transfering cider to barrel

[beertrix]

good morning
im going to transfer my cider from FV to barrel today..should i top up the barrel with water or cartoned AJ to make the air gap smaller? or will filling with gas work ?
thanks

[trucker5774]

If you want carbonated cider a barrel is not the best option (unless it's a cornie) as you will normally carbonate to a similar level as lager. My preference would be to add 150g of sugar to a typical 23l brew and bottle it. You can use apple juice instead of sugar (search the many threads for how much/preference) Gas alone in a barrel will not be enough to carbonate.

[yogester]

good morning
im going to transfer my cider from FV to barrel today..should i top up the barrel with water or cartoned AJ to make the air gap smaller? or will filling with gas work ?
thanks

is this cider from apples you have pressed? is so then i would believe you have a lot more fermenting to do, until you are below 1000 SG i wouldn't worry a great deal about ullage.