Question on secondary for cider

eic1600 · Feb 9, 2017

Hi all,

I usually do beer, but I had a batch of apples that were not edible. So I turned them into a cider. This was just a "let's not waste any fruit" project. Anyway I used Notty yeast, and the SG was 1.050, and it is now at 1.000. The sample tasted good to me, but my question(s) is this:

I do not have any bottles (filled with a smoked Bitter...), and I want to secondary for aging. I have read elsewhere that there should be very little room in the secondary for ciders. I am using a 1 gallon jug for this, and I am curious what constitutes too much head space in a 1 gal. jug? I do not have any cider on hand to fill up the jug, and I am not opposed to boiling some water to add if necessary. Suggestions?

Also I am not opposed to letting this sit for a few months because, again, the Bitter is currently conditioning. If I want a light carbonation (I usually do not secondary so I am unsure here), will I need to add additional yeast later, or should a water/sugar mixture work regardless?

Thanks!

Maylar · Feb 10, 2017

After racking a gallon to secondary you'll likely lose a quart or so and the level will be down below the curved part of the jug, like these two:

I've left that much head space for 2-3 weeks for clearing, but never more than that. Ideally you would rack to 2 smaller jugs, like a 1/2 gallon and a quart and fill them up to the neck. Another option is to fill the extra volume with glass stones, properly cleaned and sanitized of course. I use glass vase filler, found in the floral arrangement section of craft stores. Since your juice was fresh pressed, I'd also add 1 crushed Campden tablet to the racked cider for protection from oxidation and bacteria.

Diluting with water would ruin your cider IMO.

Bottle conditioning cider is exactly like beer. Your yeast will still be viable even after a number of months of aging.

eic1600 · Feb 10, 2017

Thanks. Unfortunately I do not have smaller jugs, or I would have followed that step.

I decided against the additional water (thanks). I guess for this time I will let sit for 2-3 weeks and then allow it to age in the bottle for several months. There is still a fair amount of activity in the secondary (even though it was down to 1.000), so hopefully enough Co2 is produced to protect it until I bottle.

Thanks for the response.

Cheers!