Deebees summer cider

[Deebee]

I thought that i would post a follow up thread to this one viewtopic.php?f=13&t=23699

So here is the recipe.

2 kilos granny smithsm mashed and de juiced
10 liters of applejuice not from concentrate.
500 brown sugar
1\2 pack pectolase
1 pack kargus red yeast.
1 large mug tea brewed with 3 teabags until cold.

Method.

Skin 3 apples and simmer these with 1 liter apple juice until sugar melts. this makes a sickly rich brew that tastes way too sweet .

Bung the rest into the Fv.
Also juice the apples and add any mush in the juice container. Add 1\2 pack pectolase and stir. Add apple and sugar juice, 1 tsp cinnamon and yeast.

Initially i starte putting this into a Fv of 25 litres but after a while was sure that there was gonna be too much air, i tried purging with CO2 but not being sure there was any ction decided to move the stuff into 1.5 liter ( all i had available) BOTTLES.
i HAVE THE TOPS LOOSLY SCREWED ON AND I LEFT THEM IN A PLACE WHERE THE TEMP VARIES FROM 17-20 IN THE COURSE OF THE DAY.

Last night ( about 12 hours after moving into bottles) there was a scum arriving on the tops of the brew, brown scum looking like the brown apple meat from when i ground the apples.

this morning there was a distinct fizzing noise of escaping gas and i know that they are all fermenting nicely. The smell is of apples and not vinegar so it looks like i got away with it!

The scum is now present on all bottles ( 8 in total) and the colour is a darker gold than normal apple juice, looks like the colour from the tea and the brown sugar.

naturally the grated apple is still flaorting and i would ot expect it to be any different after such a short time.

I would imagine that the primary will take round 14 days at a minimum, and if it takes longer then so be it.

I hope that it is ready t decant and prime before i go on hols in july though

Due to the narrow opening into bottles i an a little concerened about getting too much junk in the bottles when i move it across.

I Am thinking that i can use some silicone tubing attached onto a funnel that is long enough to reach the bottom of the bottom. I am also thinking that i can line the funnel with a boiled cotton cloth and use this to filter the juice as i rack it. or maybe even coffee filters? would this work? or would this remove the oh so important yeast and stop secondary in the bottles?

I will likely get a 20 ml syringe and use 20 ml pr 500ml for priming. It might make a nice fresh taste. i am expecting that this will be reatively dry, but also forgot to take an OG at the start. i guess an alcohol tester will be the thing when it is opend? or would any bubbles effect the reading?

IS there any other way of getting an idea as to how strong it is? i am thinking that it should lay around 7% eeng as i have read that 300 grams sugar in 4 l will give 12 % my estimate may be off but even at 4-5 % ITS GONNA BE OK RIGHT?

Any thoughts and comments would be most welcome,

i'll keep it all updated and see if i can get some pics.

thanks

[Mitchamitri]

Missed a bit here - are you fermenting in 1.5 litre bottles?
Dont forget that you can only half fill and fv and it'll be fine so long as you dont disturb it too much - fermentation produces c02 and c02 is heavier than air.

[Deebee]

Unfortunately yes i am.

The FV was only about 11 lites of 25 and i got this thing in my head about how fast apples oxidize, and how long the fermentation would take before the airlock started working.

So i transfered it into 1.5 litre coke bottles with the lids so that any excessive pressure would blow them.

The fermentation appears to be going well, a nice white foam on the top of all batches and a sound like a nest of baby snakes.

I tasted a some of the bubbles on the outsdie of the bottles and it tastes sweet but dfinately apples and not vinegar.

I know it is far from the best idea, but its the first time of experimenting, and i'll likey try to find a bucket with a lid for future. I'll never make 25 liters of the stuff in one go.

So the question therefore is, if i use a funnel to rack the stuff into clean bottles etc, can i use some kind of filter ( cloth, coffee filter) in a sterile funnel in order to transfer it.?

I intend to add some suger and wonder if filtration might remove the yeast and stop this?

Or would this be ok.

if it is ok, it would remove a lot of the crud in the bottom of the bottles.

Thanks for your help.

[Mitchamitri]

Sorry I'm raining on your parade a bit - if you use a funnel to transfer the finished product you will be adding far too much air to it and it'll oxidise. You need a syphon and a "foot" - obtainable from your LBS for about two quid, that'll get it out without the much. If you cant get the foot in the top of the bottle then seal up the bottom of the tube and cut a hole in it 1 cm off the bottom. Failing that, if you dont care about losing bottles then just drill them above the sludge line and delicately run it into the other vessel down the wall (ie to avoid splashing). ANything that makes a splash, a drip, or a bubble is a bad thing!!!

