Newbie: when can I bottle?

[Bobjaky]

Ok, have a quick question (or a few) from a newbie. I was given 2 gallons of apple cider that was already fermenting. I put each gallon in a glass jar with a loose lid. It's been sitting and foaming for about 2 weeks now in a coolish (60F) area of the house. There's about 1" of lees (sediment) in the bottom of each jar. I tasted it, and it tastes like wine (so it's alcoholic).

I don't have any fancy equipment and measuring tools or any of the chemicals/additives that I've been reading about in this forum. I just want to know what I do next? How do I know when it's done fermenting so I can bottle it up? I have Grolsch (swing lid type glass bottles). I want it to be a little fizzy. I don't want the bottles to explode. I don't care about sweetness because I can sweeten it with syrup right before I drink each bottle.

So, do I carefully put it in bottles now? Do I store the bottles at room temp or in the frig? I don't care how it looks or how clear the cider looks. Right now it still looks like apple cider although a little lighter in color. Just need to know when/if it's safe to bottle.

Thank you for your advice for this newbie.

 

[NTBeer]

You say that this was already fermenting when it was given to you. Do you know if the person who gave it to you added yeast? Or was this spontaneous fermentation? If it's spontaneous, you likely started with much less yeast and it will be slower. Without any instruments, I would recommend you give it a month, and bring it into s warmer part of the house for the final week to ensure that you've given it every opportunity to finish.

 

[Bobjaky]

No yeast was added. Just fresh apple cider that was fermenting on its own spontaneously. I've been drinking one of the three gallons I didn't set out to turn into alcohol. It's fizzy, but not alcoholic, and it's in the frig.

The two gallons I let sit out at room temp are already alcoholic and strong enough (alcohol-wise) for me. I just don't know when it's safe to put it in an airtight bottle or should I just put it in the frig for a few days and let things settle completely out, stop the fermentation, and then pour into fresh bottles with loose lids and drink it?

 

[Chalkyt]

Yep, I agree that a month at cool room temperature should be enough. By then it should be quite tart with little or no sweetness and no (or little) sign of bubbles rising.

Without any means to measure the Specific Gravity (i.e. close to 1.000 means it is fully fermented), the above indicators are very rough but they are typically what happens when fermentation has finished. At that point add about two teaspoons of sugar per litre of cider (eight teaspoons per gallon) and bottle it. This extra sugar should raise the SG by 1.004 and will be eaten up by the residual yeast, leaving no additional sweetness and producing more alcohol plus CO2. You will generate about two volumes of CO2 in the sealed bottle which is about 32psi (similar to bottled beer).

Not sure what Grolsch bottles you have, but here in Oz they are typically 1/2 litre which is a convenient size. You can add the sugar in bulk to the gallon jars or to the Grolsch bottles (at 1 teaspoon per bottle). It is easiest done as a syrup of 50/50 water or cider and sugar but can just be granulated sugar if you like.

Grolsch bottle seals typically leak at around 70 - 80 psi (about champagne fizziness) but this isn't guaranteed. The bottles should withstand well over 100psi, so your risk of bottle bombs isn't very high. Nevertheless, keep them where a "bomb" won't cause too much drama. Another advantage of Grolsch seals is that you can release them periodically to check how much carbonation you have.

Good luck!

 

[Bobjaky]

Thanks for the responses! I'm happy with the low alcohol content. I've decided I'll syphon off the cider from the lees and put it with a tight lid in the frig and just drink and sweeten as I go along with syrup or a little fresh or concentrated apple juice ('cause it's quite dry). The other gallon I'm going to leave sit out in a warmer place and see if I can turn it into apple cider vinegar.

 

[Chalkyt]

Be aware that low alcohol will turn into high alcohol all by itself unless you stop any further fermentation by chemical or heat pasteurisation means (putting it in the fridge will slow the rate down but IME it does keep going)..

All apple juice typically has a SG of around 1.050 and when the sugar is fully consumed by the yeast (natural or added) you will end up with about 6.5%ABV. If you stop fermentation before SG1.000 you will end up with some remaining sugar which doesn't get converted into alcohol and also have some retained sweetness