Beginner Perry, what to do with sediment

[Compact]

Cheers
So as most of the cider's have been in the original demi's since I added yeast for over 5 days.

Should I siphon into a clean Demi, leaving behind the lees and topping up where necessary?
(If so maybe I add the berries into the clean demi, with some more sugar)
Would I then leave then in the new Demi for another couple of weeks before bottling?

Thanks

p.s. a sugar question
I decant off 1 ltr of cider into a jug to use the hydrometer (neck of the demi too narrow)
If I add say 5 spoons of sugar to get the hydrometer to the right level, should I add 25 spoonfulls if the demi is 5 ltrs?

 

[Crastney]

once more fruit or sugar is added, you should leave it to finish fermenting again (two weeks is probably about right), make sure it has finished fermenting - the same hydrometer reading 3 days running (at an ok termperature), with a reading at 1.000 or less.

You can then bottle, but if you have a lot of lees then rack to another DJ to remove the lees, and then leave at least a couple of days to clear again before bottling.

it's ok to drink straight away - but it'll improve if you leave it a month to mature. if you want fizzy, then add sugar to each bottle (about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon), leave somewhere warm for the fermentation to convert the sugar to CO2, for a couple of weeks, then somewhere cold, to allow the CO2 to absorb into the liquid, for a couple of weeks.

some people prefer to leave it in the DJ, for bulk maturing, for several months (you get the same flavour changes in the whole DJ) and then bottle. If fermentation has stopped because there's no sugar left (hydrometer reading below 1.000) then a solid bung is ok for this stage. Any chance of further fermentation needs the airlock still in.

your method of adding sugar sounds ok to me.

 

[Compact]

A topping up question.

I've siphoned the two on the left, Apple and Pear and as you can see there's a gap at the top.
The three on the right are happily bubbling away after adding fruit i.e. berries

The left two need topping up, if so what with?
I've no more juice left. Would I have to buy some from the supermarket. If so would that not affect strength and taste?
What are the risks of not topping up.
Or should I go straight to smaller bottles.

Thanks

 

[Crastney]

you can top up with water - probably best to use mineral water from a bottle, or cooled boiled water from the kettle, however if you do this you are diluting your drink, so it will be less alcoholic. If you're concerned about knowing your ABV to a high precision then there are calculations for this topping up.
alternatively you could top up with shop brought apple juice, but this will obviously have fermentable sugars in so you'd have to take this into account, and do some calculations to work out amount of sugar added, per gallon, and increase in abv, etc.
personally I'm not that concerned with knowing the exact abv, just a rough estimate, so I top up with water, or apple juice when I have it, which isn't often.

 

[Compact]

Cheers for the reply
So either sterile, boiled water or juice.

The first two I didn't add any sugar just left as it came out of the fruit.
The other three I did add sugar but roughly using a hydrometer, so I don't have much idea of what the abv is now (i'm guessing I can't work a hydrometer now?)

An alternative might be to put straight into my 1ltr Grolsh style bottles and left for a couple of week and then siphoned into other Grolsh style bottles if there has been any further sediment/lees?

Thanks

 

[Crastney]

a hydrometer gives you a value for the density of the liquid - in brewing we take a measurement at the start, and one at the end, work out the difference, and multiply by a factor to give us a value for the ABV. You can work it out roughly with only the starting SG (specific gravity), if you know what your yeast will go down to, or you can work it out using values from the amount of sugar in the ingredients.
hydrometer can be used to provide reasurance that fermentation has finished - the same value three days running, at 1.005 or less and it's probably finished (if it's warm enough ~ 18 C).
if it's definitely finished then Grolsch bottles might be ok, but be careful when you open them in case there has been further fermentation - they might go pop in a big way, and you could lose some wine in froth over.
personally I'd top up in the DJs you already have going - unless you need them to start the next batches.