This is my first time trying to brew/fermint anything. I'm going for an plain jane apple cider. I bought 5 gallons of apple juice, 5g better bottle, a plug, an airlock, and yeast. I know I need sugar, but how much and what kind would you guys recommend? Also, do I just dump all of the ingredients in the jug and pop the plug and airlock on? Like I said, I'm very new, but you have to start somewhere!
1st timer
- Thread starter Allaunabt
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Sewer_Urchen
Well-Known Member
The amount of sugar varies depending on the recipe, what kind of yeast you're using and what kind of cider you want.
Since it's your first time, I'd say use two or three cups of sugar...take a 1/2 gallon of apple juice and warm it up on the stove in a sanitized pot just warm enough to dissolve the sugar in, don't boil it, just warm, then add that to your fermenter. Pour the rest of the juice on top of it (don't be afraid to get it shook up, air in it at this point is ok, just not later.
Make sure you sanitize the bottle, the plug, and the airlock, and the funnel you use to get the juice in the jug if you use any. You can either do this with a no rinse sanitizer like star san or idophor (Iodine solution) or by boiling them (harder to do with the jug
). Pour the yeast right on top of the juice and let sit for at least two weeks. You'll see the bubbling slow to next to nothing.
During this next two weeks you might want to look into getting a hydrometer. It will be too late to help you get a rough ABV percentage, but will help you determine that fermentation has stopped. You want to make sure fermentation has stopped so it can be controlled when you bottle, otherwise your bottles my blow up and you have a mess to clean and no cider to drink while you do it.
Also you will need to think of weather you want sparkling or still cider. As a first timer, I'd suggest you try both so that you can later know which you prefer with the recipe you used. Put a 1/2 teaspoon of white sugar in every 12 oz. bottle you want sparkling, and don't put any sugar in the bottles you want to be still cider. Let the sparkling ones sit alone for at least two weeks.
Always sanitize your bottles and caps as well as your bottling bucket and siphon...oh yeah (don't know how newbie you are or how much research you did before) but NEVER pour the cider out, you need to siphon it off the cake of yeast sludge that will develop at the bottom of the jug.
Since it's your first time, I'd say use two or three cups of sugar...take a 1/2 gallon of apple juice and warm it up on the stove in a sanitized pot just warm enough to dissolve the sugar in, don't boil it, just warm, then add that to your fermenter. Pour the rest of the juice on top of it (don't be afraid to get it shook up, air in it at this point is ok, just not later.
Make sure you sanitize the bottle, the plug, and the airlock, and the funnel you use to get the juice in the jug if you use any. You can either do this with a no rinse sanitizer like star san or idophor (Iodine solution) or by boiling them (harder to do with the jug
). Pour the yeast right on top of the juice and let sit for at least two weeks. You'll see the bubbling slow to next to nothing.During this next two weeks you might want to look into getting a hydrometer. It will be too late to help you get a rough ABV percentage, but will help you determine that fermentation has stopped. You want to make sure fermentation has stopped so it can be controlled when you bottle, otherwise your bottles my blow up and you have a mess to clean and no cider to drink while you do it.
Also you will need to think of weather you want sparkling or still cider. As a first timer, I'd suggest you try both so that you can later know which you prefer with the recipe you used. Put a 1/2 teaspoon of white sugar in every 12 oz. bottle you want sparkling, and don't put any sugar in the bottles you want to be still cider. Let the sparkling ones sit alone for at least two weeks.
Always sanitize your bottles and caps as well as your bottling bucket and siphon...oh yeah (don't know how newbie you are or how much research you did before) but NEVER pour the cider out, you need to siphon it off the cake of yeast sludge that will develop at the bottom of the jug.
I'd suggest using no sugar at all. Sure, it boosts ABV but it also increases the "dryness" of the finished cider.
I'd sanitize the carboy, pour the juice in and then sprinkle on the yeast, and then apply the bung and airlock. That's pretty much it for at least a week or two.
I'd sanitize the carboy, pour the juice in and then sprinkle on the yeast, and then apply the bung and airlock. That's pretty much it for at least a week or two.
Sewer_Urchen
Well-Known Member
Some good things to post would be what kind of yeast you bought (there are many kinds) and what kind of cider you like if you've tried any before. This recipe will be a dry cider, and many others here will suggest you back-sweeten more and pasteurize the bottles when they're ready, but as it's your first time I'd suggest against that, I'd just do this first batch to get comfortable with the brewing process, and worry about perfecting your recipes in brews to come...you'll get comfortable with experimenting as you've done a few.
Oh, and white table sugar is fine, you can also use brown sugar, or honey, just remember to dissolve it in warm juice and not to just dump it in.
Oh, and white table sugar is fine, you can also use brown sugar, or honey, just remember to dissolve it in warm juice and not to just dump it in.
