5 gall turbo cider...what to do next with it.

[PD]

I've just racked the above brew into a second Fv SG readings from 1.062 to 1.004, and as a result its bitingly dry.I've left all its pulp behind but of course its still cloudy so it will remain in the vessel for a few weeks more. My problem is that due to a broken syphone tube I had to pour the racked cider back into its FV which has no doubt added lots of oxygen into the brew. Whats my best plan of action now... I was hoping to let it carbonate itself in the bottle later on but that will just make a fizzy dry cider, not what I want this time, If I add extra sugar now it will re ferment back to a dry cider. My thoughts are that I should let it ferment out fully again till whenever its ready to bottle then sweeten to taste with Splenda, would members agree ?
If so what's the approximate amount of splernda to add to approx 5 gallons or is it a case of trial and error. Will pouring the cider and adding oxygen have spoilt the brew ?

 

[alanywiseman.]

If you want it carbonated then you will need to add splenda or something like that to sweeten it. It would be best to do it to your taste.

I would be a little concerend about the indroduction of O2 into the cider by pouring it. Was there much splashing? did you have the FV tilted? As long as splashing was kept to a minimum the you should be fine.

Out of curiousity did you add malic acid? Are you going to try and get malacto fermentation in the bottle?

 

[PD]

Yes malic acid together with Tannin cider yeast and nutrient were added to the basic brew of Apple juice pineapple and lime juice and some mashed Pears.
The intention was to put a gallon or so away for long term storage and if malacto ferment occurrs " Praise be to God "
However I'm now unsure of long term storage, there was a lot of disturbance in pouring.....

 

[graysalchemy]

If you are going for malo lactic fermentation you are better doing it in bulk as it occours in the top of the FV and not throughout so it needs to be in bulk to get a uniform product. :thumb:

 

[PD]

would 2 gallons in bulk be sufficient ? However I'm thinking its irrelevant for this brew I may be lucky to get 5 gallons for quick slurrping

 

[graysalchemy]

1-2 gallon would be fine :thumb: :thumb:

 

[alanywiseman.]

If you are going for malo lactic fermentation you are better doing it in bulk as it occours in the top of the FV and not throughout so it needs to be in bulk to get a uniform product. :thumb:

So should maturing cider be stirred every so often?

 

[PD]

If you are going for malo lactic fermentation you are better doing it in bulk as it occours in the top of the FV and not throughout so it needs to be in bulk to get a uniform product. :thumb:

So should maturing cider be stirred every so often?

or even sloshed into another FV..... :sick:

 

[Jeltz]

And after a couple of months of bulk maturation is the yeast still healthy and you're able to prime in bottles?

 

[graysalchemy]

If you are going for malo lactic fermentation you are better doing it in bulk as it occours in the top of the FV and not throughout so it needs to be in bulk to get a uniform product. :thumb:

So should maturing cider be stirred every so often?

or even sloshed into another FV..... :sick:

No just leave it.

And after a couple of months of bulk maturation is the yeast still healthy and you're able to prime in bottles?

Yes it will have plenty. Mine was bulk conditioned for 10 months and bottled no problem at all. I was even able to harvest the yeast cake which had been left and it happily fermented another 12 gallons of cider happily even after 10 months. :whistle: :whistle:

It is also nicely infected with the Malolactic fermentation causing bacteria :whistle: :whistle:

 

[TRXnMe]

Apart from having the 'magic yeast' that you've managed to harvest off your own cider, or adding malic acid to the fermenter, is there anything else that can increase my chances of malolactic fermentation while maturing in bulk?

I've just racked off 4 gallons of turbo cider, all of which have had malic acid added to them at the start of fermentation, they are now in a slightly cooler, darker, place in the house and will remain there until at least early November :)

The 5 litre PET water bottles have been topped up to the bottom of the threaded section, one of the has got a fine layer of white bubbles on top, but isn't outgassing through the bubbler at any rate I can see.

 

[graysalchemy]

No you just have to leave it. :thumb:

 

[PD]

Looking back on this and trying to learn from the mistakes. I have just noticed something which puzzles me. Making beer we set off at a set OG reading ( say 1.052 ) and ferment out our ingredients sugars etc usually terminate the ferment around 1.010 and we prime and bottle.
This cider I made started off at OG of 1.062 ferment was as normal with a turbo type cider, vigorous so I kept 2 litres of Apple Juice back and added it 3 days later. I forgot to take a further gravity reading ( mistake ) another 3 days elapsed and I checked the brew the FG turned out to be 1.004. Much lower than I normally get for beers and more in keeping with wine making. I could have kept feeding the brew with sugars and eventually make an unintentional apple wine.
However I wanted a cider so made the decision of racking with intention of back-sweeting it.
My question is ..... How does the brew know your making a beer and stop working around 1.010.... I mean when I brew a beer, that's the point the yeasts give out and adding more sugars only causes a small increase in the alcohol content and usually just sweetens the brew.
Why did my cider continue working down to those lower levels ? could I have stopped it around 1.010 without killing the yeast so as not to prevent bottle priming ?
Sorry if I've not explained it very well.... its still early.

 

[graysalchemy]

Beer wort is made up of fermentable sugars and unfermentable sugars which gives beer body mouth feel and a slight sweetness. The sugars in Cider and wine must is 100% fermentable.

When you make beer you have to mash the grains convert the complex starches into less complex sugar molecules. However it is not just that straight forward the temp at which you mash determins which enzyme is used the higher the temp ie 68c the more b-Amylase which produces glucose (fermentable) and dextrins (unfermentable) if the mash temp is lower ie 64c then more a-Amylase is produced which produces no dextrin. So when you mash at 66c you get a mix of both producing some dextrins and fermentable sugars leaving your beer with body.