Results from First Cider

[koenigwi]

I recently bottled my first cider and figured I'd share the results. I brewed a brown ale and bottled it last Saturday. After I finished bottling, I dumped 5.5 gallons of Walmart apple juice on the yeast (no washing), 2 cups of sugar and 5 tsp of yeast nutrient. I shook it for maybe 5 minutes to aerate, put on a blowoff tube and left it. OG was 1.054.

After maybe 3 hours, it was going like mad. I was surprised at how fast it took off. Blowoff tube was absolutely necessary for the first two days.

I planned to let it get to about 1.010 like pappers said in the sticky, but it got down to 1.002 in four days. I didn't expect it to go that fast, and I expected some of the turbulence to settle out by then based on some other post I saw. Didn't happen, but oh well. The sample tastes pretty good.

I primed with 1/3 cup honey just in case there's wasn't enough sugar left to carbonate, bottled it, and left it sit. I have one soda bottle to test the pressure. Question though: should I have squeezed the air out of the soda bottle? It was squishy and is now getting hard after three days. How hard should it be before I pasteurize? Rock hard? I can push a dent into it with a moderate squeeze now.

 

[globell]

I normally squish the air out and I always fill two bottles just in case I need to open on to test which is always the case. Just my thoughts there.

What was your fermentation temps (curiosity). Seems like a very fast ferment!

 

[koenigwi]

It's a pretty steady 65 to 67 in the basement.

 

[dmtaylor]

Holy wah. I think your bottles are going to explode. Be very very careful. Cider will usually finish at 0.992-0.994, and you bottled at 1.002, so I'm sure it wasn't done yet. I usually let my cider ferment for a minimum of 6 weeks before even starting to think about bottling. The one I made in October is still in secondary today. I could have bottled it in December but I'm waiting for the malolactic bacteria to work on the acidity. Maybe in another month it will be ready.

 

[MarkKF]

Holy wah. I think your bottles are going to explode. Be very very careful. Cider will usually finish at 0.992-0.994, and you bottled at 1.002, so I'm sure it wasn't done yet. I usually let my cider ferment for a minimum of 6 weeks before even starting to think about bottling. The one I made in October is still in secondary today. I could have bottled it in December but I'm waiting for the malolactic bacteria to work on the acidity. Maybe in another month it will be ready.

My cider finishes at 1.004 every time using S-04 or Nottingham Ale yeast.

 

[Maylar]

My cider finishes at 1.004 every time using S-04 or Nottingham Ale yeast.

My S-04 batch went to 0.996 this year. A bit too warm, I think.

 

[koenigwi]

So how would one determine what it will go down to without using the wait and see method?

 

[CKuhns]

Koenigwi

The yeast are going to do what they do. There are many factors (Nutrients, temperature, acidity etc.) that could impact just how well the yeast ferment the sugars in your cider. I use time and technique as a rule of thumb only based upon experience with my recipe. The only way to ensure your ferment is done is when your Specific Gravity is rock steady i.e. does not change for a week or more.

 

[koenigwi]

Is there some sort of documentation to show typical fermentation rates? I'm thinking something like a growth curve for kids.

 

[koenigwi]

Figured I'd post an update. I sampled one bottle per night after I opened my pop bottle too soon. I would say the pop bottle needs to be rock hard instead of moderately hard, if I were going to try that again. After 2 weeks, they seemed about perfect on carbonation so I went to pasteurize as planned.

I heated my water to 185 and added my bottles, plus an uncapped bottled of water for checking temperature. After 10 minutes, the bottles and water were a consistent 140 degrees. Unacceptablely low.

I decided I needed to keep the burner on the stove running to regulate the temperature, so I used an upside down springform pan to keep my bottles off the bottom of the pot. It worked fine until the water got to about 170, then my springform pan collapsed and the bottles piled up in the bottom of the pot. My control bottle miraculously stayed above water and was only about 160. I removed the pot from the heat, but the bottles promptly started leaking small streams of bubbles from under the caps. Seemed like dangerous territory. I pulled them gently using rubber covered tongs, but before I was finished, one of the bottles detonated in the pot. Fortunately, it was underwater so the shrapnel stayed in the pot. It scared me half to death though.

So, a few lessons learned:

1. I'm not trying this again.
2. The liquid expanded dramatically when the bottles heated up. I didn't expect that. I went from normal headspace to maybe 0.25" of headspace.
3. This was more dangerous than I thought. The explosion dented my aluminum turkey fryer pot from the inside.
4. The cider-from-beer trub wasn't that great anyway. It's super green, but I'm afraid to leave it for too long, even in the fridge. It's also got kind of an astringent flavor with a soapy aftertaste.

At least I had fun and learned something.

 

[Drewed]

140 and up should kill off all your yeast.

 

[dmtaylor]

Hate to say told you so. Next time patience.

 

[MarkKF]

I've never had to heat with bottles in the water. Bring just water up to 190 and take off the heat and add 6-8 bottles.

 

[koenigwi]

Hate to say told you so. Next time patience.

Come on. Nobody hates that, especially when it is well deserved!

 

[Hankhill11]

I have done stovetop pasteurization a few times and while it works, i try to avoid if possible. I had two explosions within my pot, both with the lid on, and both fully contained. I attributed the blowouts to weakened glass bottles. They may have held fine when capped, but probably had micro cracks in them somewhere from being clanged around at one time or another. Now if i drop a bottle or clang it against the sink when washing, i just toss it.

I also have the best success when using the preheat method (leave bottles in the sink with the hottest tap water you have while heating your main kettle) And heating pasteurization water to 180 and turning off the heat. With the pre heated bottles you get a more consistent cool down and higher heat for longer. You can also get another 1 or 2 bottles in without cooling to fast.