Apple Cider - My First batch.

[KeggerJoe]

This is my first batch of Hard Apple Cider and I started off with the following ingredients.

5 Gallons of Mott's 100% Apple Juice (Pasteurized)
4lbs of brown sugar
1 Package of Red Star Active Dry Yeast

12\16\13
I sanitized everything with a one step solution.
I dissolved the sugar in about a gallon of Apple Juice by warming it up to about 160 F.

I added it to the 5 gallon Carboy first then added the remaining apple juice to the carboy. I recommend using a 6 gallon carboy or a bucket at first. Mine ended up spilling over once the yeast took off.

I was a Dummy and forgot to check the SG at the beginning.

1\8\14
I decided that I needed to check where it was sitting. So I moved the carboy to the counter and siphoned off a test tube after sanitizing everything. Today's SG reading is 1.04 but its still bubbling so I am going to let it go for another week. I tasted it out of the test tube after checking the SG it tastes like a nice apple beer. I think if I let it go, I can get it down to 1.00 which is my goal. There is a good amount of "Gunk" on the bottom, I may siphon it off into 1 gallon jugs as a secondary.

What is the best method to get this to clear? I have some Bentonite, will that work? Or should I use something different?

[bonehead]

be patient if it's still fermenting it's not done. it will clear when it is done. if you rack it to another container when it stops bubbleing it will help it clear but i wouldn't use a bunch of small containers.

[KeggerJoe]

I checked my SG last night and its at .980. Its time to bottle. If I add 4 tubes of apple juice concentrate to back sweeten, do I still add priming sugar?

[John Barleycorn]

I was a Dummy and forgot to check the SG at the beginning.
<SNIP>
What is the best method to get this to clear? I have some Bentonite, will that work? Or should I use something different?

Most store bought AJ is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.047 +/- 0.005, and you probably got an extra 30 points or so from the brown sugar for that size batch. So your OG was probably in the 1.075 - 1.080 range.

Cider/applewine can be downright stubborn sometimes. I've used both bentonite and sparkolloid. Most of the information I've read recommends bentonite for fermented AJ, but I've found that sparkolloid works best for me. The two have different charges ... so you might think that one would work MUCH better than the other ... but I haven't found that to be the case. They've both gotten the job done.

If you're going to run this through your rig, just let it sit as bonehead suggested ... put it somewhere cold. No need for it to be perfectly clear. However, if you're going to bottle then the clearing agents can help to get that crystal clear look in less time ... you'll want to degas BEFORE you add the agent. In any case, with (clear) store bought juice, it'll eventually clear on its own given enough time.

[John Barleycorn]

Sorry, didn't see your last post ... o you're going to bottle & back sweeten ... and you want it carbonated.

This can get a little dicey since you need the yeast to continue fermenting (to carbonate) but it seems you want the cider to be at least somewhat sweet. This mean you'll need to stop the fermentation when you've reached the appropriate carbonation level ... and you'll need enough sugar to get to your target carbonations level & still have some left over for the sweetness.

Right now, you're bone dry. So that might make things easier to calculate. You have a few options:

• You can stabilize, sweeten and force carbonate.
• You can stabilize, sweeten and server over carbonated water.
• You can use a non-fermentable sweetener (e.g. - splenda) for the sweetness, and priming sugar for the carbonation. I've never used splenda. Some cider makers report that it works fine. Other have complained that you get that funky phoney taste. I don't know.
• You can sweeten to taste, then add a calculated amount of priming sugar. When you've reached the desired carbonation level, you can then pasteurize in the bottle.

I'm not convinced of the safety of the last option and have never tried myself, but it's on my bucket list and I have read that others have been successful. Basically, you have to monitor the carbonation level by popping a bottle and testing every so often. When you reach the magic point, you pasteurize (in the bottle) with a hot water bath (190 F for 10 minutes). The bath is prepared in a large stockpot. Bring the water to 190 F, turn off the heat, then place a few bottles in for 10 minutes, with the lid on. Carefully remove the bottles and let the cool. Meanwhile you bring the temp back up to 190 F, secure the heat, and do the next several bottles ... and so on ... and so on. The cider will reach a high enough temperature to complete pasteurization (the yeast will be killed), but apparently not high enough to affect the flavor (at least not much).

[KeggerJoe]

Well Its all bottled up. I took a glass off the bottom of the bucket when I was done filling bottles. I was left wanting another glass. I primed with 3.7oz of priming sugar, i took the number off a calculator i found on the net.

I ended up with about 30 22oz bottles. I'm letting it carb up now. I hope its ready for the weekend!

[NZChris]

In my experience, if you start with clear juice, it will clear without any help. That might be different with brown sugar added. The juice I get is around 14% sugar and I don't add anything but yeast. I just add the yeast to the bottle and airlock it. It overflows a little, so I put a tray under it.

My batches are small enough that I can refrigerate the entire batch to halt carbonation.

The only batch of carbonated drink (not cider) I made with brown sugar was rather unsavory and I have never used it since.

[humbledore]

Bottle carbonation takes several weeks. And I hire you did not back sweeten and add bottling sugar both. You'll have some bottle bombs on your hands.

[NZChris]

I start cracking mine for a listen at about four days. Usually finished and in the fridge in a week.

[KeggerJoe]

Today is day three and its starting to show carbonation already. I'll check it tomorrow.

[John Barleycorn]

I [hope] you did not back sweeten and add bottling sugar both. You'll have some bottle bombs on your hands.

From 0.980 to semi-sweet plus primer could indeed cause some excitement.

Joe, if you added the concentrate plus the priming sugar, do keep a close eye on things & try to cold crash asap once you hit your carbonation target.