Home Brew Hard Cider from Scratch

Step 8 Aging and Bottling

Your cider has finished fermenting at this point, and is ready to drink. You will get better results, however, if you age your cider for a few months in a sealed container (most people recommend wooden barrels, but you can just use your trusty glass jug). Remember to store it in a dark, relatively climate controlled place.o

Once it has aged as long as you'd like, it's ready to bottle and drink.


Keep in mind, it takes a few tries before you get the process and the recipe down. There are many tasty commercial ciders out there that you can use as controls to see how your own recipe came out.

Good luck and happy homebrewing!

-Acts of Subterfuge

Comments

[dstowell]

I followed this recipe very well, I thought, however I'm about a week and a half into fermenting and there is no activity in my airlock :( I never had a "vigorous" bubble, or had frothy foam, just subtle movement and a bubble every 5-10 seconds out of the airlocks. Did I perhaps not add enough yeast? Does it ruin the batch to add more activated yeast in now, even though the jugs have been sitting for a while? Any help is appreciated!

[ka9qfj]

I wouldn't fret just yet. My bubble interval went from 12 seconds yesterday to 15 today, after 6 days in the carboy. I think you're doing fine. One thing I did do with this batch was to add 1lb. brown sugar (dissolved in hot water) to 2gal. unpasteurized cider. More sugary goodness for the yeasties. One packet of yeast is good for a 5gal batch. I'd watch the airlock a little longer, and pay attention to the bottom to see if sediment is building up, or if your potion is looking clearer over time. Remember, if you had a good bubble going on for a few days, the potion is in an anaerobic environment. Nothing icky can grow on the surface, TTBOMK. Good Luck!

[gumbytig]

I just kegged my last batch of cider (2 - 5galon batches this year). It took about 3-4 weeks to ferment them. I kegged the first one after it stopped fermenting. unfortunately it's a little sweet. The second one i added some fermentis safeale US-05 when it stopped fermenting and it finished out much better. So the addition of yeast shouldn't hurt it. If your doing a small batch you might end up with a little of a yeasty bread smell to it but it's not too bad. Depending on how much sugars your adding, you might want to make a starter next time. We use a ratio of 1lb. white table sugar and 1lb. light brown sugar per gallon of cider to make ours and i made a 1/2 gallon starter with liquid yeast WYeast 4632 dry mead. I might try Champaign yeast next time and see if it finishes better. Oh yeah, first batch was 9.8%ABV and the second was 11.8%ABV and tasted much better IMHO.

[Stolas68]

I wouldn't think that it would be a problem to add more yeast. Before you add more yeast I would shake up the cider to get oxygen in there again. I've only brewed beer and am looking to try cider and wine. After reading this there are a few things / points that I would change.
You have to stir up the cider after before you add the yeast. This ensures that oxygen is in whatever you are trying to ferment. Yeast need oxygen for the aerobic phase of fermentation. That's where they consume the oxygen and multiply.
Another important note is to make sure that the temperature of the liquid is 78 deg f or lower before you pitch / add the yeast.
I would not add table sugar or brown sugar. If you want to increase alcohol level I would add extra light dry malt extract which you can get at a home brew store. The yeast can handle this sugar a lot better than table sugar.

[mattak86]

feel free to add more yeast. most of the inactive yeast will fall to the bottom during brewing anyway. The reason it did not get started could be a few reasons. Not proper oxygen flow, temp at time of pitch. but the one i encounter a bit which is extremely important is keeping the carboy at room temp throughout the first 24 hrs at least after your pitch. It is the most important time in the brew. You need to get the yeast working. After 12-24 hrs you should see the most action.

[RightonAndy!]

I have only used white sugar in the past. This year we will be trialing four demijons of the same batch one with white one with brown one with glucose & i will try your surgestion of malt extract. We have found about 4lb/gallon is about right for our dry to medium taste.
Am wondering about how the big boys do it. If they are limited to a volume of apples wont they make it into a high alcohol cider, let it mature then dilute it down to around the 5-8% mark??
Anyone any info on this???

