Sparkling Apple Cider question

[NorthernWinos]

Sounds like you had just enough ingredients for your Cider....good going....Hope the yeast overpowers that Sorbate, that can be a slow starting yeast...so we'll be waiting too...Keep us Posted on this one.


Your Hazelnut Brandy looks like it's clearing already. Is your container a real gallon jug???? Mine isa 4liter, so it's not that full. You will be racking and adding your charcoal soon...show us how that goes too.


Will the pepper in your Port leave flakes??? I have used roasted peppercorns in the primary in some wines, but think I have never used enough...going to keep adding more peppercorns to batches....


Are we having fun yet???

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[jobe05]

I added another pkg of yeast (cotes des blanc) just in case it needs more umph to get it going and keep it going.

Turned the heater on the room so it gets to 78 degrees in there to help keep the yeast happy. Word of advise when you do this, remove some of the wine from the other topped up carboys............. just spent the last hour cleaning everything up from over flowing carboys.

It started to build some pressure and burbed once while I was down ther, so hopefully it will start.

The brandy has been sitting at 1.020 for a few days but now with the heat up, it's bubbling again so hopefully it will go to dry. Yes, Thats an actual 1 gallon jug. I added the quart of sugar water held out last Saturday, so I still have a week or so to go. Like wine, I will go by the readings, not the amount of days in the instructions. Unfortunately, I was going by the direction when I started, so I have no beginning SG.

I screened the pepper from the bottle when I emptied it into the fermenter when I bottled. After bottling I notice a few small specs in the bottom of the bucket so I'm sure some got by me, but not a lot or enough to be concerned with. I was going to use whole pepper corns but remember someone saying they didn't impart as much flavor as they thought they would, so I went right to the ground up pepper, which works very well. Again, I used less than 1/2 teaspoon, closer to 1/4 teaspoon in a 1500 liter jug of wine and it was overpowering, almost hot (3 week soak time). Added to the whole 6 gallons it was awesome.

I think I'll be having more fun when the apple cider gets fermenting well....

As a side note: I went out and dug up 1/2 my ginger that I planted this past spring. Next I'm going to start my pumpkin wine and see how that goes.

 

[jobe05]

Well..... 27 hours after adding the second Pkg of yeast, it starting to bubble.............................SLlllllooooooooowwwwwwwlyyyyyyyyyy

A good bubble (that pressure kinda bubble) every minute or so.

I'm still going to stir it up good every day to help drive off any sorbates in there and to get air to the yeast. Till such time she perks a little more often that she is. Smells good thou...

 

[grapeman]

Have you ever used Cotes des Blanc yeast Jobe. It is a very non-vigorous yeast that hardly foams at all even when going good. I use it in white grape wines to help preserve fruity flavors and smells. It fizzes more than bubbles. I have waited 4 days before to be able to actually see the ferment going, but it is going there in the background. I used it in6 white wines this fall and they are absolutely sparkling after 2 months or less. The lees are only about a quarter inch thick and well compacted. The yeast smell is about gone from these wines already and their original aromas and tastes are back.

 

[jobe05]

Slowly but surely she is bubbling away.......... FINALLY!!!

Yes appleman, I have used this yeast a couple of times before and like the way it ferments certain fruit, albeit slow, I have not seen it this slow as far as bubbles go, however it is doing ok on the SG, it's down to 1.060 and there are many tine bubbles when I stir it up to get the sorbate driven off.

It really smells good, very strong apple taste to it that with this yeast I ope it keeps. I also hope it take it to dry due to the sorbates..... I'll just keep an eye on it.

 

[grapeman]

I wouldn't worry about the sorbate at this point jobe. If it has dropped that much already, it should continue just fine to completion. It should be yummy.

 

[jobe05]

I think your right, that SG reading was from last night, tonight it was down a few more points so she is working. Picked up another gallon of all natural apple cider and added to it, Raised the SG by .007, but it should raise the alcohol because I raised the volume....... correct? Oh yea, SG of the cider was 1.070, exactly at what the original must was.

So now, instead of that awkward 5.385 gallons, I have a little over 6 gallons which should fill a carboy nicely and still leave me a 750ML bottle to top up with later.