I have champagne yeast and I haven't tried many ciders but the ones I have tried, I really like (Ace pear cider is one I know the name of, as for the others, I can't remember the names). Also, I had a friend tell me I needed 2lbs of sugar....I'm glad I haven't started anything just yet!
I might add that I don't like a lot of carbonation in my beverages.
Okay, I dissolved the sugar in the 1/2 gallon of warmed juice, poured all the juice in the jug (after sterilizing everything, of course), put the bung and airlock on. What's next? I see the airlock has a fill line....what goes in there? I've read vodka or sanitizer, but what kind of sanitizer? I also only have a 30 proof vodka so I'm not sure if that would work....
Next question: where should I store this and how should I store it?
I might add that I don't like a lot of carbonation in my beverages.
Okay, I dissolved the sugar in the 1/2 gallon of warmed juice, poured all the juice in the jug (after sterilizing everything, of course), put the bung and airlock on. What's next? I see the airlock has a fill line....what goes in there? I've read vodka or sanitizer, but what kind of sanitizer? I also only have a 30 proof vodka so I'm not sure if that would work....
Next question: where should I store this and how should I store it?
Sewer_Urchen
Well-Known Member
The vodka will be fine, try to store it in a place where the temperature doesn't fluctuate much, and is around 66-70*F, like your basement or a room near the middle of the house away from sunlight. Some people will cut a hole in the bottom of a paper grocery bag and slide that over the carboy with the bung and bubbler coming up out of the hole. The key to a good fermentation is to make sure the temp doesn't have high fluctuations, like 55 at night and 85 in the day.
2 lbs of sugar would be more like a wine, your cider would be closer to 9% ABV. I use a pound of sugar per gallon of juice with mine or more...but as I said, I was suggesting for your first fermentation, and the higher sugar you go for, the longer you'll have to wait, with the recipe you're doing it could be ready to bottle in a month. With mine it's not ready to bottle until 6 months. I still haven't bottled mine and I started it in November (that's more because I haven't had the time these past few months).
The Champagne yeast will make it quite dry...you'll get a hydrometer reading probably around .992-.996 (that's bone dry) With the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in a bottle you could have a champagne like cider. Like I said, try both sparkling and still and you might find you like the sparkling better than you thought.
2 lbs of sugar would be more like a wine, your cider would be closer to 9% ABV. I use a pound of sugar per gallon of juice with mine or more...but as I said, I was suggesting for your first fermentation, and the higher sugar you go for, the longer you'll have to wait, with the recipe you're doing it could be ready to bottle in a month. With mine it's not ready to bottle until 6 months. I still haven't bottled mine and I started it in November (that's more because I haven't had the time these past few months).
The Champagne yeast will make it quite dry...you'll get a hydrometer reading probably around .992-.996 (that's bone dry) With the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in a bottle you could have a champagne like cider. Like I said, try both sparkling and still and you might find you like the sparkling better than you thought.
Okay, I have it in our closet (with a few towels over it). I'm in Texas so no basements here :/ Also....I think there might be an issue. It's bubbling out of the top.... Is that supposed to happen?
For future reference, what yeast would you recommend?
For future reference, what yeast would you recommend?
Sewer_Urchen
Well-Known Member
Well you'll need to clean out the bubbler. You probably didn't leave enough head room at the top of the jug...as brewers we tend to take for granted what newbies don't know...when you do the initial fermentation you want to fill the jug to just where it starts to taper in and not up to the top of the neck. This is because it will ferment with a rather large "head" at the top of the juice, or beer, or whatever.
Clean out the bubbler, add more fresh vodka and put it back in the stopper.
And I use champagne yeast all the time. There are tons of yeasts you can use, a lot of people like Nottingham yeast, Red Star Champagne is a popular pick and one I use alongside with Lalvin D-47.
Clean out the bubbler, add more fresh vodka and put it back in the stopper.
And I use champagne yeast all the time. There are tons of yeasts you can use, a lot of people like Nottingham yeast, Red Star Champagne is a popular pick and one I use alongside with Lalvin D-47.
Sewer_Urchen
Well-Known Member
Another technique is to take about three feet of sanitized hose that fits in the stopper (like the kind you would get for your siphon), and run that down and coil it in the bottom of a small bucket or dog food dish or Mason Jar filled with sanitizer. This is called a "Blow off tube" in most forums and lingo. This technique is used when you have a very large foam or a highly active fermentation where the foam coming out through the airlock is inevitable. The little S-valves and whatever you call the other kind of airlock are not ideal for the foam coming through them, but the other kind is easier to clean than the s-valve kind. With the blow off tube you can just change the liquid it's sitting in without needing to pull the tube out of the stopper.
Sewer_Urchen
Well-Known Member
here's a pic of a blow off tube.
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