Will I ruin my Cider?

[Thenewguy87]

This is my first brew of anything so I am a little over exited to try it out and give it a taste test, it fermented in primary for 5 and has been in second fermentation for 6 days I am wondering if I take the fermentation lock off funnel some cider out will it spoil the whole batch?

 

[Hankhill11]

I'm new enough as well, but i think i can still answer.

As long as everything is sanitized before it touches the cider you should be fine. You should get use to taking samples to read specific gravity anyway, so removing air lock for a bit to draw samples isn't a major issue.

sanitize the tubing or turkey baster inside and out, re sanitize the bung and air lock before replacing. i wouldn't dump any juice back in if you can help it either.

 

[dude_brewery]

I'm new enough as well, but i think i can still answer.

As long as everything is sanitized before it touches the cider you should be fine. You should get use to taking samples to read specific gravity anyway, so removing air lock for a bit to draw samples isn't a major issue.

sanitize the tubing or turkey baster inside and out, re sanitize the bung and air lock before replacing. i wouldn't dump any juice back in if you can help it either.

Hankhill is spot on. Sanitize everything that goes into the cider, ideally letting it soak in Starsan or a similar solution for several minutes to allow time for any contaminants to be killed off.
Dump or drink the pulled off sample, do not return it to your cider.
Wipe off the bung and airlock if there's any gunk or krausen stuck to it, and then have it sanitizing while you are pulling your sample.

 

[bucketnative]

The best answer here might be patience. Cider can taste awful when it is in the early stages of fermentation, and 11 days is fairly early for cider.

 

[dmtaylor]

+1 for patience. It's not ready yet. Give it another week. It will just taste like fizzy apple juice at this point. Tasty, but not finished.

 

[TeeJo]

I have had pretty good tasting results from the ciders I have made, to the extent that several batches have not actually survived long enough to reach bottling.

There are some interesting flavors that develop over the time it is in the fermenting vessel. Well worth trying it to see.

As far as ruining it, consider that cider has been made for centuries in barrels with either a wooden lid or a clean(ish) bedsheet or similar cloth for a cover.

While some paranoia about cleanliness is merited, it gets rather more attention than perhaps it needs, as far as worry goes.

Try to remember that the apples were sitting outside, the whole time they grew, subject to wind, weather, and blown dust containing who-knows-what.

Not saying that some care is not merited, just that worry likely isn't.


TeeJo

 

[60acresbrewclub]

use a wort thief if you have one...idealy you want to keep as little head space as possble in secondary.

 

[Thenewguy87]

Thanks alot everyone you have helped me understand more about this proccess, I had some last night and it was suprising stronger than I thought and it did kinda taste like fizzy apple juice but alot more bitter, I did make the mistake of letting the cider in the funnel drop back into the carboy and I didnt sanitize the bottom of the plug but I placed it on a clean tissue just in case. Some of the water in the bubbler dropped into the carboy too but I don't think I have to much to worry about thanks to everyones input. I guess ill get a musk grabber too. Thanks everyone 😊 Cheers🍻

 

[ericbw]

I would wait *at least* 2 weeks with cider before tasting it. Probably longer really.

If this is your first batch, there are two approaches. 1) do everything properly so that you get a good result, then begin trying things on later batches when you know a little better how it works, OR 2) try things on this batch and don't worry if you mess it up. There's always the next batch to perfect things.

 

[Birchrun_brewery]

Even if you do ruin it,( which I doubt will happen because of all these wonderfully knowledgable and beautiful contributors who frequent this forum, ) I will still drink it. And being that it is of your creation you will probably love it and drink it to if you're anything like me. I've made some pretty off beers before that I was too embarrassed to share with anyone else, but I don't have the heart to dump bottles, unless I'm dumping them down my throat.