Cider STILL fermenting ( First cider question )

[Siman]

Hello everyone.
I started making Muntons autumn blush cider 7.5. nearly 3 weeks ago. Added 450g dextrose and topped it to 18liters. I started fermenting with kits yeast at 14C for 5 days then moved temperature up to 15.5C for another 5 days. I took then hydrometer tests and it was around 1.025 still too high. After that i moved fermenter to 21-24C room temperature and it started fermenting slowly. Been now 9 days (19 total), and still i see it fermenting now hydrometer shows 1.002. I thought it wouldnt go so low, i still though like very dry ciders. Fermenter has loads of Sediment all around it, which wont drop to bottom. Should i just cold crash it to 50F for a week or let it still ferment?

 

[mdabbles]

My ciders usually take at least 20 days to ferment out. It can still go lower.

 

[MindenMan]

It is possible your cider is off gassing, as there may still be bubbles left in the trub. I have had both ale and ciders make bubbles even though the hydro said otherwise.

 

[Siman]

Ive done wine which got as low as 0.988 but had to backsweeten it hard.. Is near 1.000 cider drinkable after few months conditioning without backsweetening what you think?

EDIT: Im using DIY coopers fermenter which dont have any airlock in it..only lid. Easy to take hydrometer samples no need to open lid, thats why i dont know if its off gassing or not. There is only minimal foam left and little white dots ( leftover or infection dont know? ) will post picture of it soon.

 

[mdabbles]

Ive done wine which got as low as 0.988 but had to backsweeten it hard.. Is near 1.000 cider drinkable after few months conditioning without backsweetening what you think?

EDIT: Im using DIY coopers fermenter which dont have any airlock in it..only lid. Easy to take hydrometer samples no need to open lid, thats why i dont know if its off gassing or not. There is only minimal foam left and little white dots ( leftover or infection dont know? ) will post picture of it soon.

I've had it at 1.00. It is pretty dry/tart at that. I carbonate to offset the dryness some. Also, my drier ciders always seem to taste better after a long aging (6 months or so)... I usually backsweeten to 1.006 - 1.008, that's what suites me, but it's all personal preference...

 

[Siman]

Do you carbonate cider same volume as beer? I was first fermenting at 14-15C for bit more than week then few weeks at room temperature, what should be residual carbonation leftover then by this chart ( http://byo.com/resources/carbonation ) I was thinking 2.5 CO2 volume for my first cider... i hope that helps with some dryness. Also does this little amount of sugar raise my gravity at all?

 

[Siman]

EDIT: Seems like fermentation is over and ended at 1.002 (OG 1.060), it took 21-22 days to do so. I moved fermenter to 11C / 52F cellar area (from 22C room temp), if i leave it there for a week or two will it be low enough temperature for cold crashing and sinking the sediment to bottom?

Also would like to know what is good time in room temp (22C) for cider to get carbonated after priming?

thx
siman

 

[phug]

For cold crashing you want it near freezing, I shoot for 1 C. For carbing it might take 2-3 weeks at 22 but you'll have to check


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[Siman]

I moved it 5 days ago to 11C, some sediment has already dropped to bottom even with this temp... only have one fridge and not enough space there. I guess need to buy beer fridge in distant future =)

OG 1.060 FG 1.002 so ABV went really high 7.6% with this kit... although i added 450-500G dextrose. Anyone else doing Muntons autumn blush cider kit NO NEED TO ADD EXTRA SUGAR for alcohol, it has really nice OG without.

Did taste test and it has pretty nice apple flavor, with really strong alchohol finish. I hope it mellows down atleast little bit after aging it few months.

 

[bernardsmith]

Don't forget that cider (unlike beer) has no protein so carbonation won't create a head that persists. Also , unlike beer, the sugars in apple are virtually 100 percent fermentable so you can expect the final gravity to be close to 0.995 or thereabouts. If you want a sweeter cider you may need to stabilize (with K-meta and K-sorbate) and then add sugar. If you back sweeten then carbonating becomes more of a challenge. You may need to force carbonate or pasteurize your sweetened cider and not stabilize it, but pasteurization will destroy more volatile flavor and aroma molecules.

 

[podz]

If you put some yeast nutrient in when you start your batch (about 100g for a 5 gal batch), I promise you that fermentation will be over in 7 days. Another 7 days in the fermenter and it will have dropped crystal clear.

That is really the only trick to getting your batch of cider to finish in a reasonable amount of time.

Here's my recipe, tried and true:

18 liters of POAJ (Plain Old Apple Juice), bought from the supermarket
750 grams of table sugar
5 gram pack of Kitzinger's Reinhefe Champagner yeast
100g or so of yeast nutrient

Throw them all in together and slap on the airlock. I dry pitch the yeast, no problem. After 1 week, you'll have 9% ABV cider and if you cold crash it as soon as fermentation is finished then you can even drink it after 1-2 days in the fridge.

I've found, the cheapest and easiest way to get nutrient is to buy a pack of turbo yeast and that includes a pretty big package of nutrient. I just throw away the turbo yeast and use the nutrient when making cider.

Drop dead simple. I have made this same recipe about 20 times now and it has never went wrong. Everybody loves it.

 

[Siman]

Im planning on carbing bottles at 21-22C for about 2-3 weeks.. Final FG ended at 1.002 and im not going to back sweeten it, since it seems too big challenge for first cider.

After carbing for few weeks should i put all bottles to fridge or just cool temp (12-15C).. or even let them stay at room temperature for aging?


thx

 

[mdabbles]

I just store mine in the basement at 65 F .