(but yes, if you must, you can use a coffee filter....)

[DREADSKIN]

yeah man, your being a bit too parinoid. we muct remember people have been doing this for a milenia, befre there were home bru shops. get a big bucket, sy go to your local restaurant and see if they have any old mayo buckets (just close the lid, bt leave a wee corner not totally clipped down and that will work), if you dont want to splsh out. or even better get your hands on a 20ltr mineral water bottle. this way its easy to get the cider out without the sediment. filtering is a pain in the hole! takes forever!
it will only turn to vinegar if you let little nasty flies near it.

[Mitchamitri]

Yeah, you are right of course. whats a bit of oxidisation betwixt friends?! ANother place to get a small bucket for freebie is out the back of a bakers, or anywhere that uses whey protein or powdered egg. They'll be only to happy to let you have one for free.

[joel_m]

Well My last TC went from Brewing bottle (FV) through a sugar/flower sieve in to a steralised jug then poured into the bottles from there.. I realise I was probably dancing with the devil but it was dam good with no oxidisation!

[DREADSKIN]

a sugar /flower cieve? thats a mental idea! what sort of flavour did it leave in the booze?

[Deebee]

Think i'll use a berry muslin ( we use for making squash)

The on the bottom of rht funnel have a tube into the bottom of the bottle so that i get no splashes.

it smells good, and a sneaky taste after 5 days was GOOOODDD! althouygh i think there s a fair way to go before it is finished.

Its been almost a week in 18-20 degrees, the apple os still floating.. i guess i have another week maybe?

thoughts?

Dave

[Mitchamitri]

Dread'll shoot me for this - a bit of info, its better to fermnent cooler (say 16 to 18') or rack off if theres a LOT of waste, or you risk horrible pear drop flavours!!!

[Deebee]

Its in the washroom so as a rule is around 18, at night it drops and mid day it is slightly higher. The taste of today was definately apple cider too-

Wonder how long its gonna take for primary.

[Deebee]

Another update:- I hope you guys don't mind but its the first time i tried this and it'll be a good thing to know i am doing it right.

The Wife knocked a bottle over yesterday evening and i found it this morning..... it was bulging so i had to open the top a little. It was rather " live" to say the least, so i am guessing the fermentation is still in order.

I grated an apple into the brew at the start for no other reason than i had read that everyone does that. Its still floating on top of the fluid. Does this have to have sunk before bottling?



In that i go away for a month on 2 july i am hoping that fermentation has finished before so that i can get it into bottles, primed and in the garage ( so i need say a week to do this )

IS there any other way for me to find out when the primary has stopped?

Thanks for the help.

[Mitchamitri]

You could make your own hydrometer of sorts. Get yourself a flat scrumpy cider and a straw and some blu tack. Plug one end of the straw with the blu tack and float it in the cider. Put a pen mark where the straw is level with the water. Float the same device in a flat sample of your cider and if it's floating at the same level it has the same amount of sugar (roughly) and fermentation is approximately complete. If it floats higher theres still some more sugar to ferment out, if it flats lower it's prob ably got more alcohol (and is certainly drier) than your scrumpy. I wouldnnt even think about it until after 10 days tho.

[Mitchamitri]

You could make your own hydrometer of sorts. Get yourself a flat scrumpy cider and a straw and some blu tack. Plug one end of the straw with the blu tack and float it in the cider. Put a pen mark where the straw is level with the water. Float the same device in a flat sample of your cider and if it's floating at the same level it has the same amount of sugar (roughly) and fermentation is approximately complete. If it floats higher theres still some more sugar to ferment out, if it flats lower it's prob ably got more alcohol (and is certainly drier) than your scrumpy. I wouldnnt even think about it until after 10 days tho.

(or failing that buy a hydrometer)

[Deebee]

I have an oeschelvekt

but its not one that has units other than 1-15 on, ( certainly not 1004 etc)

Its for wines and beer or so it says, so i guess i need to look at measuring it say now, then in a few days and seeing if there is a change?

right now it is fizzy ( i found that after her indoors knocked the bottle over)

Scrumpy is not something that is available in Norway. the only cider i have seen in the shops is the swedish stuff that is 4 % and very very sweet.

I can't stomach that stuff.