Questions about my homemade cider.

[Jesse00]

So I started making cider, I made it from apple juice, brown sugar and Mangrove Jack's Cider Yeast M02
On the package I have here it says 17% alchohol tolerance does that mean after the usual waiting time which is about a week or two my cider will be that strong? Also another question,.. it has been 6 days and it stopped bubbling now it smells like alchohol a little bit and like I said it's only been 6 days! I've read online that once it stops bubbling it's done but also it should be done in 1-2 maybe ish weeks should I say it's done and bottle it or wait it out for the next few days?

 

[Sammy86]

On the package I have here it says 17% alchohol tolerance does that mean after the usual waiting time which is about a week or two my cider will be that strong?

Alcohol Tolerance is how much the yeast can produce before they stop doing their thing. No, your cider won't be 17% unless your beginning sugar content was in the very top tiers.

it has been 6 days and it stopped bubbling now it smells like alchohol a little bit and like I said it's only been 6 days!

Leave it alone...primary fermentation may be complete but you should leave it alone for 10-14 days and the take a hydrometer or refractometer reading to see where you are. Did you happen to take an original gravity reading?

 

[Jesse00]

No! I completely forgot to even buy the hydrometer in the first place but I will soon to take a reading I know I should've done this from the beginning but atleast I'll know soon enough

Alcohol Tolerance is how much the yeast can produce before they stop doing their thing. No, your cider won't be 17% unless your beginning sugar content was in the very top tiers.




Leave it alone...primary fermentation may be complete but you should leave it alone for 10-14 days and the take a hydrometer or refractometer reading to see where you are. Did you happen to take an original gravity reading?

I haven't taken any readings so far but do plan on doing so in the near future thank you for helping me!

 

[Chalkyt]

All of the above.

Your AJ specific gravity was probably around 1.050 (most are) which when fully fermented should give you around 6.5% ABV at a SG of 1.000.

I have had ciders get from 1.050 to 1.010 in about a week especially if they start quickly. At that point the bubbling usually gets quite slow so monitoring with a hydrometer is a good thing. shining a flashlight through the fermenter will let you know if there are still bubbles of CO2 even if there isn't enough to generate significant bubbling.

Having said that, I will sometimes bottle a bit below this (say 1.005) in order to get a naturally carbonated cider. What was the ambient temperature during fermentation? Usually "low and slow is the way to go" (i.e. temperature and time). My primary fermentation is usually at 15C - 18C and takes a few weeks before racking to secondary.

It might be worth racking off the lees (muck in the bottom of the fermenter) into another secondary fermenter under airlock and leave for as long as you like to let it clear and mature before bottling. For a quaffing cider this might be up to two months and for something better, even longer.