To Rack.. or not to rack.. cider

[Mermaid]

I'm 2 weeks into my first batch of hard cider. 3 gallons. Done fermenting (took a hydro reading, it's at 1.01).

It's sitting in a 5 gallon carboy, and all I have for secondary vessels is a 6 gallon carboy and a 5 gallon plastic bucket.

Is it okay to leave this thing on the yeast cake for another few weeks, should I bottle it, or go get another container with less head space to rack it to?

I've left my beer 4-6 weeks in the primary with no ill effects, but working with cider I wasn't sure if racking to secondary was a requirement or not.

 

[HappyWino]

I ran into the same thing just this weekend, I have a kegging setup so I just purged the head space with CO2, is this an option?

Cheers

HW

 

[Mermaid]

I ran into the same thing just this weekend, I have a kegging setup so I just purged the head space with CO2, is this an option?

Cheers

HW

Sadly, no. If I need to get it off the yeast I'll just leave it another week then just rack it to a few 1 gallon glass jugs I have laying around (just need to pick up airlocks for them - wont be able to get to the HBS until then)

 

[HappyWino]

What are the next steps in your plans? Are you going to cold crash it, add any clarifiers/clearing agents, backsweeten, bottle carb, etc?

Cheers

HW

 

[Mermaid]

Next steps are back-sweeten some with xylitol, bottle carb all.

I don't really have a place to cold crash it.

thanks

 

[Devo9]

Have you used xylitol before? You might want to be careful using it. It can have some unpleasent side effects (simmilar to that of Ex-Lax). Just a warning!

 

[Mermaid]

Have you used xylitol before? You might want to be careful using it. It can have some unpleasent side effects (simmilar to that of Ex-Lax). Just a warning!

mmmmyeah. I actually use it to sweeten my coffee - I know it can have an interesting effect when used in excess. I suppose I will experiment and save the xylitol bottles for myself

 

[Mermaid]

Follow up...

Put 2 gallons into 1 gallon jugs with airlocks and tucked them into my closet that stays at a fairly moderate / cool temp depending on how cold it is outside (an un-insulated closet). Put the rest into some flip top bottles, with some apple juice concentrate for yeast food, and tucked those into the closet to let them carb and age.

I'm going to start another 3 gallons of cider with the Lalvin E-1118 yeast, and then experiment with the 2 batches - maybe blend them. heh.. gotta love having access to locally produced, very yummy fresh apple cider w/o any preservatives.

 

[Rockape66]

At 1.010 S.G. your cider probably isn't done fermenting yet. Give it about 3 or 4 days and check again. I don't even look at my cider until it has been in primary for a month. Then I rack into glass and watch for clearing. I don't bottle until I no longer get sediment after a week or two. Then I backsweeten with stevia, prime with raw honey, and bottle.

 

[Mermaid]

Yeah, I decided I would test a small amount so I filled a few 500ml flip tops and racked the rest to 1 gallon jugs - 3 weeks in the primary and the cider was at 1.000.

I am not going to touch the 2 gallons in the brew closet until they've been there at least a month.