neat trick

[hikfromstik]

Been experimenting with ciders and I discovered a trick while I was trying to add flavor. I just finished fermenting a half gallon of apple cider . I thought I would add some corn syrup to make a bit sweeter. Well since I cold crashed it the syrup went straight to bottom and coated the lees . I put back in fridge over night snd next morning I poured into another jug and to my surprise all of the lees were glued to the bottom under a coating of syrup. I finished pouring and put the "racked" cider back in fridge to get any left over yeast . 24hrs later I looked at the bottom of jug and there was no lees at all. So I will try again later but, I may have found a way to pour and not have to rack. I dont know exact amount of corn syrup I used , but I would say it was around 2 tablespoons. Im new to wine /cider making so for all I know this may be an old trick.

[bellybuster]

a cool trick indeed, I've suffered clogged coffee filters many times doing ciders. Will give this a try next time

[bcboyz86]

That is a really cool trick. What kind of yeast did you use for the cider?

[MountainWilliam Bill]

This could be troublesome if doing more than just a 1/2 gallon and using a glass carboy. My concern is the cleaning of the vessel for the next batch...that's why a controlled syphoning is used instead of gluing the lees to the bottom.

Was the corn syrup and lees mixture easy to clean out?

[bellybuster]

I imagine some warm water would take it right out.

[bcboyz86]

Or some hot water... Just fill it upba good chunk, then it should disolve or at least melt the corn syrup enought to let it slosh around and then dump it.

[hikfromstik]

This could be troublesome if doing more than just a 1/2 gallon and using a glass carboy. My concern is the cleaning of the vessel for the next batch...that's why a controlled syphoning is used instead of gluing the lees to the bottom.

Was the corn syrup and lees mixture easy to clean out?

Hot water dissolves the syrup great.

[hikfromstik]

That is a really cool trick. What kind of yeast did you use for the cider?

Red star pasture champagne yeast. Same as ec-118 I think. Next time im gonna try a different type wine yeast. It gave a bit of sulfur smell , but it taste ok other wise .

[bronzdragon]

Interesting trick. I've found over the years that the best way to add some apple flavoring back or sweeten up the finished cider is to just add some unfermented apple juice at the end before kegging. If you're bottling, you can still do this, but do not add any priming sugar as the apple juice will do the job. If you add juice and priming sugar, you'll be asking for some apple bombs.

Cheers

~bd~

[bcboyz86]

That's what I was kinda wondering about. If treetop juice isn't very good to ferment because it has preservatives and stuff in it, then it would be pretty good to use for adding juice without a lot more sugar right? Or does processed juice ferment just like regular sugar does even with the chemicals?

[bronzdragon]

I've used Motts juice mostly but tried some various store brands and they all seem to ferment out ok. I'm aware of the warnings against perservatives and generally stay away from them, but I haven't had a problem with the apple juice. As I said, I think adding the juice in at the end is the best way to sweeten it up. But I keg and don't have to worry about exploding bottles. I generally do 5 gallons worth in the ferment and at the end before kegging, add a 1/2 gallon of regular apple juice back in to sweeten it up. Also, a good strong ale yeast is the best way to go, champagne yeast drys it out way too much.

~bd~

[Dnderhead]

"does processed juice ferment"
it can, many of the preservatives work as "birth control"and does not kill yeast.

[rgarry]

I also add juice to back sweeten. I use ec 1118 and I know if finishes dry but I end up getting 1-2% higher ABV and I just use more apple juice or concentrate to sweeten. I have also used some artificial sweetner which works great and if you are going to bottle then don't need to work about bottles exploding. I let my cider sit for 6 months and its so hard to figure out if I will keg it or bottle it that far in advanced.

[bcboyz86]

How would you figure out the carbonation? Just test the SG and figure out how much carbonation comes from a certain amount of sugar content?

[rgarry]

It's hard when not kegged. If I bottle a cider, I always bottle one in a plastic bottle and when it gets really firm, I put all the glasses bottles in the frig. If you know how much sugar you can calculate it but more hassle than I will deal with. This is why in the end I keg them. Other option is let carb for 3 wks, then pasteurize to kill the yeast.