Oops what to do now?!

[doodlebug]

So exactly 7 days ago I picked up some carboys from an orchard and had a go at making some GRAFF. So I did about 10 gallons of that successfully, and it's fermenting away nicely.

Here's the thing - I only needed 4 gals of cider per batch and they filled a 6 gal and a 5 gal up completely, so I had an extra 3 gallons to play with. Well the weekend got away from me and so did most of this week. I've had the 3 gallons in a 3g carboy on my porch (Michigan, ~50 degrees or so). In the last few days it has started to visibly ferment, foamy bubbles on the top and all.

MY QUESTION IS: What should I do now? Do I let it go? Do I throw some campden in and pitch some new yeast this weekend? Just need some help, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Anybody?

 

[JonK331]

I don't claim to know much about cider making but I think it would be really interesting to just let it go. I'd test the gravity soon though so you at least have some sort of benchmark.

 

[IrregularPulse]

It's 3G. Let it go!! It could be great, could be horrible. If it's great, wash the yeast and you have your very own "House Strain".

 

[VTBrewer]

I definitely wouldn't go the campden/pitch route if its been that long. I'm sure its fermenting away fine Did you take an OG before you made the graff? You may want to use that as your baseline.

Up here in Vermont, many people actually frown on the capmden/add yeast procedure. Should be fine.

 

[doodlebug]

Sweet! Thanks for the responses. I did take an OG which was around 1.060. I'll let it go for ... 3 weeks or so?

 

[VTBrewer]

Wild yeast is unpredictable. 3 weeks. sure. 5 days. sure. lol.

You got your 1060 start, so you'll know where you're at and then figure it out. Heck, I'd get creative with it. If you get it down from 60 to 10 (and you will) you could rack it onto some oak chips for a month.

Or you could let it go to .05 drop campden and serve it still as it.

Or you could carb it. Tons of choices, but you probably have a nice little batch going. Google around or serach around her on back sweetening if it finishes tart, as wild yeast sometimes will.

 

[pollbs]

Where did you get the cider from. I picked up 6gal from kleins last weekend and its bubble happy still.

 

[doodlebug]

Wild yeast is unpredictable. 3 weeks. sure. 5 days. sure. lol.

You got your 1060 start, so you'll know where you're at and then figure it out. Heck, I'd get creative with it. If you get it down from 60 to 10 (and you will) you could rack it onto some oak chips for a month.

Or you could let it go to .05 drop campden and serve it still as it.

Or you could carb it. Tons of choices, but you probably have a nice little batch going. Google around or serach around her on back sweetening if it finishes tart, as wild yeast sometimes will.

Great advice, thanks! I'll report in a few weeks.

 

[doodlebug]

Where did you get the cider from. I picked up 6gal from kleins last weekend and its bubble happy still.

I got it from Vander Mill in Spring Lake. $3.50/gal for carboy fills

 

[lumpher]

apple cider lambic? not so sure about that. should settle to a drinkable taste in a couple years

 

[VTBrewer]

LOL. cider is not a lambic. it comes with the yeast on it. many of us intentionally stop it and pitch our own yeast. many don't. fresh pressed cider is the easiest brew to make, and the OP has one.

 

[CvilleKevin]

keep the ferment as cool as you can, ideally around 50-55. Most wild yeast ferments will strip the flavor out if they ferment too fast.

 

[doodlebug]

Just dug this up and for the record, this cider was incredible while it was young. It had all of the complexity of a good Belgian beer, actually reminded me of a wit quite a bit. I'm going to be trying this with 10 or so gallons this fall, and I did wash the yeast from this batch. Spontaneous fermenting cider rules! I just had a bottle last week though, and it hasn't held up very well. Tastes a lot more champagne-y, vinegary. Drink young! Probably peaked at 2 months.

 

[tribble222]

Try letting it go. Taste it once in a while. Wild yeast sometimes tends to pick up off flavors near the end so you may not want to let it ferment completely dry.