5 gallons been sitting 1month is cloudy. started at 1.050 finished at .990 . I am about a quart or too low I don't want to dilute it with water , I have a 1/2 gallon of the organic juice left ,but don't want to referment. I have it cold crashing to clear, not going to carb want to bottle in flip tops and 1,2 gallon jugs or wine bottles. what should I do?
racking
- Thread starter vinper
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do I have to top off? , the airlock pushed all the liquid to the outlet side bubble like there a little pressure . no bubbling in the airlock though ... since I have it crashing in fridge does it matter if theres any airspace ?
I am also curious about this. I assume the purpose of avoiding headspace is to limit the your contact with oxygen? If so, seems like positive pressure in the carboy (e.g. Airlock water pushed over to output) would indicate CO2 that may have pushed out the oxygen already. Also, is oxygen contact a problem because it effects the yeast, or the juice itself? If the yeast is the concern, then it seems like headspace during cold crashing wouldn't matter too much because the yeast is inactive, and settling to the bottom. I could be off base here though.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
Oxygen oxidizes the juice (whether wine, mead or cider - or beer) and significant oxidation creates flavors that are typically dis-preferred. (sherry is an exception). The question is then how prone to oxidation is a cider that has just fermented and is still in the primary carboy (and so may have a blanket of CO2 between the surface of the cider and the surface of the air compared to cider that has been racked into a secondary in such a way that much of the CO2 has been expelled during racking and the cider is no longer actively producing CO2 because fermentation is slowing to a halt?
IMO yer pays yer money and yer takes yer chance. Oxidation is a bit like rust. It takes time for it to be perceptible. It is not going to happen in five minutes... but it might happen in five months and once it is perceptible there ain't much you can do about it. Me? I tend to rack into smaller carboys (say 3 gallons and 1 gallon and 1/2 gallon and the like). What I also do is add a top up from another batch I recently made (so there is no additional sugar to referment).
IMO yer pays yer money and yer takes yer chance. Oxidation is a bit like rust. It takes time for it to be perceptible. It is not going to happen in five minutes... but it might happen in five months and once it is perceptible there ain't much you can do about it. Me? I tend to rack into smaller carboys (say 3 gallons and 1 gallon and 1/2 gallon and the like). What I also do is add a top up from another batch I recently made (so there is no additional sugar to referment).
Is it in bottles or in a carboy? In bottles, or even 2 litre jugs, 2 days is plenty of time - at least for the yeast I use. In a carboy, it could take longer due to the lesser amount of surface area.
That said, I put a demijohn outside my back door once and it cleared in less than a day. Temps were a few degrees below freezing, though.
That said, I put a demijohn outside my back door once and it cleared in less than a day. Temps were a few degrees below freezing, though.
What type of juice did you start with, was it heat pasteurized? Did you use any pectic enzyme? Cloudiness could be from pectin, set by heat, from my understanding. Not sure if cold crashing would completely clarify, at least not in that short of a time frame (again, just from my understanding). Are you cold crashing just to clarify?
no pectin ,I used 4 gallons welches 1 gallon organic cloudy cider . and the whole batched stayed cloudy . bottled it Saterday . very dry alittle sour tasting not sure if I will keep , now I know I like sweet better
