When should primary stop?

[DaGilb]

Hi,

Got two batches of pressed mixed wild apples (1.052 at start) that were going in 5 gal buckets. No sulfiting. One with EC-1118 Champagne , the other with nothing. Both got to 1.020 in 8 days, the wild slower. I transferred both to glass carboys and they are happily dropping sediments. Both already Tasty!

My question is:

What are the best criteria to judge time to interrupt primary and siphon to secondary? Gravity? Bubbling action?
Being new to this, I was a bit nervous about contamination in the bucket, despite the sealed top, once foaming (nice thick brown cake-like that I removed) had receded.

Next: Experiment with 100% crabapple

Comments welcome!

 

[mgayer]

Best answer leave it alone for a few weeks. Rack it when there is absolutly no more activity and it has become clear. Cider is a bit different than wine or meads. Just keep them in the carboy and don't expose to O2. The 1118 will form very nice compact lees and be easy to rack over for aging.

I keep mine in the primary until no more activity is visible and it has cleared nicely. Usually the clearing has happened before all activity has ceased. I have 4 one gallon jugs that have finally finished completely. It has been almost a month but it is time to rack over into other jugs for aging. If more lees start droping then I will rack as necessary until crystal clear. Don't rush it!

If it was wine it would be about time to rack as secondary fermentation has a long way to go. Cinder's secondary fermentation is happening almost immediately. When the airlock goes on it uses what O2 it has in the liquid and starts converting sugar to Alch. Every time you rack you will give it a bit more O2 by exposure and in the racking process. Not lots of sugar in cider so you want it to convert as soon as possible.

I would be glad to hear how the the crabapple test goes!