Cider Virgin Questions

[fergus]

Hi there,

I bought 20l of fresh pressed apple juice on Sat, and am now looking to get it fermenting. As I haven't had time to research prior, I am trying to do a crash course in cider making. Being a bit overwhelmed by all the info out there, I was wondering if you could help me break it down, by answering a few questions I have:

- I added 1/4 tsp of potassium metabisulfite (in the pic) yesterday, based on what a fellow homebrewer and the interweb told me. I just dumped it in the carboy without diluting or mixing. Is this ok? How long should I leave before adding the yeast? Consensus on the interweb seems to be 24 hours.

- The guy from the "cidery" or "ciderie" (as I am in Montreal) or whatever it is called suggested adding malic acid. The shop weighed it out for me but I forgot to ask if I dump it straight into the juice or do I mix with water? Also for the acid, can I toss the yeast in right after this has been added?

- The OG of the juice is 1.040. Assuming it ferments down to 1.000 or just under, that gives me a cider in the region of 5% to 6% ABV, which I am fine with for a first cider. I am looking more to understand the process, but do you see any benefit of adding sugar other than upping the ABV? I am guessing it would also make it drier too?

- Should you aerate by shaking (assuming that is your method for beer)? I can't find a conclusive answer on this with as many people saying they do as don't.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I do appreciate any and all feedback, minus lmgtfy links

Cheers,

Fergus




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[pob]

Others will be able to answer your questions directly, here are a few links that will get you started until they give more comprehensive replies:

Cider 101

CIDER 102 "From bare soil to juice"

& the forum thread on it (a bit to wade through at 23 pages)

[Leann ull]

The sulfites kill any naturally occurring yeasts, 24hours and your good to go, sugar will bump the gravity make it drier and thinner
Follow the links Pob posted and join the club!

[Will_D]

I would leave the Malic acid until much later, maybe 3 months down the line, tast the fermented juice and decide. I usually add malic acid 6 - 9 months after fermentation when I am blending!

Cider takes a long time to mature

HTH

Will

[fergus]

Thanks lads. Will definitely leave the malic acid till later. I finally got around to adding the yeast (Lalvin 1116) yesterday and today it is fermenting away like nobody's business. And thanks for the link; will have a squiz over the weekend. Cheers


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