Last month I started a 1 gallon batch but it's winter and my home temp drops to 12 c at night and my garage refrigerator has beer fermenting , I came up with the Redneck heater. Button magnets for feet and a Reptile Heat Cable hot glued on, Add water to the pot sit the jug in and with the STC1000 the Redneck heater has keep the fermentation at 20 c and it's almost time to bottle.
So my girlfriend and I went down to VA for Thanksgiving and picked up a gallon and a half of unpasteurized pressed cider from a cidery down there (as well as some really incredible apples for snacking). We left the jugs outside for four days (30-60 degrees during the day) before we headed back to NYC. When we got home, there were some obvious signs of natural fermentation just beginning. We racked one gallon off into a sanitized carboy with airlock (1.06 on the hydrometer) and left the half gallon in the fridge for drinking sweet. Now, about half a week later, there are no signs of infection and fermentation in BOTH vessels is moving along on at quite a clip. However, just overnight the gallon in the carboy is smelling quite sulphuric (though still vigorously bubbling) and the cider in the refrigerator tastes delicious.
I know everyone says that the sulphur smell will likely go away with time, but do you recommend increasing/decreasing temperature with a natural ferment? It's in a room at between 65-70 degrees consistently, but given the nice flavor and continued activity with the cider in the refrigerator (which, I suppose, is dominated by wild lager type yeasts?), I feel like it might have a better ester profile in colder temps. This could just be pseudoscientific speculation on my part, however.
Would love to hear your input!
I apologize if this has been asked before but I have not been able to find the best way to keg my newest batch with the equipment I have.
I have a very dry cider that I want to back sweeten with juice and force carb.
I am assuming I will not be able to force carb at room temperature because of the additional sugar added.
I can pressurize the keg and keep it in the refrigerator but I am not setup to keep the CO2 connected. Assuming I pressurize cold cider to the correct psi and keep cold will this still work without a continuous source of CO2 connected?
Thanks for your help.
I just wrapped up a batch of cider for my wife after she went through a 1/6 keg of Angry Orchard in just 4 weeks. I've done kits before but this is my first try at "from scratch". Here's the details on what I did:
Started fermentation May 7th, OG 1.07
FG on May 22nd, 1.01 and added:
Mixed in at kegging:
I ended up wit a tiny bit over 2 gallons and kegged this in a corny until she runs out of Angry Orchard in the next day or two. I calculate this to cost me around $20 for the 2 gallons and need to scale up to a 5 gallon recipe if she likes it. Any suggestions on changes? Is an OG of 1.07 too high considering the slight dilution of the backsweeteners at the end? How do I calculate ABV for this batch?
Has it fermented? The plastic bottle it's in has expanded, so it's a gassy one.
