Just made my first batch of hard cider, well in the process. Camden tablets, then yeast, five gallons cider, 2lbs brown sugar in a 6.5 gallon bucket for about a week now and it is bubbling away on the airlock.
Questions:
I plan to transfer to a glass carboy soon. How long should I wait to do this? Should I wait until almost all activity has stopped, or just slowed a lot/ How do you know when to transfer it?
The second thing is that I wanted to also add raisins but not to increase alcohol. I would like some sweetness to my cider in the end, so my feeling is that I should not add more sugar now in fermentation. Is this right? If I add raisins in the second phase, in the carboy, will that make it sweeter, or just increase alcohol too? What can I add at the end to make it sweeter when I bottle? How much for five gallons of cider?
Thanks for any help!
Questions:
I plan to transfer to a glass carboy soon. How long should I wait to do this? Should I wait until almost all activity has stopped, or just slowed a lot/ How do you know when to transfer it?
The second thing is that I wanted to also add raisins but not to increase alcohol. I would like some sweetness to my cider in the end, so my feeling is that I should not add more sugar now in fermentation. Is this right? If I add raisins in the second phase, in the carboy, will that make it sweeter, or just increase alcohol too? What can I add at the end to make it sweeter when I bottle? How much for five gallons of cider?
Thanks for any help!