First time cider

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jojorose

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Hi all

I've spent the last week with my apples in fermenter juicing. Yesterday I removed the apples kept the juice and then pulled the fruit through straining bags. Recipe said when done add campden tablet. I put my juices into demijohns added sugar solution and yeast expecting great activity and diddlysquat.

What do I do.?
 
Ideally you add yeast and nutrient 24 hours campdens. I added it all together last year and my fermentation was very slow - just a level difference in the airlock rather than visible bubbling - but it still happened. check it with a hydrometer after a week or 2. Mine was fine.....
 
Ah that looks to be the problem. I should have waited 24 hours. As it happens I have bubbling. Nothing compared to the pears but action.

Going to pick the rest of the tree tomorrow.
 
It was indeed a slow starter and then shot a load of mush out the top of the demijohns. Its now settling down in that the gunk is no longer being produced but bubbling away like a good un. Im assuming i dont rack it until the bubbling has slowed considerably?
 
It was indeed a slow starter and then shot a load of mush out the top of the demijohns. Its now settling down in that the gunk is no longer being produced but bubbling away like a good un. Im assuming i dont rack it until the bubbling has slowed considerably?

What yeast did you use? Did you use nutrients?
 
thats right - rack into a sterile vessel once the bubbling slows. In my experience 2 weeks in primary is usually enough....
 
Bottled it, tastes like drain cleaner.... Nice fizz though. The second batch i added some ordinary apple juice and then blended both lots. Still bubbling so am waiting a little longer before I rebottle.
 
I was premature with the bottling as lots of yeast debris in bottom of bottles. As the first lot was so disgusting I mixed it with the second batch and added some apple juice. This took me up to three demijohns. Wierdly one demi john is still bubbling away whilst the other two werent. I bottled the ones not into lidl spring water bottles and am now worried they are going to blow. I dont normally do bubbles so this is quite an exciting time.
 
I was in the homebrew shop and i overheard the owner talking to a bloke about his first time brew of cider. I took his advice and brewed my second lot in the fermenter and i racked it into another fermenter then into the demijohn. The shop owner said to his customer that you dont need to be as sterile with your cider as you do with your beer so whilst i washed everything out i didnt steralise everything. Anyway bottled the last lot into lidl spring water bottles today and it actually tastes nice!!!!! I made a lot of mistakes for my first batch but it looks like its going to be ok. Next year i will be more organised. I got two buckets of crab apples making 9 x 1.5 ltr bottles.
 
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