1st Cider and have a question.

[JPhomebrews]

I know there is probably 1000 of these threads but i didn't want to thread jack anyone.

I started my Cider last Tuesday SG 1.068 and it has been fermenting between 68-72 degrees. I was meticulous when preparing and sanitized everything. Fermentation was going great kicked off within a ccouple hours and i left it in the closet sitting in some water wraped in.a towel to keep it cool.
Took a gravity reading of it Saturday morning, sanitized the baster i used and my sample tube as well as cleaned the hell outta my hands. Popped airlock off collected sample put airlock back on. Took about 30 seconds then let it be till today. Reading was 1.032 btw.

I was gonna cold crash it because i have family in town this weekend and wanted to bottle and let ccarb/pasturize before they got here. I noticed there are white spots accumulating around the rings on the inside of my carboy Now every pic I've seen on this forum of ciders and beers fermenting yeast never collects it those spots. Did i manage to infect my brew? Or is that normal?

 

[JPhomebrews]

Also i did search the forum as best i could but I'm on my phone and its not the greatest and there is 9000+ threads to look through under cider. Also did my best to search google to no avail

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

A picture would help.
This might be a stupid question but could the rings be bubbles?

 

[JPhomebrews]

No its not bubbles. I think I'm over reacting to be honest. I moved the carboy to the fridge(36°) and some of the sediment came loose and fell to the bottom. I just remember reading a thread where this had happened( white substance collecting on the side of the carboy) where it ruined the batch. Ill see if i can get a pic posted.

 

[JPhomebrews]

Phone is giving me all sorts of problems trying to post a pic. I guess ill be bottling tomorrow around 6pm. Ill let you know how it tastes/smells/looks then.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

If it tastes and smells good now you're probably fine. If what you mean by "rings on the carboy" is what I think you mean, it's probably just a bit of sediment that got caught there on the way down.
Good luck!

 

[JPhomebrews]

Whew alright. First time brewing anything so i don't know what it should or shouldn't look like.

Ill do my best to get pics posted tomorrow.

 

[JPhomebrews]

Well if it was fine before I'm 95% i fvcked it up now. I had no idea putting it in the fridge would cause my airlock to backsuck all its contents into my carboy... no way this is gonna come out a good brew.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Wait! Don't dump it yet!

More than likely it's still fine.
What did you have in the airlock? Unless it was something like dirty dishwater it probably won't make a difference.
How long was the airlock dry?

Remember, people brewed beer/wine/cider/mead for thousands of years without modern sanitation and they still had good batches

 

[JPhomebrews]

I wasn't gonna dump it, not yet at least. I just had tap water in it topped up once during the week. I put it in the fridge yesterday morning and have been at work all night so I'm not sure when it happened. Its a three piece AL so its not completely dry, just sucked in as much as possible.

Its sitting on my counter warming up for a Caramel addition and some FAJC before i bottle it later tonight.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

It looks like a healthy batch from here.
If you're backsweetening with the intent to carbonate make sure you read the pasteurization thread (if you haven't already).

 

[JPhomebrews]

Yeah I've read the sticky. I've got my plastic soda bottle ready to go. I'm only carbing 12-12oz bottles because that's all i have at the moment. The rest will be still.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Sounds good, just remember to use your stabilizers to make the rest still.

Enjoy!

 

[JPhomebrews]

Update:
It was delicious right out of the carboy. Made a few new brewer mistakes because i didn't know any better(now i know what to never do again). I added some caramel(terrible idea because i didn't make it myself) and some FAJC, came out WAY to sweet and the caramel didn't mix well. Its drinkable but needs work.

Starting a new batch and keeping it simple:
3Gal TreeTop AJ
2# dark brown sugar
Notty yeast
And let it ferm until its done. Which probably won't be more a week and a half maybe. Last batch went from SG 1.068 to SG 1.020 in 7 days.