Priming my cider

[medicalmarvel]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of brewing my first batch of cider and have just been taking bits of recipes and various tips I found online. Does anyone please have any advice that could help me with achieving a good fizz to my finished article? I have read about priming with sugar just before bottling to achieve secondary fermentation leading to carbonation but I don't understand how it can work where ciders have been racked into a new vessel leaving the yeast in the bottom of the original demijohn.

Here's what I've done so far: 5 L batch

- 100 g sugar in 250 mL water, 1tsp champagne yeast, 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme- sat at room temp for 1 hr
- added to 1 L apple juice (from carton, no additives) + left overnight (OG 1066)
- added 4 L of apple juice spread out over the next four days
- allowed to ferment out (took 8 days until airlock stoped bubbling), FG is 1000 so I calculate ~8.4% ABV
- cider looked like it was starting to clear so I racked it into a new demijohn and have left it to clear further

I tasted this when I was racking it and it is quite dry, which I really like and think that with a bit of fizz and chilled down this would be a nice drop. I also want it nice and clear

Does anyone have any tips on how I should proceed from here to get the fizziness I want considering the methods I have used so far?

Thanks very much,

Joe

 

[Samarith]

If you've racked but not filtered I'd expect there to be some yeast still floating about.


Put a level (NOT heaped!!) teaspoon of sugar into each 500 ml bottle (scale up or down for differing bottle size).

Fill the bottles, leaving an inch of airspace at the top.

Seal the bottles and leave somewhere warm (20C-25C) for 3 days. This puts in the fizz as the yeast reactivates and produces CO2 that can't escape.

N.B. If you are not sure that your bottles can handle the pressure (especially if glass) then line a cardboard box with an old towel, curtains or similar. Then places the bottles in the box and cover with more scrap fabric. Bottle bombs are only funny when you retell the story years later and no longer duck and cover everytime someone opens a bottle of champagne. Truthfully this is a very rare occurance in my experience but safety first is my motto. :pray:

After 3 days move the bottles somewhere cool to settle.

 

[medicalmarvel]

Cheers for the tips, had a look this morning and it's clearing nicely now, hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to bottle.

 

[Aleman]

It doesn't matter how clear it looks, there is always some yeast floating about that will carbonate your beer/cider. My Imperial Stout spent 3 weeks in the primary fermenter, had been racked to a secondary fermenter for a week where it left a further yeast deposit, and then spent 14 months in a corny keg, before I bottled it . . . although in order to ensure that it would carbonate in a sensible time, I did add 0.1g of fresh yeast in with the 16g of priming sugar for the 9L batch. . . . it wasn't strictly necessary, as the beer will spend at least 10 months in the bottle, so should carbonate well.

I would also suggest that you leave the cider in the warm for at least a week if not 2 to allow teh yeast to get to work on the priming sugar. . . . If you fill a small PET bottle you can use that to judge how well carbonation is proceeding, as time goes by it should get firmer, and eventually will 'ring' when flicked.

 

[Samarith]

If you fill a small PET bottle you can use that to judge how well carbonation is proceeding, as time goes by it should get firmer, and eventually will 'ring' when flicked.

That's a damn useful tip, I take it once the PET starts ringing you move the bottles to a cool place?

 

[Springer]

Stout spent 3 weeks in the primary fermenter, had been racked to a secondary fermenter for a week where it left a further yeast deposit, and then spent 14 months in a corny keg, before I bottled it . . . although in order to ensure that it would carbonate in a sensible time, I did add 0.1g of fresh yeast in with the 16g of priming sugar for the 9L batch. . . . it wasn't strictly necessary, as the beer will spend at least 10 months in the bottle, so should carbonate well.

Wish I had read this last weekend, could have been good guidance and saved me making a mistake.
Last weekend I added 50 grams of sugar to a 6 gallon batch of IPA and then transferred it to pressure vessel with only a very small amount of air space. The idea was to let it mature for a week or two and then bottle it, instead of bottling it from the fermenter, which is bad practise I believe. Have I cocked it up, I'm now thinking I should not have added the sugar
What is the best way forward at this stage, bottle or cornie :? Working on a counterflow bottle filler at the moment, should this come into play :?
S :? again :lol: