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Thanks for the replies all. I left the headspace as it is because i was worried about some stories i've heard about bubbling over when the yeast is active. In the future i should decrease my headspace because i haven't had super active yeast. I did start all the carboys at the same time...

Hey all, My cider has been in secondary for a couple months, and after maybe 2 months or so i got a wrinkly white layer of something over the cider in all 4 of my carboys. I know i might have too much headspace, but this hasn't happened in previous batches. It still smells fine, pretty good...

I had this problem with my first batch. I was using a vintage cider press with a cast iron base. The second time i made cider, i laid a clean garbage bag (anything clean and plastic will do. also could cut some wood to fit) over the cast iron base, and i didn't have that issue. My first batch...

i bought a nylon mesh laundry bag at walmart for about $1.60 and it works great!

I've used raisins, cranberries, and oranges in the secondary all with good results!

unless you want something "authentic", i think my garbage disposal grinder works great. it has a 1HP Waste King 8000 grinder, and custom made stand, bowl, switch, and outlet tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D22Wo-XHmrk conrad

are you misreading the hydrometer? after the sugar ferments out SG should be near 1.000... conrad

interesting read, but considering how scientific and controlled it is, i'm surprised they missed one thing - having 10 cider makers make cider with 10 different yeasts. i would bet that 10 cider makers using the same yeast and cider would yield 10 different hard ciders. that's my 2 cents...

seems strange that the natural yeast took off so quick, my naturally fermented cider took about two weeks to make a bubble or two. i guess i'd just let it keep going and see what happens. conrad

i would imagine that grampa just let it ferment until the yeast fermented all the sugar out, and then died or went dormant and dropped to the bottom of the carboy. no need to stop the yeast if all of it's food is gone. conrad

i skipped the pectic enzyme in my home-pressed cider because i felt that wouldnt be "natural"... fermented just fine with wine yeast, but the natural yeast fermented the juice pretty slow. conrad

Yea, i do wish we had some tarter apples in the mix. next year we'll have to make sure of that. the cider has been in the carboys for 5 weeks, and they finished most of the fermenting after about 2 weeks, so it has been sitting for a little while, but not too long. i'll let them sit in...

still! back in the early days of cider they didn't have kegs and compressed CO2, so i like to recreate what was drank "back in the day"... conrad

i had a similar problem, here's my thread. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/kind-bland-cider-advice-439077/ good luck! conrad

well, this is what i ended up doing. hopefully it works out; i'll keep everyone posted. for the batch fermented with EC1118, we chopped 3 or 4 apples and put them in a pot with a package of unsulfited raisins (about a pound?) and two cups dark brown sugar and enough water to cover it, boiled...

we had a pretty good combination of apples, there were gala, macoun, macintosh, and another one or two types. could have used some tart apples but we didn't have any. i was thinking about spicing some of the cider, but not all of it... i'll watch those videos and do some thinking... conrad

it's made with fresh pressed cider that i pressed myself. the juice itself was delicious and very sweet. i don't want to back sweeten with sweet cider, as i was aiming for a dry, still cider with a good alcohol kick to it. i'll check out those options, thanks. any other ideas? conrad

I have 5 gallons of cider fermented with EC-1118, and 5 gallons with cote de blanc. both were made with sweet cider that i added 3 1/2 cups brown sugar to. both have finished fermenting, and i was going to bottle this weekend but i sneeked a taste and it's less than impressive. it doesn't taste...

i was nervous about my naturally fermented cider not working as i compared it to my carboys with wine yeast that were bubbling away like crazy. it ended up bubbling after about a week or two, and it's still bubbling slowly but surely for about two weeks now. it also made a lot more yeasty...

i would think that as long as the cider is fermenting, there will be a slightly positive pressure of CO2 inside the carboy that would keep the air (or most of it) out. in my inexperienced opinion, you're fine. conrad