Yeasty cider - best option?

Roktzar · Feb 16, 2018

hi all,

I'm sure this is a question you get a lot from newbies, but here goes.

I've just brewed a cider mix, been fermenting for 6 days and gravity has dropped from 1.043 to 0.985. I haven't taken a second FG reading yet (tomorrow) but the airlock has been still for at least 2 days, so given the ABV is at 7.5%, I'm assuming it's done fermenting. Will be certain tomorrow though.

But... a cheeky taste reveals it's a little on the yeasty side - so being new to this, I'm wondering if I'm better off leaving it in the fermenter for a while longer or bottling it now and then letting it age... thoughts? Also, not super keen for it to get any harder alcohol wise than it already is.

Please note I live in Australia, the brew has been at about 30 Celsius since I put it on and I'm about as remote as you can get so popping up to the shop to get gear (eg a second fermenter) is not an option.

Cheers!

frankvw · Feb 16, 2018

Your bubbler shows no more glooping but that doesn't mean your yeast is now completely inactive. It may still produce minute quantities of CO2 which keeps it in suspension. (Yeast cells "sweat" tiny bubbles of CO2 which cling to the outside of the yeast cells and act as flotation devices, keeping the yeast in suspension). I'd give it another two days at least.

If your yeast has indeed gone dormant but takes forever to drop out of suspension (this is usually the case with yeast strains that have tiny cells and are therefore less flocculant) you have a few options.

1. Add a flocculant (the usual suspects: gelatine, agar-agar, or even bentonite clay powder, the latter being the weapon of choice in winemaking) and give it a few days;

2. Cold crash it by refrigerating your fermenter to about 1-2 degrees above freezing;

3. Don't worry about it and wait for the yeast to settle in the bottle while your cider matures.

It is not uncommon for beverages that are just finishing (or have just finished) fermenting to be cloudy. But time heals all wounds, and pretty much clears all beers and ciders.

madscientist451 · Feb 16, 2018

If you don't need the fermenter, just let it sit. The downside of bottling with a lot of yeast is that you have to be careful when you pour the cider, or you'll stir up the yeast in the bottom.
Another concern is that once the cider is bottled, its difficult to make any adjustments. So its really better to let the yeast settle out and see what it tastes like.
If you need to free up the fermenter, you could siphon the cider to gallon jugs and age in that before final bottling.

Roktzar · Feb 16, 2018

Thanks for the advise. The fermenter doesn't need using for anything else - so how long would you recommend leaving it in there until bottling in an ideal world? I know patience can be key to a good brew.

RM-MN · Feb 16, 2018

Roktzar said:
Thanks for the advise. The fermenter doesn't need using for anything else - so how long would you recommend leaving it in there until bottling in an ideal world? I know patience can be key to a good brew.

The ideal world doesn't exist so the next best thing is how long is your patience. The longer you leave the cider in the fermenter the more yeast will settle out. By 2 weeks in the fermenter a lot more yeast will have settled. From then on yeast will continue to settle but at an ever decreasing amount. By week 4 you won't be seeing much improvement each week. By 6 months enough may have settled the you need to add yeast back to get the cider to carbonate. Hope this helps.