How long do you leave your cider for?

[aurora_colony_cider]

Hello everyone.

I'm about to get my commercial license to start making cider for reals and was wondering, if you do this commercially, how long do you leave your dry cider for?

I was thinking:

2 weeks fermentation
4 weeks in secondary
Filter to brite
10 days in brite
Canned and kegged
Distributed.

Thoughts?

R.

 

[jhespe]

Not a commercial guy, but IMHO think of cider more like wine and less like beer. Yes, you could rush it... But... It is so much better when it ages. Unless you are doing like the big guys and sweetening until you have no flavor left. Then yeah, I suppose there is no need to age.

 

[aurora_colony_cider]

I agree wholeheartedly, but I'm renting winery space and bonded warehouse space and leaving it to sit for a year just would increase the costs beyond any kind of profit. I'm just doing dry, no sweetener. Without filtering I find 3 months makes a nice dry cider for my tastes, and I'm hoping filtering will speed the process of loosing the taste of the suspended yeast.

 

[madscientist451]

I've been making cider at the homebrew level for 10+ years.
Apples change from year to year, and it takes quite a bit of experience and effort to get any consistency.
I hate to sound negative, but if you are asking such a basic question, you're not ready to go into business.
But to answer your question, sure you can make a commercial cider and sell it in 6 weeks. But the cider business is getting pretty competitive, drinkers are more knowledgeable than ever before; can you really deliver a decent tasting cider to your customers in 6 weeks from getting the juice?
How many batches have you actually made in 6 weeks?
Angry Orchard and other producers can turn their cider around in 6 weeks, but you're not going to get the apples they can get, or have access to the industrial process they use or have the expertise that their employees have.
Edit: I thought about this some more and realized that in your area, you can probably buy juice from established suppliers year round that has pre-determined
levels of acidity and sugar. My experience has been with getting whatever (mostly desert) apples I can buy or scrounge, milling and pressing my own blends for my cider.
Using a commercial juice supplier will make it easier to make a consistent, good tasting product year-round. Not everyone will like it, but hopefully enough casual drinkers will choose to buy it so you can get established and then maybe branch out into some more specialty products.

 

[jhespe]

Have you tried dry hopping some cider? Adds some unique flavor that can hide an immature cider.

 

[aurora_colony_cider]

Hi madscientist451,

Thanks for your comments. I usually take 8 weeks from pitching to bottling, then 2-3 weeks to carbonate. I think it tastes pretty fine after that.

A lot of that time is spent waiting for the yeast to settle out. I guess the main thing I'm wondering about is if filtering will shorten the processing time as a result of getting rid of the yeast. I have never filtered and can't get access to the vineyard's equipment until we contract. If it tastes too immature then I can just let it age in the cans/kegs until it's ready.

 

[aurora_colony_cider]

Have you tried dry hopping some cider? Adds some unique flavor that can hide an immature cider.

Yes and Yes.

 

[Maylar]

I've read here on the forum that filtering is something that all commercial cideries do. I tried searching for "filter" here to see if I could find the thread where a member got into detail about that, but there are too many hits to screen through.

Good luck with your venture.

 

[aurora_colony_cider]

Good luck with your venture.

Thanks, Maylar. I'm filtering through a plate filter late this week to a brite tank. That's 10 weeks in primary and secondary. So far, so good. Kegging in another 10 days. I went for a dry farmhouse blend using 20% crab apple juice on top of the base juice. I'm using Petainer kegs. Pretty nervous about it to be honest. I think it tastes pretty good, but I hope this stuff sells.

 

[Dade0]

Months. 3 at least. Then I bottle/keg. Just be sure all sulfur smell and or taste are gone. But I do not filter. The pectic enzyme does a great job of clearing.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Months. 3 at least. Then I bottle/keg. Just be sure all sulfur smell and or taste are gone. But I do not filter. The pectic enzyme does a great job of clearing.

Is that three months in primary, secondary, or bottles/kegs?

 

[Dade0]

Is that three months in primary, secondary, or bottles/kegs?

Three month in primary. Never needed 2ndry.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Three month in primary. Never needed 2ndry.

Well, dang. I was just starting to think about bottling the batch (first cider) I started March 30.

Next year I guess I better the May cider started in Jan/Feb.

 

[Dade0]

Well, dang. I was just starting to think about bottling the batch (first cider) I started March 30.

Next year I guess I better the May cider started in Jan/Feb.

Taste it?

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Taste it?

I will give it until the end of the month, then give it a try. I don't have a great sense of what to look for in terms of how a cider develops as it ages, but if it tastes reasonably good I will bottle it.

 

[bmd2k1]

Thanks, Maylar. I'm filtering through a plate filter late this week to a brite tank. That's 10 weeks in primary and secondary. So far, so good. Kegging in another 10 days. I went for a dry farmhouse blend using 20% crab apple juice on top of the base juice. I'm using Petainer kegs. Pretty nervous about it to be honest. I think it tastes pretty good, but I hope this stuff sells.

What yeast(s) are you using?

Good luck & keep us posted [emoji111]

 

[Jag75]

Is there a difference in cider kits and making cider from scratch when it comes to fermenting time and aging in bottles?

 

[JDWebb]

My November cider starts in May, 5 gallons juice, Nottingham yeast, enough honey to 1.055-60 and 3 cans concentrate in secondary. Kegged in November.

 

[dmf38]

I age it for at least 10 months. Long aging really brings back the apple aroma and flavor.

 

[JDWebb]

I age it for at least 10 months. Long aging really brings back the apple aroma and flavor.

Yep, same for the honey if you use that. A nice caramelized honey really comes through with time in a cider.