Please Help!!

[RW1989]

I have fermented 1 Gallon of cider in a container under airlock until it reached 1.000 then racked it off. i put it out in the garage but i think at night the tempature drops to well below 50oF and the airlock was letting air in the other way so im guessing its too cold. its inside now and for a bit it restarted fermenting but now its slowed down again. there is about half a cm of sediment on the bottom of the demijohn. can i keep it inside in a dark cupboard for a few months to age now or does it need to be much cooler to clear? i cant find an answer anywhere on net

 

[lostboysbrew]

I havent done cider.......but not matter what, if it sits, it will clear........putting it in the cold will get it clearer, quicker b/c the cold will crash all the sediemnt out.......but you can let it sit, it will clear up......

 

[RW1989]

ok. the room tempature is about 70oF. is this ok? may be cooler in a dark cupboard. do i need to rack it off the sediment again or shall i just leave it now. do you advise adding campden/Sorbate to stop it fermenting more?

 

[Calder]

Leave it in the garage or the cupboard. But just leave it alone. Probably best in a place that has less than 20 degree temperature swings in a day.

 

[RW1989]

i had it in the garage then i brought it back inside because the air lock was bubbling the wrong way so letting air in rather than out and i guessed that isnt right or is it?

 

[truckjohn]

Wow - Gloustershire! You are close to the epicenter of everything Cider.... Were you able to get actual pressed cider apples for your cider? You are in a position to really make us jealous, because all we can usually get here is sweet, bland eating apples for our ciders... so we have to do all sorts of gyrations to get a decent flavor blend like stealing crab apples out of the neighbor's yard at night...

Anyway - leave it outside in the garage. It will be fine so long as it doesn't freeze.... Just be sure to keep liquid in the airlock. Aging on the yeast lees is fine - and it actually helps clean up the flavors.... Out there in the cold, It will act kinda like it is "Lagering" your cider... Flavors clean up and it becomes more crisp...

So... since you are going to let it go totally dry, the thing to do is to let it age till it warms back up in early summer - just check it once in a while to make sure there is liquid in the airlock... The cider should be crystal clear with nice compact yeast lees... and it will start to taste like an appley white wine....

Thanks

 

[randyisrad]

Bro....
First step is to CALM DOWN.
It's going to be fine. I ferment all the time in the garage, regardless of the temperature. Don't get bogged down with all the YOU MUSTS that you read about on forums. Fermentations gonna happen...relax.

 

[GinKings]

Taking the cider from a warm house and putting it in a cool garage causes the pressure in the vessel to decrease as the temp decreases, so air gets sucked in through the airlock. Moving it back into the warm house causes it to warm up. The pressure inside increases, so air comes out of the airlock. Both are caused by temperature change. Once it reaches temperature, the airlock should stop letting air in or out.

The cooler temp in the garage is probably better for aging than the cupboard as long as it's a fairly constant temp. If it has large temperature swings, I'd leave it in the cupboard.

 

[RW1989]

ok thanks everyone for the help. i will put it in the garage and leave it alone. there isnt really big tempature swings. i just thought it would be too cold as the outside tempature at the moment gets below 0 sometimes. but is slightly warmer in garage. i guess i could wrap it in something to keep it a little warmer?

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

First, you should fill the air lock only half way at the most if your going to change the temp, second fill it up with some cheap vodka and then you don't have to worry.
Cold or warm storage might make a slight difference that I have never noticed, the key is time, and for me it is the longer the better until I need the carboy or keg for the next batch.