been gone a while, have a question or two.

Hello Homebrew Talk! I hope you all have been well over the last two years.

When last e met, I had made some cyser.

I combined 2 packs of EC118, 15 pounds of honey and topped it off with lots of juice.

It bubbled away for 6 months. The weather changed, so I moved it to my cool basement.

Well, it is clearing well, but, for the last 6 months, I have bubbles, and the airlock is all the way up.

Yes, fermentation is still active.

The color is beautiful, it has gotten a lot more clear. I just want to rack it, add my pouch of vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks and cloves, but not while it's still working.

So, my question, should it still be working?

Whats the total volume ?

Have you taken a gravity reading ?

What, if any, nutrients were used ?

Have you tested/checked the pH ?

I believe the starting was about 1.124. No nutrient, in a full 6 gallon carboy. I didn't test it because I don't want to risk contamination.

I could sterilize the wine thief and check it today.

selfdestructed said:

I believe the starting was about 1.124. No nutrient, in a full 6 gallon carboy. I didn't test it because I don't want to risk contamination.

I could sterilize the wine thief and check it today.

Click to expand...

I'd do that. You probably have high enough alcohol levels right now to not worry about contamination anyway. But knowing the gravity is an important step.

you may not necessarily be seeing fermentation, especially if it's already cleared...it may just be dissolved CO2 coming out of solution if it is warming up slightly.

Check the gravity....then check it again in a week...if it's not changing, you can rack it. You could leave it for some more time if it's not fully cleared; I try to have things nearly to fully cleared before I move it...

Okay. I will do that. I am off for a couple days coming up. It's not totally clear, but it has cleared nicely.

I wanted to leave it until it was completely clear. Really, I want to add the clove, vanilla and cinnamon sticks.

I should leave them in the cider for a few weeks eh? I was going to break them up, wrap them in a coffee filter, and tie the filter shut with sterile silk sutures. Suspend it in the mead, take it out in a month, and let it sit until it is crystal clear, then bottle it in wine bottles.

Additions in secondary are to taste...I'd think about checking it weekly to see how the flavor is developing so you don't accidentally over do it.....

Well, as it seems like you've made the cyser equivalent of a "show mead" it'd still likely be safer if you checked the gravity now before doing anything else.

Even racking could provide enough movement for it to start refermenting.

While spices don't generally provide much in the way of nutrient, caution is still a sensible idea, because the lack of nutrient initially means it may still have some way to go, and as even completely clear batches have yeast cells present unless they've been "sterile" filtered and getting it into bottles presents a hazard.

Bottle bombs are no fun.......

If there is still room for it to ferment, then stabilising may be necessary........