Spiced apple cider

[WilliamSlayer]

Cinnamon cider - 12/27/12

2 tsp Bentonite
5 gal cider (1.050 gravity)
1 1/2 tsp pectic
1 1/2 tsp fermax

2 lbs cane suger
2 lbs lt. Brn sugar
Sugar boiled for 5min in 4 cups water.
S.G. now 1.080

PH tested 3.8 so...
Added 46 grams malic acid

Pitched Lalvin K1-1116 (one package)

Ferment @ 68-73 degrees

Soaking in a seperate container-
7 oz of vodka
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
1/2 Tbs ground nutmeg
1/2 oz Bitter Orange Peel

1/14/13
Racked onto the spices
Gravity @ .098

1/16/13
Added 1/3 tsp Potassium Metabisulfite
Added 1 and 1/4 tsp Potassium Sorbate
Stirred to mix. Got a fair ammount of gas out.

1/20/13
Racked to a fermenter bucket.
Added 2 gallons of cider.
Added 1 tsp pectic enzyme.

 

[Newsman]

The "Instant Mulling Spice" I have contains sugar and dextrose. For that reason, I wonder about putting it in the secondary. Do you still recommend adding it to the secondary?

 

[LandoAllen]

The "Instant Mulling Spice" I have contains sugar and dextrose. For that reason, I wonder about putting it in the secondary. Do you still recommend adding it to the secondary?

Do you know how much sugar is contained in the amount you were wanting to add? And as long as you aren't worried about the abv being a bit higher then I see no reason not to go ahead and use it in the secondary.

 

[Newsman]

I do not have any idea how much sugar is in it. All I know is that it's "Instant Mulling Spice" by Urban Accents. Heck, I dont' even know if it's powder or whole spices... And I am NOT concerned about the ABV either way.

 

[LandoAllen]

Cinnamon cider - 12/27/12

2 tsp Bentonite

Got a fair ammount of gas out.

1/20/13
Racked to a fermenter bucket.
Added 2 gallons of cider.
Added 1 tsp pectic enzyme.

A few questions... How was the clarity with the bentonite? I've never actually used that product but I've seen it at my brew store. Did you cold crash any?

When you say you got a fair amount of gas out are you talking about CO2?

Why did you rack back into a fermenter bucket? Did you not bottle or keg it?

And what is the purpose of adding pectin to your brew at the beginning like you did? I've only ever heard of trying to get rid of pectin for haziness reasons.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

A few questions... How was the clarity with the bentonite? I've never actually used that product but I've seen it at my brew store. Did you cold crash any?

When you say you got a fair amount of gas out are you talking about CO2?

Why did you rack back into a fermenter bucket? Did you not bottle or keg it?

And what is the purpose of adding pectin to your brew at the beginning like you did? I've only ever heard of trying to get rid of pectin for haziness reasons.

I use bentonite in all my wines, both as a clarfiying agent and to creat lattice structure for my yeast during fermentation. I don't cold crash due to a lack of refridgerator space, but I think its a concept i'd love to try one day.

I was talking about co2. I tend to not degas my cider as I like a bit of 'spritz'.

I racked back to a bucket due to the size of the batch. After backsweetening, I have a 7.5 gallon batch. Far too big for my modest 6 gal carboys! I plan to rack again before bottling.

I added pectic enzyme at the beginning and at backsweetening time. This allows the enzyme time to break up, and settle out the pectin from my cider. Combined with the Bentonite, I get good results with less time waiting to bottle. My last batch was crystal clear and ready to bottle within a month after I racked it to carboy.