Cider - What do YOU do after Primary Fermentation

[OlliesDad]

Very pleased for you and some good advice here.

My own "fast-and-dirty" attempts at a first go a cider have so far been very pleasing.
Bottled some up the other day and partook of a glass along the way.
Quite dry but by no means tart or acidic.
I'm looking to have a more carefully planned and measured approach for my next attempts.
This cider lark could be addictive....


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[freester]

Well another update after a couple of Christmas tastings.

:drunk:
Both the flat and the slightly sparkling were well received. Both dry ciders. A little more of an acid / tart thing going on with the flat. The sparkling dry but a lot easier going. My guess is the 'secondary' carbonating fermentation took away that the slight tart / acid taste.

Some people preferred the flat to the sparkling. Both were quite clear. The sparkling could be slightly cloudy if you wanted to invert the bottle and mix the settled yeast from the carbonation.

I gave a lot of cider away. Great Christmas presents and a lot of people saying 'I'd like to try a drop' and myself wanting to show off my hard work!

So after bottling 18l into 660ml bottles I've got one bottle of the sparkling left. And 32l conditioning in the garage in a couple of demijohns and a carboy. I'm going to hold off and bottle this stuff in the spring. An old time cider maker in my village reckons wait until you hear the 1st cuckoo...

Another mate with a large orchard (and 1000l fermenting in an IBC) reckons he still has enough apples on his trees for another press. I'm hoping to start another 30-60l batch next week. :whistle:

 

[The Idiot]

I currently have 58 gallons sitting in fermenters. The only difference between them is the yeast used (outlined here). They're still in the first fermentation stage, allow activity has fallen to negligible levels. All were started off with 5 gallons and a regular does of yeast, and once initial fermentation slowed they were then topped up with additional must to 8 gallons eliminating all head space. This also made the fermentation kick in again!

The fermentation started around late November, and next weekend (I've got the last of the festive visitors this weekend) I intend to take measurements. If they've hit an acceptable gravity I'll be racking them into clean fermenters, topping up with the last of the must (I held some apples back in the freezer for this) and then they will sit, unmolested, until my apple and pear trees blossom in the spring. It's a bit like your cuckoo advice, but I feel more romantic in a yokel kind of way!!!

At that time I'll taste the various batches, adjust if necessary, and package. There are a few with intentionally introduced wild yeasts and i'll make a decision of whether to leave them longer based on how they taste. Come early summer I'm having a bit of a bash and will hopefully have 464 pints of cider to supplement the beer and wine. Mind you, I might also have a lot of vinegar as this is my first year having a small orchard!

 

[freester]

I have been watching your thread.

I also followed the link to your blog. Very funny. The bit about your brewery and Lorraine Kelly's growler had me spit tea on the keyboard :lol:

 

[MattH1973]

I'd love a link to The Idiot's blog but cannot find it - can someone post....

 

[freester]

Unfortunately I went looking for it the other day I think it might be offline now