Questions about my first batch of Cider

[Verac]

I am 4 days into my first batch of hard cider that I started with my Make your own Hard Cider kit by Craft A Brew.

I have a couple questions and just want to make sure I am doing things right.

Here is my cider after getting it into the jug (carboy?)


The next day I was concerned by what I saw but I believe this is a Krausen and harmless?

Bubbling really picked up yesterday but I've had issues the last few days with stuff creeping up and making the airlock cloudy. I took the airlock off and cleaned it a couple times while trying to keep everything as sanitized as I could while doing so. I think I filled things up too much.


Today it is still bubbling along but there is a milky looking substance near the top. Is this possibly contamination?

Here is the instructions I am following:




Any help or advice is appreciated!

 

[CKuhns]

Looks pretty "normal" the white stuff you are concerned about is most likely suspended yeast and will drop out when the CO2 bubbles pop. Unless fermentation is pretty cool with a yeast known to not produce much krausen I tend to only fill my ciders to the top of the "shoulder" on the bottle. (About 2" or a little less in the bottle than you have there.)

 

[Chalkyt]

Based on advice that I received on this forum long ago, it isn't really necessary for the turbulent primary phase to be under airlock.

I start primary ferment in a container that is about 75% full and simply cover it with a cloth to keep the nasties out and have room for the "krausen". Monitor, then when the turbulent fermentation settles, transfer to a carboy under airlock which is usually after several days to a week or so.

With this approach, initial generation of lots of CO2 keeps the O2 at bay. Others might have different views but so far it works for me and you don't have the top of the carboy glugging up.

 

[Verac]

Thanks for the replies! I'll keep an eye on it. I need to go get some swing top bottles and get ready for the next phase in 6 days it seems.

 

[devilssoninlaw]

You may want to consider a little larger vessel for primary fermenting or set up a "blow off tube".

Also don't get in a hurry to bottle your cider, it may well be done fermenting but then again it may not. It can age in your fermentor just as well as a bottle and it will be much better in a few months, so don't rush it.

Good luck!!

 

[Verac]

You may want to consider a little larger vessel for primary fermenting or set up a "blow off tube".

Also don't get in a hurry to bottle your cider, it may well be done fermenting but then again it may not. It can age in your fermentor just as well as a bottle and it will be much better in a few months, so don't rush it.

Good luck!!

The instructions I have say to ferment for 10 days. Then it has be boil some sugar and drain the juice and mix with it and then bottle. I assume you add more sugar so that it will carbonate while it ages in the bottle?

 

[Chalkyt]

This is a little long winded but worth understanding if this is your first of many ventures into carbonated cider making. Rule 1, Cidermaking 101, is "get a hydrometer".

Yes, one option is to add sugar when bottling. Around 10 days will usually bring the SG down to somewhere near 1.000 although if you measure it the SG could well be as high as 1.004 depending in the time and yeast used. (I have found that SO4 and WLP775 can finish above 1.000)

So, here is the trick... with enough time and residual yeast the cider will probably eventually get down to 1.000. Therefore, rather than adding sugar you have the option of bottling at 1.002 or 1.003 which should produce around 2 volumes of CO2 (assuming that it finally does get down to 1.000), or you can add the equivalent amount of sugar to the fully fermented (1.000) cider. A rough "rule of thumb" is a teaspoon per litre (Claude Jolicoeur's table 15.3 gives a good guide for how much sugar you need for a particular volume of CO2, or you can use the Brewer's Friend calculator).

Without measuring the SG and just relying on time (say the 10 days in your case) and shoving a bit of sugar in, you could be effectively adding potentially 2-3 volumes of CO2 to something that already has 2-3 volumes of CO2 worth of sugar still unfermented. In the worst case this can result in 4-6 volumes of CO2 and volcanoes or possibly even bottle bombs. Mind you, plenty of people (including me) have got away with just shoving some sugar in, but you can lose a lot of cider if it is too fizzy.

The sugar is best added as liquid (as per your instructions of "boiled" sugar syrup) to the bulk cider so that it is sanitised and evenly distributed. You can add dry sugar when bottling but this can be a bit hit and miss trying to get the same amount of sugar (like half a teaspoon!!!) in each bottle .

The approach that I take if I haven't bottled before full fermentation is only slightly more fussy and involves adding sugar syrup, apple juice or AJC a little at a time until I get the change in SG that I want for a particular level of carbonation. I usually aim for an increase of 0.003 to get a nice petillant cider.

Enjoy the journey!

 

[Verac]

This is a little long winded but worth understanding if this is your first of many ventures into carbonated cider making. Rule 1, Cidermaking 101, is "get a hydrometer".

Yes, one option is to add sugar when bottling. Around 10 days will usually bring the SG down to somewhere near 1.000 although if you measure it the SG could well be as high as 1.004 depending in the time and yeast used. (I have found that SO4 and WLP775 can finish above 1.000)

So, here is the trick... with enough time and residual yeast the cider will probably eventually get down to 1.000. Therefore, rather than adding sugar you have the option of bottling at 1.002 or 1.003 which should produce around 2 volumes of CO2 (assuming that it finally does get down to 1.000), or you can add the equivalent amount of sugar to the fully fermented (1.000) cider. A rough "rule of thumb" is a teaspoon per litre (Claude Jolicoeur's table 15.3 gives a good guide for how much sugar you need for a particular volume of CO2, or you can use the Brewer's Friend calculator).

Without measuring the SG and just relying on time (say the 10 days in your case) and shoving a bit of sugar in, you could be effectively adding potentially 2-3 volumes of CO2 to something that already has 2-3 volumes of CO2 worth of sugar still unfermented. In the worst case this can result in 4-6 volumes of CO2 and volcanoes or possibly even bottle bombs. Mind you, plenty of people (including me) have got away with just shoving some sugar in, but you can lose a lot of cider if it is too fizzy.

The sugar is best added as liquid (as per your instructions of "boiled" sugar syrup) to the bulk cider so that it is sanitised and evenly distributed. You can add dry sugar when bottling but this can be a bit hit and miss trying to get the same amount of sugar (like half a teaspoon!!!) in each bottle .

The approach that I take if I haven't bottled before full fermentation is only slightly more fussy and involves adding sugar syrup, apple juice or AJC a little at a time until I get the change in SG that I want for a particular level of carbonation. I usually aim for an increase of 0.003 to get a nice petillant cider.

Enjoy the journey!

Thanks for the advice. I've procured a hydrometer and beaker. After the 10 days has passed, I'll take a reading and report back here on what I find.

 

[Verac]

So it's nearing the 10th day I've had the cider fermenting. Bubbles have slown way down. Tonight I plan to take a hydrometer reading to see how much sugar is left.

In my research since I started, I've landed on a process that sounds quite appealing to me. I've seen where people add extra sugar, and bottle one coke bottle with their other bottles to gauge carbonation. Then they pasteurize the bottles once carbonation gets to where they want it.

I think I want to try this process and it should end up with a sweeter product.

My question is, how do I know how much sugar to add to A) get the appropriate carbonation and B) have enough after pasteurization to have an appropriately added sweetness.

Also, I saw a video where a guy used apple concentrate for the added sweetness and that looked like a good idea.