[Stolas68]

Yeah, after I wrote that I went back and read up on sugars in my home brew book. White sugar is very fermentable. I had just never seen it in a beer recipe. The book said using white sugar can lead to cidery tastes - which in hard cider is not an issue.
For the alcohol content I assume that cider is similar to beer (and wine) in that it all has to do with the sugar content before and after the fermentation. I'm sure the big companies know exatcly what the sugar content needs to be to make a consistent product and they adjust it every time.
If you have a hydrometer you can measure the specific gravity before and after fermentation to calculate the alcohol content. I don't know how fermentable all the natural sugars are in cider. A beer with a starting gravity of ~1.05 will be around 5% alcohol when finished. To adjust gravity / sugar content - add 1 pound of sugar to raise gravity ~0.005.
If you have 4 batches to make - maybe try different starting gravities and see where they end up.

[jcoyne2]

ok so when im ready for the second stage what do i do with the sediment ...... can i squeez out the liquid thankx

[darrenct83]

Has anyone ever tried adding a priming sugar and bottling in beer bottles to get a carbonated cider like "Hornsby's"?

[luannsemail]

Yes, I did with my last years batch. It worked out perfectly. We added it by boiling it in water first to mix it properly with the 4 gallons of cider.

[carnivoracious]

Yes and no.  I actually just bottled my cider before my fermentation was completely done (I'd tested with a hydrometer, the batch was at roughly .02) so it stayed carbonated.  I bottled in 12 oz plastic bottles though.

My question would be this; if you're bottling in beer bottles and your cider is primed, can you just measure off 12 oz with a measuring cup and pour that volume into your bottles without having to worry about bottle bombs?  I don't have a bottler or racking cane, and I'm not sure if this is accurate enough to keep my bottles from exploding.

[lbragg]

If you let your cider finish to FG and add 4 oz corn sugar per 5 gal you wont have to worry about bottle bombs
use a hydrometer to calculate starting gravity and finished gravity
when it stops working it should be finished

[clevernonsense]

You can get flip top bottles like this:
http://www.amazon.com/500-Amber-Flip-Cap-Bottles-pack/dp/B002Y2951C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1315323186&sr=8-4

A bit expensive to start with but they are nice to have in general. You can also usually find 1 liter ones for fairly cheap.

I would use a food-grade plastic tube rather than a measuring cup, and fill from the bottom of the bottle up--prevents too much oxidation.

[darrenct83]

I'm sure that it would work fine to fill the bottles to the neck with primed cider. A racking setup is not very expensive. It makes life a whole lot easier. You're going to need a capper too. Also not very expensive unless you need a really nice one.

[clevernonsense]

Following these instructions should work well, and it is of course a matter of preference but I thought I would add these comments/suggestions:

- for 1 gallon, I usually only use about 1/4 of the yeast packet or even a fifth
- I don't think apple cider really needs yeast nutrient though I have never used it. I've never had a fermentation stall on me.
- with fresh apples, I generally just wash the heck out of them, juice them, and don't pasteurize. I add well-activated yeast and it gets to do the majority of the work, while a little wild yeast adds some character (I've never had this go wrong, and this is how some wineries operate)
- I would stress sanitation more--EVERYTHING that comes in contact with the cider should be sanitized, including the juicer elements (mine are all dishwasher safe, so I usually run it through on sanitize right before starting)
- Rather than racking, I generally just wait until fermentation stops (when SG doesn't change over 2 days)--this is usually just 2 weeks or so which is fine for letting stuff hang out with the sediment. Then I bottle with priming sugar or add apple juice concentrate. Check for "priming sugar calculator" on google for charts. Then it's best to let the bottles age for a few months. I like using 1 liter grolsh bottles with flip-top lids.
- I have had fun results adding the following to kick up alcohol: dextrose (corn sugar), regular sugar, honey (you will want to rack in this case and will need a long bit of more time), fructose (cheap and matches the primary sugar in apple juice), and my favorite is just adding a can of frozen apple juice concentrate
- you CAN use ale and/or lager yeasts with great results--lager in particular works well but will require the right temperatures and you need to age the heck out of it.
- I would strongly advise against any sort of heat pasteurization - it radically changes the flavor, at least to my taste buds
- most store apple juices are made without preservatives, added sugar, or added water. Added vitamin C is not a problem.
- Whole Foods, for about $7, sells 1 gallon glass jugs of unfiltered, cold pasteurized apple juice. Makes a very convenient, easy, and cost effective source. It's a tarter than typical organic juice that benefits from some added sugar.

Harpoon (a Massachusetts Brewer) has an apple cider made solely from Apples and Yeast--it's dry, crisp, light, and smooth. Also about 4% alcohol. It makes a good "standard" IMO.

