Hi I've started making cider a 40pint fruit cider from wilkinsons. Fermented well it's been about 5 weeks now and bubbling only twice a day should I bottle or just leave it.
Sounds like it is degassing slowly. Check your s.g. and make sure it is done. If it is, degas it, stabalize it, let it clear or fine it to help clear, sweeten if you like and bottle. Arne.
Yeast converts half the weight of the sugar to a gas called carbon dioxide. A great deal of this gas will have escaped during the first few weeks of fertilization but a lot remains absorbed in the liquid. To degas you might find a warmer room to allow the cider to rise a few degrees (say to about 70 F) and then stir the cider quite vigorously. Many people use a degassing tool which they attach to an electric drill and still others pull the gas from the cider (or wine) by applying a vacuum (about 25 inches). Another more gentle method is to rack your cider but allow it to flow down the inside wall of your target carboy. An even more gentle approach is to simply allow your cider to age. Over time the CO2 (the carbon dioxide) will slowly leave the liquid....