azsixshooter
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I started 5 gallons of hard cider this fall using non-pastuerized, no-preservative apple cider from the local cider mills here in Michigan. I used a 5 part cider additive pack 24 hours before I added the yeast. After the yeast got going I opened the ale pale once to add more apple juice concentrate and brown sugar and a second time to add yeast nutrients. After a week in primary fermentation I racked it off to a clean carboy and have let it sit for almost 5 weeks now.
I recently siphoned off a 1/2 gallon that I was planning to give my uncle. I expected to rack the rest to bottles and try to back-carb and sweeten them and then follow the sticky on stove-top heat pastuerizing to finish them off and then just let the bulk of the batch sit in the bottles for awhile to smooth/mellow.
I tasted a glass of this cider and it's pretty horrible. Very strong yeast taste that stuck in my mouth until I brushed my teeth the next morning. There's about a 1/2" of sediment in the bottom of the secondary fermenter.
Now I'm confused as to what I should do. I have a 5 gallon carboy, but there's only about 4 1/2 gallons of cider in it now so there's a lot of room for oxygen (I don't know anything about oxidation but I'm under the impression that it is preferable to have your secondary fermenter pretty much filled for best results/least oxidation). I've got the 1/2 gallon still in the fridge, but the day after I had a glass of it I took a swig right off the bottle to re-confirm that it was actually as bad as I remembered it being.
I was thinking to add the 1/2 gallon back into the main batch, rack it to my ale pale, clean and sanitize the carboy and then rack it back into there for an extended stay, like at least 2 or 3 months to get rid of the nasty yeast flavor. My problem is that since I drank right off the 1/2 gallon bottle is the cider in there potentially infected with bacteria from my mouth? I don't want to put it back in the main batch and end up with a failure, but I'm afraid if I don't fill up that excess space in the 5 gallon carboy oxidation might spoil my main batch.
The most obvious thing in my mind is to buy some smaller bottles, rack the main batch into them and then let them sit for a long time to hopefully mellow. But I have a major financial meltdown going on this month and I don't think I could even afford a 3 gallon carboy.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I was thinking about just dumping another 1/2 gallon of fresh cider or apple juice into the main batch, let it sit for another week and then rack it back to the ale pale, clean out the carboy and rack back to that for another "secondary" fermentation and then if necessary rack to the ale pail and back into the clean/sanitized carboy for a few months to mellow before I back-carb/sweeten and bottle.
Thanks a lot for any help, this is my first attempt at making anything alcholic and I'd hate to mess it up and lose the batch. I love cider and really would like something palatable at least!
I recently siphoned off a 1/2 gallon that I was planning to give my uncle. I expected to rack the rest to bottles and try to back-carb and sweeten them and then follow the sticky on stove-top heat pastuerizing to finish them off and then just let the bulk of the batch sit in the bottles for awhile to smooth/mellow.
I tasted a glass of this cider and it's pretty horrible. Very strong yeast taste that stuck in my mouth until I brushed my teeth the next morning. There's about a 1/2" of sediment in the bottom of the secondary fermenter.
Now I'm confused as to what I should do. I have a 5 gallon carboy, but there's only about 4 1/2 gallons of cider in it now so there's a lot of room for oxygen (I don't know anything about oxidation but I'm under the impression that it is preferable to have your secondary fermenter pretty much filled for best results/least oxidation). I've got the 1/2 gallon still in the fridge, but the day after I had a glass of it I took a swig right off the bottle to re-confirm that it was actually as bad as I remembered it being.
I was thinking to add the 1/2 gallon back into the main batch, rack it to my ale pale, clean and sanitize the carboy and then rack it back into there for an extended stay, like at least 2 or 3 months to get rid of the nasty yeast flavor. My problem is that since I drank right off the 1/2 gallon bottle is the cider in there potentially infected with bacteria from my mouth? I don't want to put it back in the main batch and end up with a failure, but I'm afraid if I don't fill up that excess space in the 5 gallon carboy oxidation might spoil my main batch.
The most obvious thing in my mind is to buy some smaller bottles, rack the main batch into them and then let them sit for a long time to hopefully mellow. But I have a major financial meltdown going on this month and I don't think I could even afford a 3 gallon carboy.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I was thinking about just dumping another 1/2 gallon of fresh cider or apple juice into the main batch, let it sit for another week and then rack it back to the ale pale, clean out the carboy and rack back to that for another "secondary" fermentation and then if necessary rack to the ale pail and back into the clean/sanitized carboy for a few months to mellow before I back-carb/sweeten and bottle.
Thanks a lot for any help, this is my first attempt at making anything alcholic and I'd hate to mess it up and lose the batch. I love cider and really would like something palatable at least!