I emptied five one gallon jugs of fresh pressed apple cider that was cold pasteurized (was told by farm that it was suitable for hard cider nothing extra added) into a 6 gallon plastic brew bucket last Tues 10/28. I added a whole packet of Lalvin yeast and nothing else. The starting gravity on the hydrometer was 1.050. Today is 11/6 so it has been six days. I saw some bubble "glugs" from the airlock but not very active like some of the sites say that it is constant. It maybe gives a bubble every 10 minutes or so. It is in a room at about 65-68 degrees. Should I open the bucket and test the gravity again now or wait longer. Should I transfer to another 6 gallon bucket to remove lees and let sit to continue fermenting with the airlock in?
Stuck fermenation
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number40fan
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The bad thing about cider is the waiting. Wait.
LOL okay thanks, so how long should I wait until I put into secondary fermentation? Until the bubbles stop completely? I don't want to expose to air until I am supposed to. This is my first attempt at homebrewing and I read all I could find before I attempted but am still confused what to do now (besides wait lol).
LOL okay thanks, so how long should I wait until I put into secondary fermentation? Until the bubbles stop completely? I don't want to expose to air until I am supposed to. This is my first attempt at homebrewing and I read all I could find before I attempted but am still confused what to do now (besides wait lol).
I rack the cider when the SG is under 1.010 or so. You can wait a bit longer if you'd like and no harm will come to it, but moving it by siphon is safe to do and you don't have to worry about exposing it to air to do that. It's ok in a bucket for a while, even with a wide headspace, but not too long as once fermentation stops, the protective c02 above the cider in the headspace dissipates. Once that happens, you'll want to rack to a carboy (NOT a bucket!) and reduce headspace. If you don't have a carboy, you will want to bottle it as a bucket with a wide headspace will allow oxidation of the cider.
Okay thanks that is helpful but how do I test the SG without opening the lid? Do I remove the airlock and siphon out some through that hole? I have an empty blue 5 gallon water jug that I could sanitize with a car bung and air lock for secondary fermentation is that better than moving to another 6 gal bucket.
True dat! I always use a starter. I then can shake it or swirl it for a day to make sure the yeast is rockin'. Not much waiting after that.
I agree with racking after 1.010 but don't go testing a lot. Every time you lose the CO2 covering your cider and possibly introduce bacteria.
I wait til activity slows alot or if I added the fruit the fruit starts looking gray and bloated.
Wait wait wait - u will be rewarded. 6, 9 mos. or even a year in the secondary.
Open the lid, use a sanitized turkey baster, put the sample in the test jar, and then close it back up. Then take your reading.
I don't use water jugs, but if you absolutely cannot get an appropriately sized carboy, then you'd be ok sort term I"m sure. NEVER use a bucket for a secondary. You'd be better off bottling than siphoning to a bucket with that much wide headspace when fermentation ends.
