First cider making plan :-) Help appreciated

[Ofer]

Hello, I'm planning my first cider batch, I know it's a trial and error journey but I hope I can narrow the error chances a bit, so thoughts on my plan highly appreciated :-)
I have two 10L demijohns, a pair of cylinder airlocks and an auto siphon.. Apples variety 50/50 pink lady and granny smith, run in juicer, filter, about 8L into each demi.. I would like to aim for relatively sweet and hige carbonization, if possible..
I'm ordering mangrove jacks m02 yeast, I wonder if I should take also fermentis safcider to compare ? Is there a noticeable "serious" difference between those cider yeasts, in terms of final flavor and carbonization ? Clarity ? And what happens if I use a whole sachet of lets say safcider yeast per one demi with ~8 liters, package indicates 20-30 liters per sachet, so will it be a problem and I must divide one between both demis ? And a yeast nutrient is important to use along with the yeast ? And I guess I have to use one campden tablet for each demi a day before I introduce the yeast..

So now it hopefully ferments and I have to check the bubbles going in the air locker, when no more bubbles appear in the water, fermentation stage ends if I understood correctly, do I have to introduce any tablets or some specific powders before I bottling ? If I want to use finings to clarify cider, I do it before bottling ? Is this fining important besides clarification ?

And if I want to introduce flavors, by using for example a combinations of rooibos peach tea, cinnamon sticks and clove, how do I do it ? At what stage should I add them and what effect does it have, when there is no heating ?

And finally, does it make sense to add something like a tsp of dextrose to each bottle ? Less sweet, aids carbonization ? Should it be a different type of sugar, maybe just plain sugar ?
Thanks for helping, hope I'm not bothering with too many questions, going in the meanwhile
also through the archive..

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for helping, hope I'm not bothering with too many questions, going in the meanwhile

Ask away the thats what the forum is here for. :thumba:

.

 

[Dutto]

Welcome to The Forum!

 

[Ofer]

Welcome to The Forum!

Thank you :-)

 

[Ofer]

Welcome to the forum.



Ask away the thats what the forum is here for. :thumba:

.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge and experience :-) Going through the archive, a lot to learn, glad to join this forum.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

We have several cider makes on the forum so i am sure you will get the help you need soon

 

[MattH1973]

Hello, I'm planning my first cider batch, I know it's a trial and error journey but I hope I can narrow the error chances a bit, so thoughts on my plan highly appreciated :-)
I have two 10L demijohns, a pair of cylinder airlocks and an auto siphon.. Apples variety 50/50 pink lady and granny smith, run in juicer, filter, about 8L into each demi.. I would like to aim for relatively sweet and hige carbonization, if possible..
I'm ordering mangrove jacks m02 yeast, I wonder if I should take also fermentis safcider to compare ? Is there a noticeable "serious" difference between those cider yeasts, in terms of final flavor and carbonization ? Clarity ? And what happens if I use a whole sachet of lets say safcider yeast per one demi with ~8 liters, package indicates 20-30 liters per sachet, so will it be a problem and I must divide one between both demis ? And a yeast nutrient is important to use along with the yeast ? And I guess I have to use one campden tablet for each demi a day before I introduce the yeast..

So now it hopefully ferments and I have to check the bubbles going in the air locker, when no more bubbles appear in the water, fermentation stage ends if I understood correctly, do I have to introduce any tablets or some specific powders before I bottling ? If I want to use finings to clarify cider, I do it before bottling ? Is this fining important besides clarification ?

And if I want to introduce flavors, by using for example a combinations of rooibos peach tea, cinnamon sticks and clove, how do I do it ? At what stage should I add them and what effect does it have, when there is no heating ?

And finally, does it make sense to add something like a tsp of dextrose to each bottle ? Less sweet, aids carbonization ? Should it be a different type of sugar, maybe just plain sugar ?
Thanks for helping, hope I'm not bothering with too many questions, going in the meanwhile
also through the archive..

