Racking cider

[Blixxa]

Hey everyone.

I'm currently brewing a small batch of turbo cider, which is 4 litres of Berri 100% apple juice and S04 yeast with a pinch of malic acid to crisp it up a bit. Ambient temp is between 15-20 degrees.

The instructions that I got were to ferment it out for 2 weeks, then rack for another couple of weeks, bulk prime and bottle.

It's now been 2 weeks, I've got steady gravity readings of about 1.005 and I've racked it to a 5 litre demijohn.

Can anyone give me some advice, should I bulk prime and bottle now, or will there still be enough active yeast to prime and bottle in a couple of weeks time??

[blond.chap]

Hi mate,

Sorry I don't have much direct experience with cider, but a steady 1.005 sounds like it'd be ready to bottle now.
If it's anything like beer the yeast will hang around for 1-2 months from when you pitched it. If you're worried about the yeast dying you can add a small amount on the bottling day.
Just depends when is convenient for you.

[Blixxa]

Brilliant, thanks!

Some of the articles I have read are against racking because of the likelihood of oxidation or spoiling. However, I was told originally that if you rack and leave the cider to clear you get a better tasting brew.

I had a bit of a taste last night, it's pretty dry and not sweet like 5 seeds or Strongbow. It definitely needs more time to age though.

[BackyardBrewer]

I'd rack just about everything in my beer/cider experience. I've racked and left for weeks and no issues with enough yeast still in suspension even though the point of racking is to drop gunk out. I also find racking tends to stir things up enough to knock a few more points off the hydrometer too.

That "dryness"'you taste is what cider is *meant* to taste like. The sweet shit from strongbow and 5seeds is basically a carbonated sugar water with some apple "essence" added.

Either of those is as far from a true cider as its possible to get. It's an ad campaign, not a proper cider.

Yours will also get more complexity in the bottle on the remaining yeast after about 90days.

Wait longer, you've got some fine summer drinking.

Oh and always bulk prime. Then you can use any size bottle without worrying about over or under priming. I use 750ml, 500ml and 330ml in each batch I do and bulk priming is too easy and too effective to screw around with bottle lollies or a teaspoon of sugar!

[blond.chap]

Yeah I've read a few contradictory articles about racking. There really isn't a definitive answer that I can see apart from do it if you think it's worthwhile. My personal opinion is that I like my beer racked, and if you're careful with sterilisation and move the liquid carefully it's a low risk operation.

Sounds like some nice cider, ByB and I have a big batch to bottle this Saturday, can't wait to try it.

[BackyardBrewer]

Sounds like some nice cider, ByB and I have a big batch to bottle this Saturday, can't wait to try it.

I've not opened the first batch in my big fermenter yet but I have had a sniff of the stuff in the smaller one when I took the hydro readings and it was glorious. Thin, crisp, fruity but dry.

Can't wait to hook into this!

[blond.chap]

I'm not even sure mine will last long enough to carbonate

[BackyardBrewer]

I'm not even sure mine will last long enough to carbonate

Just need to whip through another 400kgs:)

We need to get a plum supplier...I'm getting jealous of all these WA guys knocking out slivovitz!

[blond.chap]

I'm not even sure mine will last long enough to carbonate

Just need to whip through another 400kgs:)

We need to get a plum supplier...I'm getting jealous of all these WA guys knocking out slivovitz!

Hmmm, I'm not really getting all that jealous, the amount of work I put into my last attempt for about 1L of 65%.

I say we order 100L of wine each and pump out some brandy. Anyway, sorry Blixxa, getting a bit off topic, I say go ahead and bottle your cider now.

[BackyardBrewer]

Yes bottle away. I think the malic might have dried it out more than you were planning if you wanted sweeter. SO4 is a good choice for the style.

You could always add about 500ml of apple juice to the priming and reduce the sugar a bit to add back some sweetness if that's the style you wanted.

[wynnum1]

1.005 may not be finished fermenting.

[BackyardBrewer]

1.005 may not be finished fermenting.

If its been stable and a racking doesn't drop it at all then it's done I reckon.

[Blixxa]

I might just give it a week to see what it does, then bottle it. Thanks for the feedback lads!

[BackyardBrewer]

I might just give it a week to see what it does, then bottle it. Thanks for the feedback lads!

Is it racked now? A week will be perfect to see if you've knocked a couple of points off.

If its not racked then a week will do bugger all in the fermenter unless you add some dap or heat. Rack away if its in the bucket still I say!

[Blixxa]

Yep, it's racked now. The plan is: just leave it as it is now and in 7 days time, bulk prime with dextrose and bottle. Leave in the bottle for a couple more weeks and drink.

[Blixxa]

I couldn't help myself, after about 3 weeks in the bottle I needed to have a taste. This is awesome!!! There's a hint of sweetness there but ByB is right, exactly what cider is meant to taste like and not at all like sugar water. Dryness is spot on. I will be throwing down another batch of this very soon. This time I have used crushed apple juice but next batch I'll compare with reconstituted apple juice which is even cheaper.

[BackyardBrewer]

Good to hear. It's nothing like commercial slop. Carbonated sugar water with apple essence is NOT cider (I'm looking at you Strongbow and 5seeds!).