Some questions on prepping my cider for bulk aging.

[progmac]

I started some cider in october, it fermented for a month, I racked it, and it has been sitting ever since. This was fresh unpasteurized cider. I pitched yeast immediately and used no k-meta initially.

I'm not really in the cider-drinking mood, so I've decided to rerack and let it sit for a year or more. I plan to drink it like a wine. I figure I should add some k-meta (I have campden tablets) before aging.

I know very little about winemaking, but what I understand is that I want about 40ppm of sulfites in the batch. I also understand that one campden tablet has 67ppm of sulfites.

Therefore, in a 5 gallon batch treated after fermentation, do I simply add 3 tablets as I rack the cider?

Other questions:
-Do i immediately replace the airlock after racking and mixing in the campden tablets? In my mind they need to off-gas for 24 hours. (But I'm probably mixed up)
- If I decide to backsweeten later, I can add potassium sorbate before bottling, correct?
- Is it okay if I degas after racking, or do I wait until bottling? It is quite gassy
- It is not clear at all despite about 5 months of time to settle and one racking. Will a year clear it up or should I add something? Is it too late to add pectic enzymes?
- If I rerack after 5 or 6 months, should I add more campden tablets?

 

[progmac]

bumping this...

 

[Flordan]

Three tablets sounds about right to me. I have bulk aged a couple of ciders for over 2 years in carboys (too lazy to bottle) without using them and have had no problems. The biggest key is to keep the airlock full always and to keep it in a dark and cool place. After a year or two though, there is no real benefit to bulk aging.

I would try and let the haze clear by itself at this point if you are going to bulk age. I have always added pectic enzymes before I started fermentation and cannot speak as to its effectiveness after. If it is pectin, it will not affect the flavor, just the appearance.

And don't worry about degassing. It will do that naturally as it ages.

 

[progmac]

thanks for the reply! i ended up doing this the weekend before last. i went with 4 campden tabs for six gallons. i crushed them and put them in warm water and then added that to the cider.

on thing i did that i have never done before was i added pectic enzyme even though fermentation was over. in the less than 2 weeks since it has a cleared a lot. i have little doubt it will be sparkling when it comes time to bottling whenever i do that. i'm not 100% sure it was the pectic enzyme because i also added 10% crabapple cider, which seems to have a much higher tannin content. it could have also been what stimulated a clearing response.