here's some starters for you:
- yeasts. ive only ever used Lalvin EC1118, Youngs and a love brewing one I got when I started. Not noticed a huge difference. Ive always split sachets up based on the indicated quantities and its fine. i would certainly use nutrient. I would also consider adding pectolase the day before yeast as this helps it clear further down the line. But I've also done it without and thats OK too. never bothered with finings.
- carbonisation. as long as the yeasties are still alive when you bottle it (ie its cloudy) then i dont think the yeast variery affects the level of carbonisation. this depends entirely on the quantity of priming sugar you add. 1 tsp per 500ml bottle for light catbonation, 2 tsp for heavy.
- fermentation. Use a hydrometer. Take a reading pre fermentation to tell you how much sugar there is, which gives you and idea of the strength you will finish at. when its stopped bubbling that probably means fermentation is over but the only way to be sure is a hydrometer reading close to 1.000. Otherwise you risk bottle bombs.
- sweetness. You must use a non fermentable sweetener otherwise the sugar will just be fermented. You can add sugar immediately prior to drinking though. Some add fresh apple juice.
- flavours; proper cider from apples is delicious and I would never lose that flavour by adding syrup. if you want that sort of thing just go and by some lidl apple juice and save the effort of pressing. But I think the turbo cider brigade heat a couple of litres of juice such that the flavours of the cloves etc are taken on, and then add that to a bigger batch of juice.

good luck and keep us informed.

 

[Ofer]

here's some starters for you:
- yeasts. ive only ever used Lalvin EC1118, Youngs and a love brewing one I got when I started. Not noticed a huge difference. Ive always split sachets up based on the indicated quantities and its fine. i would certainly use nutrient. I would also consider adding pectolase the day before yeast as this helps it clear further down the line. But I've also done it without and thats OK too. never bothered with finings.
- carbonisation. as long as the yeasties are still alive when you bottle it (ie its cloudy) then i dont think the yeast variery affects the level of carbonisation. this depends entirely on the quantity of priming sugar you add. 1 tsp per 500ml bottle for light catbonation, 2 tsp for heavy.
- fermentation. Use a hydrometer. Take a reading pre fermentation to tell you how much sugar there is, which gives you and idea of the strength you will finish at. when its stopped bubbling that probably means fermentation is over but the only way to be sure is a hydrometer reading close to 1.000. Otherwise you risk bottle bombs.
- sweetness. You must use a non fermentable sweetener otherwise the sugar will just be fermented. You can add sugar immediately prior to drinking though. Some add fresh apple juice.
- flavours; proper cider from apples is delicious and I would never lose that flavour by adding syrup. if you want that sort of thing just go and by some lidl apple juice and save the effort of pressing. But I think the turbo cider brigade heat a couple of litres of juice such that the flavours of the cloves etc are taken on, and then add that to a bigger batch of juice.

good luck and keep us informed.

Thanks a lot, great info :-)
I've ordered i think too much sachets of yeast, hope it has a reasonable "shelf life".. Hydrometer also on the way, seems like a must indeed..
I understand now that the best way to know fermentation stopping is the hydrometer reading close as possible to 1.000, but maybe if i want it a bit sweeter, can i stop fermenting and do bottling around 1.01-1.02, if that makes sense ? Exploding chances at this level without adding sugar to bottles ? Even if i directly store bottles in Fridge and hopefully avoide further fermentation ? Or maybe stop fermantation chemically before bottling ?
Is it ok to add pectalose at the same time with campden btw ? Thanks a lot Matt !

 

[LED_ZEP]

I've ordered i think too much sachets of yeast, hope it has a reasonable "shelf life"

I keep unused yeast in the freezer and have used open packets well after the use before date with no problems.

 

[MattH1973]

Thanks a lot, great info :-)
I've ordered i think too much sachets of yeast, hope it has a reasonable "shelf life".. Hydrometer also on the way, seems like a must indeed..
I understand now that the best way to know fermentation stopping is the hydrometer reading close as possible to 1.000, but maybe if i want it a bit sweeter, can i stop fermenting and do bottling around 1.01-1.02, if that makes sense ? Exploding chances at this level without adding sugar to bottles ? Even if i directly store bottles in Fridge and hopefully avoide further fermentation ? Or maybe stop fermantation chemically before bottling ?
Is it ok to add pectalose at the same time with campden btw ? Thanks a lot Matt !

- Sweetness; the problem with stopping fermenatation chemically is that you then cannot use fermentation / priming sugar to carbonate the bottles. So for sweet and carbonated you have to use non fermentable sweeteners or add something at the pouring stage. Or force carbonate somehow.
- Exploding; this will happen if there's active yeast and too much sugar once you seal the vessels. Only way to be safe is to ferment until it stops near 1.000 (then all the natural sugar in the juice is done) and then add priming sugar. This way you know precisely how much unfermented sugar there is. And 2 tsps per 500ml is widely seen as safe.
- I always add camden at the start of pressing (press juice onto a crushed camden) and add pectolase at the end. If you want to adjust acididy or tannin then also do that on pressing day. Then add yeast and nutrient the next day.

keep us informed.

Good luck.