New Batch of Cider

[tatooedsn]

Well, I decided to start a new batch of cider just in case my peach cider is a bust. This one is nothing fancy.... 6 gallons of msad no1 cider, 3lbs of honey, yeast energizer, and a packet of EC1118 yeast.

My O.G. is 1.060 and I am planning to let it get down to 1.000. I'd like to carbonate it, but I am worried about the bottle bombs. If you cold crash, will it carbonate if you add priming sugar?

I like how alot of you folks experiment with flavors. I may join the club down the road after I get the opportunity to get a bunch of airlocks and stoppers.

 

[swillmaker]

High,
I will definitely give ya some tips deriving from personal experience.
While fermenting anything with honey, shake the **** out of your carboy while doing the primary fermentation, twice a day.
DO NOT RACK OFF INTO SECONDARY CARBOYS, UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE CARBONATION COMING OUT OF YOUR AIRLOCKS AFTER SHAKING.
Doing otherwise, is one of the biggest mistakes a lot of people do.
And this is even shown in numerous how-to videos on Youtube.
If you rack off before primary fermentation is absolutely complete, you will in most cases, be left with a stuck fermentation, because your batch is not thoroughly fermented throughout and you`ve just depleated your yeast population by 90%. And the higher the alcohol content(environment) gets, the harder it is for yeast cells to reproduce.
That`s like letting the air out of the tires to make your car easier to be pushed uphill.
The beginner loves to see the yeast settle out in the bottom after a short period of time. This is counter-productive. In primary fermentation, the yeast at the very bottom of your fermentor does not come in contact with the fermentable wort. It hovers useless beneath a layer of other cells..
Like I said, shake the bejesus out of it, to keep healthy yeast in suspension.
Only there, can it properly aid fermentation.
After primary fermentation is completed, rack off into secondary fermentation vessels. Then let it sit and settle.
And definitely, cool it down as much as possible before bottling or racking for carbonating in kegs.
You will have a much cleaner, see-through product, with no finings needed whatsoever.
There is however an ongoig dispute, whether leaving the batch in the primary fermentor till clear, called "sur lie" in French, is derogatory to taste/aroma.
I have had mead as well as cidre sit on the yeast from primary fermentation for nigh on a year with no noticeable off-flavours derived from autolyses.
Just my two bits worth
C YA
swillmaker

 

[tatooedsn]

Thanks alot for the thoughtful reply. I think I might go shake the shiznit out them right now I may cold crash mine outside when it is not below 32 lol.

 

[tatooedsn]

Well, I have successfully fermented 10 gal of cider... a bit too long perhaps. There is no sweetness left at 1.00 f.g.

I did try something I read in this forum with my 1st batch of cider that was not fermenting due to potassium sorbate in the cider. I took the yeast cake from my 2nd batch of hard cider w/out preservatives and stuck it in the batch that kept going into a stuck fermentation. That seemed to do the trick and it fermented all the way to 1.00 f.g. It does had a bit of an odd flavor so I think I will cold crash it and back sweeten it with concentrate or juice to see if it helps.

For my other batch I am going to carbonate it without back sweetening it.