Dilute apple cider with water?

[Blauwkonein]

I bought a gallon of freshly pressed apple cider, but it is very thick to my taste. The bottom part is really in between a drink and a paste, so I am not sure if I will get a nice cider out of this. Could I dilute the cider with some water? What would be the consequences?

I have one gallon fermenting without any water additions now, OGR 1.055 and added Nottingham ale dry yeast. Added some pectic enzyme so I will see what happens..

 

[eigua]

If it's 1.055 now, if you dilute it obviously your potential alcohol will drop. If you're concerned with that you could add sugar to compensate. And of course you'd be watering down the flavor as well. Whether that's a problem really depends on your taste. You could also water it down with apple juice.

Whenever I've fermented anything with a lot of pulp or solid matter in it, half of it ends up getting spit out the airlock / blowoff tube. What remains usually ends up settling and getting compacted at the bottom of the fermenter in the end and doesn't cause any issues.

I would just ferment it as is myself.

 

[MindenMan]

I may have misread your post, but the pectic enzyme needs to be added before any alcohol is produced to work properly. The pectic enzyme will pretty well chew up any "slush" and draw the juice out of it to get a more complete fermentation. And no, do not add water. You could always pour the cider through a metal mesh strainer to remove the bulk of the sediment and add a bit of FAJC and then a little water to get back to your original volume if that was your goal.

 

[MindenMan]

I have a batch going right now that has 10 pounds of processed whole fruit- pulp and all, with 4 gallons of TT 3 apple blend juice and 22 cans of concentrate: 5 + gallons. I added pectic enzyme a few hours before I pitched the yeast; it may have been 12 hours but I doubt it and the amount of solids floating at the top are minimal instead of substantial.

 

[thelema5]

A great deal of that viscosity is due to dissolved sugar (which will ferment out like water) and suspended solids (which will settle out to the bottom). Your finished product should be perfect after it finishes fermentation and a couple of rackings.

That thicker part on the bottom of your juice container? Those solids were suspended at one time. Eventually, nearly all of the suspended solids will follow suit- you just have to be patient. Ciders can take months to clear.

I would strongly suggest not watering down your juice; you'll wind up with thin, flavorless cider with an extremely low ABV.

 

[Blauwkonein]

I may have misread your post, but the pectic enzyme needs to be added before any alcohol is produced to work properly. The pectic enzyme will pretty well chew up any "slush" and draw the juice out of it to get a more complete fermentation. And no, do not add water. You could always pour the cider through a metal mesh strainer to remove the bulk of the sediment and add a bit of FAJC and then a little water to get back to your original volume if that was your goal.

I did add the pectic enzyme, about an hour before pitching the yeast (according to the package). What is FAJC by the way?

Thanks for all the comments, I will leave it as it is and let's see what happens!

 

[eigua]

What is FAJC by the way?

Fried alligator jerky cassarole, flaming atomic jalapeno cider, or frozen apple juice concentrate. Take your pick.

 

[Blauwkonein]

Haha, I'll go for the Fried alligator. Problem is that I don't live in the US but in Georgia (the country), so it is going to be difficult to get my hands on FAJC

 

[Blauwkonein]

This is how it looks like after a week without dilution. Will the thick part sink more or is this it?

 

[thelema5]

Be patient. As fermentation slows down the lees should become more compact- I imagine that there's still quite a bit of activity in there after only a week.

 

[MindenMan]

I am visually confused. It looks like you are fermenting 1 gallon in a 5 gallon carboy. If so that much head space may bring about problems.
Here is my suggestion, if the SG is at 1.030 or above transfer to another carboy filtering through a fine mesh strainer or through something like cheese cloth to get rid of the currently settled out "lees". If it were me I would transfer to a 1 gallon carboy and top up with more juice to help eliminate any possible head space issues.

 

[Blauwkonein]

I am fermenting 1 gallon in a 2 gallon carboy. There is a lot of headspace indeed. Do you mean I should pour everything through the strainer, or try to leave the sediment behind? And what does it mean for the fermentation process when I'd top up with more juice?

 

[MindenMan]

A 2 gallon carboy is much better than a 5 gallon carboy with that small of a volume of juice. When I brew beer, I run everything from the BK into the fermenter through a set of paint filters so very little trub (hot break and cold break) gets into my fermenter.
Cider is kind of a different animal; only if your current gravity is above 1.030 will it be safe to use a strainer and get some fresh air into your must. If C.G. is less than 1.030 then you need to make a decision... you purchased fresh pressed juice with the natural sediment in it, and I am sure you would like to keep the complexities of the fresh pressed juice. If you don't do some kind of straining/filtering you are going to lose at least 1/2 of your cider by the looks of it.
You can wait until fermentation is complete and the cider has cleared and then siphon it into a smallest container it will fit into (1 gallon jug or so) and top up with fresh (clear) juice to eliminate head space. The small amount of fermentable sugar in the top up juice won't affect anything greatly. I have never used campden tabs before but there are many cider/wine makers that swear by their use.

 

[MarkKF]

Add the pectin enzyme and 24 hrs later pour thru a (clean) cotton cloth. Most of the slurry will be left behind.