Opinions

[nickelrodent]

Hi im new to brewing, I am brewing my second batch of 5 gal, and I was wondering if I could get the communities opinion:

How long do you keep your cider in primary fermentation?

How long do you keep your cider in secondary fermentation?

How many times do you rack?

Where and how long do you age your cider (fermenter, bottles)?

Thanks, Im sure alot of this information is around the forums but i would like to get it all in one area so I can easily compare the diffrent techniques.

 

[Greghark]

You are correct, all of this info is out there. But there are tons of detailed discussions on each of tons questions, so don't expect more than rudimentary answers. Here is the most important thing. Keep good notes of what YOU do. You will get a lot of people telling you conflicting info of what works"best". The reality is there are way to many variables for the home brewer to ever control all of them absolutely. Even if you are meticulous you will have some small variation which may our may not make a huge difference to the final taste, appearance, alcohol level, or mouth feel of your cider. The good news is that it is all cider and will get you and your friends drunk.

Now your questions.
Primary- you'll get everything from one week to three months. Some people use set schedules and proceed regardless of what the cider is doing. Some people purely go off of sg levels (get a hydrometer). Some people stick it in a closet and remember out weeks later. Whatever you end up doing keep notes. Initial and final sg, Storage temp, Cider used, yeast used, etc.
Me, I let it sit for about four weeks until my airlock has died down and been stable at one cycle every 30-40 seconds for a week or so. I dont like rushing it. I also try to limit the number of times I rack the cidery to try and minimize contamination. Which less to secondary.

I will rack it over once or twice. Every cider is a bit different depending on things you control and things you can't possibly control. The cider might immediately clear up our stay cloudy regardless of what you do to it. If you are tracking just to get a clear cider then be advised that even things like atmospheric pressure and humidity can affect your brew.
I like to try and get a clear cider but I also shoot for around 2 to 3 months from the time I start until the time I bottle. I've gone as quick as one month total or as long as six before bottling. Keep good notes and let the cider tell you when it is ready.

Once I do bottle I try and wait paitently for a month before I drink it. It helps to have made dozens of batches before so you can have something to drink while you wait. After a month a will put one boyle in the fridge every few days, let it suit for a day chilling and sample to figure out when the batch is ready for mass consumption. It might be ready right away our need longer to carbonate longer.

Regardless of what you do keep good notes. Try different sweet ciders or apple juices. Try different yeast. Always sanitize everything. Add sugar or honey or flavoring if you want. Try whatever sounds good.

Finally, there are tons of pretty good books and some crap ones out there. Read a few and you will figure our which is which. Some things work well across the board and some only work in certain areas or with certain ciders. This is science so expirement.

 

[NineMilBill]

Greg - good response man. nickelrodent - he's pretty spot on, and like he said, there are detailed discussions on these pointers he gave you. Just know that you're going to be kinda hard pressed to get people to go into the same level of detail that has already been covered once (or many, many times) before. Get very specific with your key words in the search function and it will pay off. Good luck, and keep brewing.

 

[roadymi]

Hi im new to brewing, I am brewing my second batch of 5 gal, and I was wondering if I could get the communities opinion:

How long do you keep your cider in primary fermentation?
Usually a month or so....I've got some that's been in primary since early Nov.

How long do you keep your cider in secondary fermentation?
No set time.....i usually add any flavorings here, leave it a month or so and bottle when I get around to it.

How many times do you rack?
Usually once...sometimes twice if trub is thick and it clears slow.

Where and how long do you age your cider (fermenter, bottles)?
I'll sometimes age in carboys unless I run outta room then I'll bottle. I'll age as long as I can til I get thirsty.

Thanks, Im sure alot of this information is around the forums but i would like to get it all in one area so I can easily compare the diffrent techniques.

hope this helps

 

[nickelrodent]

Thanks for the replys. roady whats your bubble rate in primary before you go to secondary? do you have a SG your looking for?

 

[roadymi]

Thanks for the replys. roady whats your bubble rate in primary before you go to secondary? do you have a SG your looking for?[/QUOTE

I normally wait until airlock activity ceases.

I made 30 gallons this last fall all from fresh pressed cider. I used multiple primaries with several different SG's. I had 5 gal wth no added sugar. 10 gal with 20 lbs of sugar (forget the SG....my note taking is weak) & 15 gallons with 24 lbs of honey.

The cyser (with honey) is still in primary. The 5 gal plain has had mulling spices added and is in secondary. the sugared batch was split in 2, 1 over frozen rasberries and the other over atomic fireballs and are both aging in bottles.

 

[nickelrodent]

atomic fireballs huh? thats different

 

[roadymi]

atomic fireballs huh? thats different

It's one of my most popular ciders amongst my frends.

I place 10 atomic fireballs / gallon in empty carboy and rack onto them. (dropping them into cider can cause geysers). If the cider is dry I've found that backsweetening to arould 1.015 - 1.020 really brings out the flavors.

.

 

[matrim]

roadymi: I am about to rack a gallon batch into secondary onto some mulling spices but was unsure how much I should be adding. ideas?

 

[divi2323]

It's one of my most popular ciders amongst my frends.

I place 10 atomic fireballs / gallon in empty carboy and rack onto them. (dropping them into cider can cause geysers). If the cider is dry I've found that backsweetening to arould 1.015 - 1.020 really brings out the flavors.

.

What becomes of the candy after fermentation? Do they totally dissolve or is there a shell left behind ?

 

[WIBeerGeek]

Atomic Fireball cider sounds awesome! I will have to try that with my next batch.