Made my first batch of anything on March 30th. Sanitized everything that'd touch the liquid beforehand. Five gallons of frozen, almost certainly pasteurized, no-preservative apple juice in a food-grade bucket with a spigot. Added perhaps a pound of honey, SG of 1.050. Gave the champagne yeast a little sugar and 105F water, waited a few minutes then added the slurry to the pail. Gave the lid a few taps with the mallet, added the airlock and let it sit for a bit.
I've taken some 2oz (ish) sized samples (three, I think) from the spigot to a cup to understand the process a bit better.
Now it's Day 7 and the out gassing, which had been fairly vigorous starting from Day 2 until now, has stopped entirely. The temp in the room is always 70-76F, not sure what other information to offer.
My guess is that the next step is to pull enough to use the hydrometer to get an SG reading and then do the math to figure alcohol content. Can I assume that the alcohol content is sufficient to not worry about contaminant introduction if I simply remove the lid and place the sanitized hydrometer directly into the brew to take a reading? I sampled a mouthful tonight (spigot > cup > mouf) and if I had to guess I'd say it's in the 3% range though that could be wildly inaccurate as I'm not much of a drinker.
Do I spigot to a secondary ferment with nominal splash and then pitch more yeast if sufficient sugars are present? What levels would I look for?
Sorta lost at this point, I was expecting a minimum of 2 weeks before I had to make any decisions whatsoever.
Thanks much in advance for the replies.
I've taken some 2oz (ish) sized samples (three, I think) from the spigot to a cup to understand the process a bit better.
Now it's Day 7 and the out gassing, which had been fairly vigorous starting from Day 2 until now, has stopped entirely. The temp in the room is always 70-76F, not sure what other information to offer.
My guess is that the next step is to pull enough to use the hydrometer to get an SG reading and then do the math to figure alcohol content. Can I assume that the alcohol content is sufficient to not worry about contaminant introduction if I simply remove the lid and place the sanitized hydrometer directly into the brew to take a reading? I sampled a mouthful tonight (spigot > cup > mouf) and if I had to guess I'd say it's in the 3% range though that could be wildly inaccurate as I'm not much of a drinker.
Do I spigot to a secondary ferment with nominal splash and then pitch more yeast if sufficient sugars are present? What levels would I look for?
Sorta lost at this point, I was expecting a minimum of 2 weeks before I had to make any decisions whatsoever.
Thanks much in advance for the replies.