I was in the grocery store last week and saw apple juice on sale, so on a whim I bought 5 gallons of the stuff knowing I had an empty fermenting pail at home. So, I dumped all the juice in the bucket, pitched a package of S04 yeast with some yeast nutrient, and sealed it up. The airlock has been bubbling well, so fermentation seems to be good!
However....
I really have no idea what I'm doing to finish it. I've read a bunch of threads (thanks for everyone's input!) and Youtube videos, but there doesn't seem to be any tried-and-true rules of thumb that I can discern. So, to get very basic, I need to know:
1) How long should I let the cider ferment before bottling?
2) I plan to bottle condition the cider, so how much dextrose should I add? (or should I use more apple juice to condition?)
At this point I don't care about back sweetening or adding things like cinnamon, I just want to see how it turns out on my first attempt at cider.
Thanks in advance!
However....
I really have no idea what I'm doing to finish it. I've read a bunch of threads (thanks for everyone's input!) and Youtube videos, but there doesn't seem to be any tried-and-true rules of thumb that I can discern. So, to get very basic, I need to know:
1) How long should I let the cider ferment before bottling?
2) I plan to bottle condition the cider, so how much dextrose should I add? (or should I use more apple juice to condition?)
At this point I don't care about back sweetening or adding things like cinnamon, I just want to see how it turns out on my first attempt at cider.
Thanks in advance!