Graham Vodden
Member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2023
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 5
Hi All,
I have read the pinned threads and those were really helpful during my first batch, but I have tried a few different things with my second, and am not sure what my best path forward is...
For reference: My last batch (my first ever) was the same juice, more honey and a champagne yeast. I did it all in the carboy, back sweetened with Xylitol and added sugar/honey for bottle conditioning (and it was beautiful).
Here is the experiment so far:
July 16:
-18 liters of sunrype pure apple juice (100% juice - NOT from concentrate - proven base)
- 1/4 lb honey
- 1cup demerara sugar
- 1 packet SafCider AB-1 yeast
Spec Grav (about 2 days later) was 1.024
July 21:
- airlock stopped bubbling
- Added 2lb fresh cherries in a juicing bag (crushed into bucket)
- Airlock picked up for a couple days
Aug 5 (today)
- Racked to carboy
- Hydrometer at about 0.995 (calc shows about 3.5%?)
- No apparent carbonation
- Definitely needs sweetening
- Added 750ml of sunrype apple juice (what I had on hand, but I know I need to add more sugar/honey/food...)
I don't have any control over the temp right now, and it is about 70F in my basement (+/-4 degrees)
I like my cider dry with some carbonation, but I believe it is too dry right now as I have likely not given it enough sugar in the primary.
At this point, my thought is to feed it some more honey, top up the carboy with some more juice (it is about 4 liters shy of being full, and I want to minimize the airspace), and then leave it alone for a while but part of me thinks I should just let it be and see what develops.
I am looking for more experienced brewers' opinions...
What would you do in my situation?
I have read the pinned threads and those were really helpful during my first batch, but I have tried a few different things with my second, and am not sure what my best path forward is...
For reference: My last batch (my first ever) was the same juice, more honey and a champagne yeast. I did it all in the carboy, back sweetened with Xylitol and added sugar/honey for bottle conditioning (and it was beautiful).
Here is the experiment so far:
July 16:
-18 liters of sunrype pure apple juice (100% juice - NOT from concentrate - proven base)
- 1/4 lb honey
- 1cup demerara sugar
- 1 packet SafCider AB-1 yeast
Spec Grav (about 2 days later) was 1.024
July 21:
- airlock stopped bubbling
- Added 2lb fresh cherries in a juicing bag (crushed into bucket)
- Airlock picked up for a couple days
Aug 5 (today)
- Racked to carboy
- Hydrometer at about 0.995 (calc shows about 3.5%?)
- No apparent carbonation
- Definitely needs sweetening
- Added 750ml of sunrype apple juice (what I had on hand, but I know I need to add more sugar/honey/food...)
I don't have any control over the temp right now, and it is about 70F in my basement (+/-4 degrees)
I like my cider dry with some carbonation, but I believe it is too dry right now as I have likely not given it enough sugar in the primary.
At this point, my thought is to feed it some more honey, top up the carboy with some more juice (it is about 4 liters shy of being full, and I want to minimize the airspace), and then leave it alone for a while but part of me thinks I should just let it be and see what develops.
I am looking for more experienced brewers' opinions...
What would you do in my situation?