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Cider Digest #0233
Subject: Cider Digest #231 Wed Dec 9 18:00:02 EST 1992
From: Paul & Anita Correnty <71174.1121@CompuServe.COM>
Fellow cidermakers,
To bastardize a familiar phrase: DON'T WORRY,RELAX, AND HAVE A CIDER!
Or at least think about how good your cider will taste when it is all
ready to drink.
To Doug B. whose cider has stopped fermenting: given the fact that the
sweet cider was not pasteurized or sulphited I see no reason why it
would stop fermenting or why it wouldn't ferment. The problem is
obviously with the yeast, although I am not sure why (did you just
pitch the pack or make a starter?) because I used Wyeast Bavarian
slurry this fall to ferment a batch of raspberry cider with outstanding
results at cool cellar temperature. In any case assuming that the cider
is still nice and sweet without any off flavors I would procede as if
nothing happened as cider is very tolerant (like grape must) and not
nearly as fragile as sterile wort. So get a new pack or two of yeast
and try, try again and good luck!
As to the subject of exploding bottles...
I came into making my household beverages in a little different way
than most brewers in that I had made cider for five or six years before
hooking up with brew clubs to learn their craft and vise versa so I
look at fermenting more from a cider or mead or winemakers perspective
than a brewers; I expect most of my alcoholic products to finish
fermenting not by hydrometer readings but when they're damn good and
ready to. Wine bulk ages for a year before bottling and cider starts in
the fall and gets bottled in the spring, the reason being that both
undergo secondary fermentations (malo-lactic) that serve to soften the
acidity and mellow the taste. If bottled too early the malo-lactic
fermentation takes place in the bottles and KA-POW! I know that it
tortures folks to tie up their equipment for six months or so but
that's the way it goes! Do remember as well that completely fermented
dry cider has a gravity reading below 1.000 so that priming sugar
calculations have to reflect this. Better to just add 1/2 cup per 5
gallons for the desired sparkle.
Recipes: I wrote an article on cider with recipes in last summers'
Zymurgy issue for a quick overview. Or an excellent Garden Way
publication "Sweet and Hard Cider" available in many homebrew supply
stores.
A last note: FORGET ABOUT THE CIDER IN THE CELLAR. Go to Florida for
the winter, write a large novel or just space out for a while. Cider
just needs time to do its' thing...personally I don't even rack it
until it is time to bottle!
Doug B.: let us know when it starts up...
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