Primary + Patience? Will it Work for Dry and Simple Cider?

[superslomo]

I've got good, additive free cider from a few nearby mills, and all I want is super dry, simple cider, no added sugar, no spices or any other stuff... I've done a batch just in a glass carboy with sweet mead yeast and left it for six months to get clear.

Other than clarity, if I just want clean dry cider, is there any reason I can't just do a shorter primary (ferment down to whatever final state on the hydrometer) in plastic and bottle? Is it a flavor issue, just an aesthetic issue, or what exactly? If I don't need to go crazy with it I can do a whole bunch of batches now while the cider is still pretty great. I'm just lazy and hope I can get away with easy for the style I happen to like...

 

[phug]

Other than clarity and sediment in the bottles, there's no reason you can't

 

[superslomo]

I'm wondering how the cider from the mill changes character as the season goes on, I am pretty sure they've got cider throughout the winter, but it must come from stored apples, which are slightly different varieties. I'm finding that the ciders that I like the most, and that are oddly the most staggeringly priced (local dry artisanal fancy stuff, here in the Lower Hudson Valley), are also the simplest to make, and less pricey than beermaking, at this point.

So, hopefully the cider holds out, and I can figure out what yeast to use for a solid dry contender...

If racking to glass, how long should it sit in there for, and how much sediment are we likely to be talking about still settling out, if I'm doing, say, a month in primary in plastic?

 

[dmtaylor]

Go for it. Keeping in primary for a good month or so will dry it out just fine. Best yeast to try is champagne yeast if you want it really dry. Or my personal favorite is Cote des Blancs, which leaves just a very slight residual sweetness and the best apple flavors.

If you want it to clear faster, after it is done fermenting, add gelatin and chill it. Gelatin will get it crystal clear in about 48 hours. You don't need to rack it at all if you want it dry anyway.

 

[superslomo]

I had used the puff pack of Sweet Mead Yeast, which left just a tiny bit of residual sugar, and tasted fantastic, but it's a question of how much headache I want to get into getting my hands on the stuff, shipping etc...

 

[Maylar]

How long it takes and how much sediment you get depends on a number of factors. A 1 gallon jug can have an inch or more of lees after a few weeks. If you use yeast nutrient it ferments quicker. If you use pectic enzyme it clears better, and sooner, but drops more lees. Typically I lose almost a quart from a 1 gallon carboy and end up with 8-9 beer bottles.

A 5 gallon pail can have a bunch of sediment after primary. My current batch lost a whole gallon when I racked to secondary.

 

[superslomo]

I've done bottle carb'ing for beer, but I ended up having folks over, and we just drank the long sitting carboy flat and cold, it was great, but I'd love to do bottling and bottle carb it this time... any recommendations/precautions on that? Dextrose at what quantity to get a decent fizz without exploding my basement?

 

[dmtaylor]

You can use any priming sugar you want, as long as it's done fermenting before you add the priming. The only explosions you'll get is if you are in too much hurry and bottle while fermentation is still going on. Being lazy I mean patient is truly a virtue with cider. Wait until you think it's done fermenting, check the gravity.... then wait a couple more WEEKS, check gravity again, and make sure it's not still going. If it is, wait another two weeks. If not, you can prime and bottle. I use cane sugar. Dextrose also would work, just is more expensive.

 

[superslomo]

Cool. I'm good at lazy. It's part of why I'm shifting towards the simpler cider process, it's the most wonderfully lazy option of all

I happen to already have the corn sugar, so I'll just keep going with that. Ratios per gallon are similar for carb'ing in cider to beer, I guess?

 

[Bandit-brewer]

I do my cider in glass carboys and don't transfer at all. Cider doesn't get nearly as much foam as beer so you don't need the headspace of plastic buckets. I've used ec-118 mostly and within a month its usually crystal clear. This round that's fermenting right now im using wlp 775 english cider yeast and it's going along great.

 

[superslomo]

My only issue that I've only got a single carboy, but I've got a bunch of buckets... so, if the buckets work well enough, I'll happily use those instead of the glass... I was only going to do glass if it was essential to the process somehow... I'm just figuring if I can use the gear I have and be patient and lazy it'll be exactly what the doctor ordered

 

[dmtaylor]

I happen to already have the corn sugar, so I'll just keep going with that. Ratios per gallon are similar for carb'ing in cider to beer, I guess?

Yes, identical. Just keep in mind that it can take 2-3 times as long, sometimes longer, for cider to carbonate, compared to beer.

 

[superslomo]

So, probably give it another month in bottles to settle down and get carb'ed normally? Sounds good to me... I'll be stoked to be having some in the new year