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scot marsh
New Member
Username: Sculpine
Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 99.18.83.100
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 01:03 am: | 
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ok, first attempt at a sparkling cider. the OG was 1.082, it is still rockin and rollin, my plan was to ferment it out to around 1.00. then use either corn sugar or corn sugar pellets to carbonate. after reading a few posts on several sites, i now am worried about bottle grenades. my question is if i carbonate with the corn sugar, is there a big risk of fireworks if i store the bottles at room temp. and for how long can i store them. my guess is that i will have around 12-13% ABV and plan to use beer bottles
thanks
scot |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 10721
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.141.103.148
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 01:24 am: |
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If the cider ferments out to 1.000 or below, you can assume there are few if any fermentable sugars left. When you add priming sugar (it's best to calculate and measure the amount by weight) and bottle, the yeast will ferment the priming sugar and carbonate the cider. There is little danger of bottle bombs, assuming you prime with the right amount. Depending on the yeast strain (beer yeast is less alcohol tolerant than wine or cider strains), it's possible that the yeast will have difficulty metabolizing the priming sugar, but that's normally not a problem.
Of course the cider will be quite dry, but that's the nature of sparkling cider. It's much more difficult to naturally carbonate sweet cider (that's often where the bottle bombs occur), but I'll assume you are expecting yours to be dry. |
scot marsh
New Member
Username: Sculpine
Post Number: 2
Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 99.18.83.100
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 02:01 am: |
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Thanks Bill, yes i used Lavlin 1116 and expect it to be dry. Ive done pleny of beer over the years, and a few sparkling meads, but never cider. I just put my basic math and historical knowledge and went at it. Then I made the mistake of reading, and the amount of conflicting opinion was really daunting. I am planning a sweet cider as well, but will be using either Ale Yeast or if I can find one, a Cider Yeast and just adjust the OG so it will finish sweet, and of course leave it still.
again thanks
scot |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 10722
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.141.103.148
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 02:22 am: |
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Your brewing and meadmaking experience makes you more of an authority on cider than many people who are giving the conflicting advice. I suspect the reason for the excess of misinformation is that so many people have tried cider at one time or another. In the days before they added preservatives (even now quite a bit of commercial juice is only pasteurized), anybody could leave a jug open and get some kind of fermentation from wild yeast. I'm guessing half of the regulars here may have done it when they were teenagers or a little older.
I recall some experiments with "balloon cider" when I was young. The stuff tended to be on the hot side, but it was smoother and rather potent when we allowed it to freeze in the winter.
(Message edited by BillPierce on September 23, 2009) |
scot marsh
New Member
Username: Sculpine
Post Number: 3
Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 99.18.83.100
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 10:49 am: |
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my recipe was 5gal raw cider, 4lb brown sugar, i did toss in a can of apple juice concentrate handful of cloves and a few stcks of cinnimon and one vanilla bean. the spices and sugar were boiled (and of course utensils sterilized), but the cider itself got no treatment in hopes some of the wild stuff may impart some depth. that said, i did use a bit of nutrient and energizer as i did want my yeast of choice to take over any bacterial type bugs quickly. the spice volumes are not really enough to add much but were used in hopes to maybe tone down some of the heat that i may end up with from the sugar.
i will probably make another batch with a little more sugar and concentrate and Lalvin 1118, i will probably be forced to store it on the porch this winter, i sure hope it doesnt freeze, then i would be forced to remove those pesky little ice crystals, and thats just wrong |
tim roth
Advanced Member
Username: Hopdude
Post Number: 756
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 173.22.56.157
| | Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 04:19 am: |
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scot-
Man, that sounds goooood!
cheers,tim |
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Brews and Views Archive 2009 
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