Just some things to throw out there! I'm lucky in that I really like cider in all spectrums of the results--from tart&dry to sweet&mellow to even a little sour/funky, so I feel pretty confident goofing off with it.

[chandlerbingco]

Interesting article - I've been trying to duplicate the hart berry cider served at BJ's. I have three 1-gallon batches going now, so I should know how close I've come in about 6 months (aging)...

I have not had a problem finding cider (not from concentrate) in 1-gallon jugs at our local Walmart (we live in Colorado). There is no potassium sorbate on the label, but the cider has been pasteurized. I have not added any additional sugar to the must so far to keep the alcohol content low (adding extra sugars at the beginning will not make your cider sweeter unless you intentionally arrest the fermentation before finishing - extra sugar at the beginning will increase your alcohol content), but will probably backsweeten when the fermentation is done to balance the tartness of the cider.

I don't have a complete brew log yet from these batches, but I'm thinking the typical cider is probably about 5% alcohol - so I'd start with a SG at about 1.050 and add a little yeast nutrient to keep things going.

Another comment would be to add Pectic Enzyme - if you don't add this at the very beginning (about an hour before adding yeast) and mix thoroughly, you'll have trouble getting the cider to clear out later. It's cheap and easy to find at a home-brew store.

For the berry flavor, I'm thinking of adding 1lb of thawed and mashed blackberries to the must at the start of secondary fermentation (again, you should probably pre-treat the berry mash with pectic enzyme) and letting them sit in the carboy until it's time to bottle.

[Dx253]

I used One Step: No rinse cleanser to sanitize my one gallon glass jug prior to pouring in the apple cider. The gentlemen at the brewing store told us we could keep some of the cleanser in the air lock (up to the fill line) while it is fermenting. My question is, my wife swears while I was moving the jug a few drops from the air lock spilled into the cider. Will this affect our hard cider? The cleanser was diluted 1 tbsp:1 gallon of water.

Thank you for the help in advance!

[chandlerbingco]

As you mention, this is a no rinse cleanser - presumably you didn't rinse it out before pouring your cider must in. A few more drops of cleanser solution won't hurt anything.

[brewingrocks]

I just finished pressing some apple and got 2 litres of cider I wanted to make it an equal gallon so I added some water and icing sugar, the sg was 1070. what will the percentage end up being when it ferments out?

[jnealy69]

Here is an excerpt from BeerAdvocate:

Calculating the ABV
Say our brewer crafted a high-alcohol beer. The OG measured at 1.080, and the beer stopped fermentation with a FG measurement of 1.011. Simply subtract the FG from the OG and multiply by 131.

1.080 - 1.011 = 0.069 x 131 = 9.039%

So we've got a 9 percent alcohol by volume beer. Easy!

[hoppybeerboyp90x]

it will prolly be about the same son

[mlizethdimas]

My cider is in its 1.5 week and I see some tiny bubbles in the cider but negligible in the airlock. Should I rack now and then wait another week to rack into bottles? It's my first batch, help!

[ExclusiveCl]

If I want to do this in a 6g Jug, I'm just multiplying this recipe by 6, and using the full packet of yeast, correct???
Thanks

[goofhead]

yes ... sort of 1 packet will do 5 gallons... in fact 2 tsps of yeast is all you need it will just take a little longer to ferment. yeast as its working multiplys and in all reality the yeast natrually forming works a whole lot better then anything you could add... heres what ive found. I made 2, 1 liter test batches to A i added 1 tsp yeast and 2 tbsp sugar. the specific gravity (SG) was 1.045. to B i addded nothing its SG was 1.040. After 5 days i tested A SG was at 1.030 and B SG was 1.010 and in 10 days A SG was 1.005 and B was 1.000.

Also i did not monitor temperature but during the day room temp was around 25C and at night it dropped to a high of 15 so in theory yeast should have stopped at 18-19 but the natural yeast in B kept growing away while A stalled and kicked back in when temps got back up to 20C.


So to short answer your question yes you multiply all ingrediants ... except the yeast it would be happy with just a single packet of yeast.

[macky171]

hi, ive just started to ferment my 1st batch of cider ever!! ive been reading all comments and am mostly interested in knowing more about bottling.
people are saying to just put it in plastic bottles in a cool place and add suger for carbonation, but if i did this would my plastic bottles not explode??
any help is greatly appreciated!!
thanks.

[cjo.streich]

I really like this project, but was wondering how strong the cider is.

[guy90]

Thanks for the upload, and tips featured here :)