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Post by imaretiree on Oct 10, 2018 11:45:04 GMT -5
This is my first attempt at cider. Started at 1.046. I used WL300. It has been 11 days, the airlock isn't bubbling. I tested the gravity and it is 0.999.
1) I have read everything from once it reaches terminal gravity you should let the yeast clean up things for another week, and others say you should let it go for months. What has worked for everyone else?
2) I'm kegging and looking to back sweeten to medium sweetness. I've read where you can halt the yeast simply by cold crashing and others say you need to use potassium sorbate to stop the yeast from fermenting anything in the back sweetener. What have you done?
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Post by Alex Bullock on Oct 10, 2018 12:14:09 GMT -5
Hey Tony, I don't brew many ciders and have no experience back sweetening, but here are my thoughts anyways:
1)I'm on board with letting it sit in primary for a week or two or three until the cider cleans up, but ciders are just as susceptible to off flavours caused by autolysis as beer (Autolysis is when yeast cells die and basically rupture and expel their innards). Autolysis is only a risk if left on the primary yeast cake for extended periods of time, so if it's not tasting clean after about a month I would rack into another vessel to continue aging. I think a lot of people age ciders for long periods of time but they generally rack into other vessels multiple times, similar to how you would with a home-made wine kit (the yeast cake is referred to as "lees" in wine)
2)Depending on how cold your keezer is and how quickly you intend to drink the cider, I'd keep it simple and dump the juice into the keg once it's cold and clear. There is definitely a chance it could continue to ferment slowly but it should be fairly stable if left cold in the keezer. Adding potassium sorbate will more or less guarantee it won't continue to ferment, but in my opinion it's not super critical.
That all being said I'm hoping someone who brews more cider than me will respond.
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Post by imaretiree on Oct 11, 2018 14:36:11 GMT -5
Thanks Alex.
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Post by keegan on Oct 13, 2018 15:17:51 GMT -5
In my experience I kegged the cider about a week after fermentation was finished. I usually have a lot of sulphur in my ciders that rounds out over time. Took about 6 months to really get to where i enjoyed them.
As far as backsweetening, I would use sulphites to stun the yeast, or i would backsweeten with lactose (non-fermentable by sacc.) If it's always going to be cold, I wouldn't even worry about it as the yeast will likely be too sleepy to do anything.
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Post by dannyb on Oct 18, 2018 16:13:06 GMT -5
This is my fifth year brewing cider (12 batches so far). What I end up doing is using dry yeast and letting it ferment until it hits around 1.000 (but it depends on taste). I then use wine two part clarifier to drop the haze.
I've tried cold crashing to the point of freezing it solid, as well as Camden, but I can never get full termination of yeast and it keeps fermenting in the keg. I just accept it as is (which tends to be dry and tart).
I suggest just using something to drop the haze and get drinking. I've made two batches and left one in a carbon for months and it never drops as clear as using a clarifier.
I'm new to brewing beer so I'm going to borrow the gelatin fining technique to see how it handles the cider clarity problems on my next batch.
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