Very 1st Gallon of Cider Seems to have slowed substantially after 7 days

[ADHD426]

A week ago almost exactly I started my cider. I used an organic juice with 0 additives. I added 1/4 cup of Old Time apple juice concentrate which put me right about 1.06. Initially I used about a gram of the Safcider and I added the pectin stuff to make it clear too. The next morning I upped it to 2.5g total of yeast, its been between 64-69 in the house.

Day 2-4 it was bubbling like crazy, over 1 per second. The last day or two it has really slowed down, it is at 1 bubble every 8 seconds or so. I bought some yeast nutrient. Should I add that? Should I open and take a gravity reading? Is it bad to open it? Do I mix it up a bit? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Andrew

 

[ebbelwoi]

Don't add any nutrient now. That goes in at the beginning. Your cider is probably almost finished. After the bubbling slows even more, maybe 1 per 20-30 seconds (likely in a day or two), ppen it to take a gravity reading, but don't mix it up.

Also, there's a dedicated cider forum you might want to check out!

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

7 days of primary ferment, sounds about right to me

 

[KaiB]

What Gene says; it's doing fine.

 

[ADHD426]

What Gene says; it's doing fine.

Ok, so I just transferred it to secondary fermentation. I started at 1.06 and I'm basically at 1.00 now. I tasted it at this point and I know it will get better but it wasn't that bad. How long does everyone usually let it mellow in the secondary before bottling? I am planning on adding some sugar at bottling and then pasteurizing so I can keep some sweetness and carbonation.

 

[Justwingnit]

Ok, so I just transferred it to secondary fermentation. I started at 1.06 and I'm basically at 1.00 now. I tasted it at this point and I know it will get better but it wasn't that bad. How long does everyone usually let it mellow in the secondary before bottling? I am planning on adding some sugar at bottling and then pasteurizing so I can keep some sweetness and carbonation.

I have started serving my basic Cider as young as two weeks. I have some that is over a year old and a batch that I just piched the yeast into on Tusday. It is up to you and the tast. I have been making cider for about 14 months and I just opened the last bottle of my first batch and I can't really say it was worth the wait. It was good but it was good three weeks after I made it too. One batch i made about 4 months ago was real tart so it has been just sitting i may try it again this weekend.

Good luck and have fun

 

[KaiB]

I let mine go one to two months in secondary, bottle up with AJC and then give them a month at 70F before they go into the cool room.

At that point, they are good, but I do find 6 months to be the sweet spot.