Starting a new batch of cider?

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davevg

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Hello. Virgin brewer here lol. I popped my apple last week..lol.... I have some hard cider started in a 5 gal carboy with EC-1118. I started it at 1.080 SG. It's been going for almost a week and bubbling like crazy. I’m thinking on starting another. Question, Can I take some from the first carboy to start the second?

Thanks
Dave
 
I will be going to the brew store today. I’ll most likely by some yeast today. What would you guys and gals suggest for a sweeter cider with maybe around 10-12 %alcohol?
 
A cider at 10-12% itself is going to be pretty dry, I would suggest some Red Star Cotes De Blanc for yeast, which leaves a bit more of the fruit flavor and aroma behind and then before bottling add lactose to sweeten to taste. This will probably be your best bet.
 
To get a sweeter still cider I like to ferment to dryness at about .0996 and add potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite to avoid restarting fermentation, to aid in preservation, and to keep the color intact and then add some frozen apple juice concentrate straight from the can. It adds sweetness and also adds additional apple flavor.
 
Usually there are various size cans measured in ounces. How much apple juice concentrate is recommended for a five gallon batch for mild sweetness? I know this is kind of up to the individual, but I would hate to try this and oversweeten. Thanks.
 
Thanks summersolstice. So if I understand you right I should take it down to .996 - 1.000. I should stop the fermentation and add apple juice concentrate until the desired sweetness is reached. Should I do anything to it during the first racking? I’m assuming the concentrate is added after killing the fermentation just before bottling. Will I still be able to carbonate some of it? Oh ya, and do people keg this stuff?

mr_stimey thanks. I will give that a try down the road. I already bought 2 more packs of EC-1118 per the sales person advice. I’m about to start a batch of hard lemonade using this yeast.

Thanks
Dave
 
you can keg cider if you keg you can force carb. stopping the fermentation with the additives will not allow you to natural carb
 
Sorry for all these questions. Will kegging carbonate it? I have read several posts on carbonating and still can not seem to grasp it. There’s carbonation pills stop fermenting keep fermenting and bottle etc. etc. etc. I don’t expect you to explain it all as I’m sure most are sick of explaining it over and over. But if there’s a thread that maybe I missed that goes in depth maybe you could just steer me that way I would greatly appreciate it.

Dave VG
 
I will leave the keg info to someone else. When you carb in the bottle you introduce a little bit of sugar for the yeasties to feed on and produce CO2. Carbonation drops or corn sugar work well. WARNING: nontechnical explanation ahead. Since the bottle is capped the CO2 produced by the yeast can not escape and goes into the liquid. However in the process of carbing the cider the hungry yeasties will eat all the sugar you put in the cider so it will still be dry. If you kill the poor little yeasties by adding potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite and then sweeten it it will be sweeter BUT there will be no carbonation because you have killed the yeasties that worked so hard for you and made you the drink of the gods.

SO, if you are going to bottle carb then you need to back sweeten with non-fermentable sugars like Lactose, or Splenda
 
SO, if you are going to bottle carb then you need to back sweeten with non-fermentable sugars like Lactose, or Splenda

See this is where I get lost. My brain says fermentable sugar to feed yeast to carbonate during bottling not non-fermentable. Fermentation is what causes carbonation right? Or is this where my thinking goes south …lol….
 
Yes fermenting causes CO2. If you add a non-fermentable sugar for sweetness and a fermentalble sugar for CO2 (plus a tiny ABV boost), you will be able to both sweeten and bottle condition.
If you want to use something like more apple juice to sweeten, you will need to kill the yeast, but you will not be able to bottle condition. The is then the possibily of forcr carbing in a keg...
 
Gotcha! Man I’m so stupid!! That just did not compute for some reason. Thanks for the help and I DO understand it now yahoooo.
 
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