white bucket, so I couldn't see if my cider was clear or not. Regardless, I opened the bucket and took a sample for my hydrometer (as well as a taste sample).

The original SG was 1.052 (corrected to 1.053@75F here), and the new SG was 1.002, which was corrected to 1.003.

Upon a mild taste (just enough drops to get some flavor) I noticed a slight fizzing with a bitter/tart/sweet taste. It was actually really close to what I was expecting and hoping for. I went ahead and racked to my glass jugs, and unfortunately sucked up some sediment in all three jugs.

I was messing around and capped two jugs while placing the airlock on the other (did this to all three) to see which one was going to continue bubbling the most. Now I've got the airlock on the last one (most sediment), and the caps only partially on the first two, because they didn't even lift the piston.

The last one you can see below has a lot of yeast in it still. I'm going to let it go until it stops and take another hydrometer reading on it.

Next, I took that SG of 1.003 and determined alcohol content using this link and supposedly the alcohol content (volume) is around 6.5%.

 

[jamrs90]

So...I froze a 1/2 gallon and took off some water, so that's gone. Then I combined all I could without getting any sediment and now I've got a whole one gallon of cider that tastes good to me, and I think will get better with age, but I'm almost sure others won't like it as-is.

I just poured out a couple gallons of cider that had potassium sorbate in it, which I didn't realize until a couple days after pitching the yeast and having no activity.

Now, I'm on my third try. I got Shop-Rite brand "Apple Cider". It's pasteurized and the only ingredients are apple juice and apple juice concentrate. I added 2.5tsp of my yeast nutrient and heated up some juice to add 1.5cups of sugar to. Then I took an SG of 1.054 and pitched some Danstar Nottingham yeast (rehydrated for about 10min). Now I'm in the waiting stage.