Noobie Question

[d00b]

Hi All & Merry Christmas!

I'm making my first 5 gallon batch of hard cider. I used Sunrype apple juice, 2 lbs of dextrose & 1 lb brown sugar. I used Lalvin Ec-1118. My SG was 1.080 and today (12 days later) I noticed the airlock bubble about every 3 minutes. So I took a reading and it was 0.980.

Should I wait a couple days and take another reading or can I rack to secondary?

I did taste it and actually didn't mind the taste. Definitely not appley nor real sour. I figured it would be strong but was rather pleasant.

 

[Yooper]

You can rack anytime. If you have a ton of lees now, I'd rack now but you can wait a few more days.

I think you read your hydrometer wrong. Most hydrometers don't go below .990, unless you have a very special distillers hydrometer. I would bet you mean .998? Your cider (more of an apple wine, with such a high OG) should finish in the .990 ish area.

 

[d00b]

Hi thank you for you quick reply. Merry Christmas!

Yeah I did read it wrong it was .998 but my hydrometer does go to .980 as the final mark. lol

So after I rack, I just leave till it clears right? Is it going to be dryer then?

I was wondering if you've ever bottled with pet bottles. I looking to make still cider and not sparkling.

 

[Yooper]

Hi thank you for you quick reply. Merry Christmas!

Yeah I did read it wrong it was .998 but my hydrometer does go to .980 as the final mark. lol

So after I rack, I just leave till it clears right? Is it going to be dryer then?

I was wondering if you've ever bottled with pet bottles. I looking to make still cider and not sparkling.

You can wait for it to clear. It should go somewhere around .990 or so. It will be drier, but not much drier than it is now.

I have used PET bottles for root beer, but not cider. It should be fine. For wine, I use regular wine bottles and corks.

 

[d00b]

Thank you.

 

[RukusDM]

That cider will definitely Ring in the new year. %10.7 ABV!!!!

 

[oljimmy]

Hey D00b, definitely consider lowering the amount of sugar you use next time. That's a crazy-high original gravity, and at 10.7% abv, you've actually just made glucose-enhanced apple wine.

 

[d00b]

Hey D00b, definitely consider lowering the amount of sugar you use next time. That's a crazy-high original gravity, and at 10.7% abv, you've actually just made glucose-enhanced apple wine.

I didn't realize that would be that high. I was following this recipe just using different yeast and adding brown sugar.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/edworts-apfelwein-33986/

 

[oljimmy]

Ah, I see. Though, note that EdWort's recipe calls for 2 lbs of dextrose and you actually added an extra pound of brown sugar to that... that's why his OG is 1.066 and yours was 1.080. His final alcohol content will be high, but not quite wine-high like yours. It's a tricky business, but many people encourage us to add a lot of dextrose, and they don't always realize that this means less of a 'cider' product and more of a 'dextrose wine' product. Still, all that matters is that you enjoy it, no matter what it's called!

 

[d00b]

Ah, I see. Though, note that EdWort's recipe calls for 2 lbs of dextrose and you actually added an extra pound of brown sugar to that... that's why his OG is 1.066 and yours was 1.080. His final alcohol content will be high, but not quite wine-high like yours. It's a tricky business, but many people encourage us to add a lot of dextrose, and they don't always realize that this means less of a 'cider' product and more of a 'dextrose wine' product. Still, all that matters is that you enjoy it, no matter what it's called!

Yeah I guess I added the extra brown sugar because what I read about lalvin ec-1118 was very active yeast and finishes dry. I figured adding the brown sugar would make it less dry.

I was kinda surprised that when I tasted, I thought it would be stronger than say the store bought beer I drink.

The original recipe calls for 6 weeks in primary & no second before bottling.
I'm torn because from what I read on net some transfer to secondary early to condition. What would you do?

 

[oljimmy]

Yeah I guess I added the extra brown sugar because what I read about lalvin ec-1118 was very active yeast and finishes dry. I figured adding the brown sugar would make it less dry.

You're right about ec-1118, it's so powerful that I don't use it anymore... in my experience it eats all of the sugar, dextrose, brown, whatever. So, with a yeast like that, adding more sugar won't necessarily make it less dry, it might make it *more* dry, because the alcohol % will go up (yeast+sugar=alcohol).

The original recipe calls for 6 weeks in primary & no second before bottling.
I'm torn because from what I read on net some transfer to secondary early to condition. What would you do?

I'm not an expert like some on here so I'm not sure. If you keep it in primary, less can go wrong and it sounds like Ed's had great success with that, so why change it? Then again, as I understand it, secondary nearly always improves cider. The only time it won't improve it is if you screw up transferring to secondary (which I have done...it sucks). Cider will age naturally in a bottle, too, so if you're happy with Ed's system maybe it's best to stick with it, leave the bottles alone for a few weeks then start tasting?

 

[brewguyver]

Don't worry too much about the high alcohol - you didn't hurt anything. In grad school my buddies and I strove to make the most alcoholic cider possible, we put 5-10# of sugar in, pasteurized as if we were boiling wort, back sweetened at the end, and force carbed it.

*I wouldn't recommend doing ANY of this knowing what I know now*. My point is more that it came out fine. The only downside was the fast drunkenness and awful, awful hangovers you got the next day (some of the worst ever).

So enjoy the cider once it finishes out, and moderate your intake accordingly to avoid unnecessary drunkenness and associated hangovers.

 

[d00b]

Does anybody know if I have to degas my cider if I want to use something to clear it?

 

[d00b]

Well it is exactly 5 weeks and it looks and taste great! I plan on bottling tomorrow and will try to take some pics.

 

[d00b]

I know that these bottles look pretty ghetto but they are clean and have been sanitized obsessively. I plan on getting some glass and want to eventually keg.

So heres my bottles, not quite as refined as some of you pros. lol But I'm dabbling and this is my first cider. One thing I can say is that I'm pretty happy at this point and have learned a lot thanks to you guys.

When I was racked to my secondary(day 24), I then topped of with AJ as I had too much headspace. I realized that it had started fermenting again or rather I was bulk carbonating. Anyway, today is day 36 and I was certain I could bottle. Last night I took reading as the airlock had calmed down, I guess my new fg was .996 and before it was .990. So I had no intention of carbed cider for still was my goal. The sample I took was pretty good and the clarity as well. So I thought what the hell let's do this.

I bottled a 4 liter jug that I accidently left in my freezer too long, 17 - 1 liter PETS and 6 - 341 ml beer bottles. The 17 liter bottles won't last long I figure. The beer bottles are for me to try as it ages. I'm pretty sure you guys know what's happening with the 4 liter.

Btw. I pasteurized the glass beer bottles just in case, as for the PET bottles I will be keeping an eye on everyday. I can always release the pressure on those. When I find a proper glass in our house I post a pic of the final product as well as the jacked stuff.

Thank you for teaching me!

 

[d00b]

1 day old.

 

[d00b]

37 days old.

 

[d00b]

That 4 liter jug I forgot in the freezer.

 

[d00b]

I decided to salvage the disaster I created by funneling it into bottles. Btw way I tasted not even an ounce afterward and WOW! I must say... tis good! :rockin: