Noob: Fast Fermentation

[brewbadger]

Just a little cider noob stuck question for you pros.

My first attempt at apple cider.

OG: 1065
Apple Juice, Dextrose, yeast nutrient.
Nottingham yeast starter.

Fermented great, now six days its ready at 1005. I want a FG of 1010.

Racked it into two 3 G carboys. Still not clear.

That seems rather quick to almost ferment dry. What do I do now? Backsweetin and hope it clears up or keep it in the secondary then flavor before bottling.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[cyberlord]

I doubt its ready at 6 days. 1.005 is not dry, there is still some sugar in there. My last batches are 30 days in primary and still fermenting. It will take at least that long for your cider to clear up. If you bottle too early it's not too big a deal as the cider will clear in the bottle but you will have more sediment in the bottles that will disturb very easily and likely cloud the cider again when you go to pour it. So I recommend to secondary it for at least 30 days, but better still if you can let it go for a few months. Having said that though I've drunk some very young (25 days) cranberry cider that I liked very much.

Are you planning to sweeten and carbonate in the bottle? If so you will need make sure you pasteurize your bottles once they have reached the desired carbonation level.

 

[brewbadger]

Thanks, yes i plan to sweeten to 1010 before bottling. The reason I am concerned, I don't want the lose any flavor by ferming out dry.

 

[outstretched]

The flavor is more lost by the viciousness of the yeast farting and the co2 carrying out the flavor than per say letting it ferment dry. Slower the fermentation the more flavor you'll get.

Couple things to do to get it to clear is chill it to around 34 degrees. Or add a fining agent (I like gelatin, but vegans do not. So I just don't tell them.) I have had best success combining both gelatin and chilling to clear it.

Also be aware if you want an FG of 1.010 you will need to pasteurize your bottles as Nottingham will chew through that and make your bottles go boom. I usually sweeten with frozen apple juice (or other assorted flavors) 1 Can usually has enough sugar to carbonate it nicely.

 

[motobrewer]

apple juice will ferment to 1.000 if left to do so. bottling is tricky, look at the pasteurization threads.

in my limited experience, from weeks 1-3 the apple flavor gets lost for whatever reason. sometime after week 4 it comes back around again.