New user, first fermentation

[DevonCiderLad]

Hi, I'm new to the site, and I'm doing baby's first home fermentation. First, a little background on me - I'm 25 and employed at a UK cider factory in the quality control lab. I've never done homebrew before, but obviously have decent knowledge and understanding of process in the industrial cider business.

Now, my brew. I pressed around 180kg of mixed eating and cooking apples last saturday, and produced some beautiful juice which was relatively high in acid (around 5.5g/l malic). My yield was around 100 litres, which I put into 3x25L plastic containers "acquired" from work, and 5x5L demijohns. I added 2 punnets of crushed blackberries to one demijohn, and 2 punnets of crushed strawberries to another.

After 3 days I added a quarter-tsp of rehydrated yeast to each demijohn, except one which I'm allowing to ferment naturally, and a full tsp to the containers. I also sieved out the pulp from the fruity fermentations, and moved them all from the conservatory (about 5 degrees c) to my ensuite bathroom (20-25 degrees). Starting SGs ranged from 1.044 to 1.049, and they've been fermenting for around 4 full days, some quite violently! I added a small amount of yeast nutrient last night, and took samples to test SG (the advantages of a job in the industry!), but haven't got around to it yet.

The question I have is regarding racking. Should I rack my cider while it's fermenting? Some of them, especially the fruit ones, have an inch of sediment already, and I'm worried that it will cause the fermentation to go acetic or indolic, or just plain rotten. The yeast I have used is Lalvin EC-1118 and the nutrient is Fermavin Fermaid K.

Thanks in advance for your help. I'll upload photographs when I get the chance to connect my phone up.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I'd leave it alone till it clears, then either rack to secondary or bottle. Racking to secondary will do 3 things: get it off the lees & allow it to clear a bit more as it bulk ages. Though there are LOTS of people who don't bother with secondary & they have good results too...
Your cider, your choice. Regards, GF.

 

[DevonCiderLad]

Thanks for the reply - to clarify, by racking to secondary do you mean racking it off and adding sugar to referment? I don't really want to do this, since an ABV of 7.3-7.8% is fine for me, and I'd feel like I was committing some kind of sacrilegious act by adding much more than yeast to it! I would consider it if it is likely to taste better, however.

Regarding ageing - I know it gets better with a bit of maturation, but how much better? Considering I'm doing it in plastic, with a little bit of headspace at the top of each one, instead of sealed casks, isn't it more likely to go acetic? The last thing I want to do is turn this into vinegar!

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the reply - to clarify, by racking to secondary do you mean racking it off and adding sugar to referment? I don't really want to do this, since an ABV of 7.3-7.8% is fine for me, and I'd feel like I was committing some kind of sacrilegious act by adding much more than yeast to it! I would consider it if it is likely to taste better, however.

Regarding ageing - I know it gets better with a bit of maturation, but how much better? Considering I'm doing it in plastic, with a little bit of headspace at the top of each one, instead of sealed casks, isn't it more likely to go acetic? The last thing I want to do is turn this into vinegar!

No, just rack if off of the lees when fermentation stops/slows. Don't add sugar or anything- just use the bright tank so it can clear. I rack whenever I have thick lees after 45 days or so, after that first time.

You definitely don't want any headspace after fermentation ends. Do you have a carboy or demijohn? Something that you can fill to minimize headspace? You want to keep it topped up to avoid any chance of oxidation and contact with air.