When is my brew ready? Should I add extra yeast

[pb1uk]

Hi all,

Apologies for yet another newbie question. I've found websites and books contradicting each other and much prefer to ask experienced brewers their thoughts instead :)

I set my home brew cider fermenting 3 weeks ago. To 3.5 gallons of juice I added around 3.5 grams of cider yeast. I'm can't recall which website I got that from but it doesn't sound like it was enough. The Cider stopped bubbling around a week ago and tastes ok, but doesn't taste too alcoholic. I was going to bottle it this weekend and added campden tablets to my brew last night.

Would it be ok to add more yeast now or is it too late? Do i need to bottle and see how it turns out? I was going to bottle with some carbonation tablets, would that increase the strength?

I did take a hydrometer reading at the start, but I don't think i did it right.

Apologies for the barrage of questions, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

pb1uk

 

[chewie]

Use table sugar (3-5g if your bottles are capable of handling high pressure) to carb the cider up, carbonation drops aren't particularly good. The cider may not be to strong if you didn't add sugar to up the starting gravity, what was the starting gravity and what did it finish at?

 

[pb1uk]

Use table sugar (3-5g if your bottles are capable of handling high pressure) to carb the cider up, carbonation drops aren't particularly good. The cider may not be to strong if you didn't add sugar to up the starting gravity, what was the starting gravity and what did it finish at?

I'm not sure of the strength of the bottles, i'm sterilising a real mix of empties from 300ml Amstel bottles to 660 Cobra ones.

I added around 200-250g of brewing sugar at the start when I added the yeast. I added another 150-200g when I added the campden tablets last night as it tasted a little sour.

Is it too late to add more yeast, should I just add the table sugar and bottle?

I took the hydrometer reading the morning after starting fermentation and it came out at 60. I'm not sure if i did it right though

 

[terrym]

Normally final gravity is probably more important than the original gravity since if the yeast has not consumed all the sugars and stops but then restarts again you might end up with bottle bombs as a worst case. However if you have already added the campden tablets then that should have killed off the yeast, and a fermentation restart without new yeast shouldn't happen.
So I suggest that first you check the SG and try to get it right. If it had properly finished it should be around 1.000. If not it will be higher
If you are unsure about how to read a hydrometer have look at this.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=60895.
If you come back to the forum with this reading and tell us whether you want a sweet still cider or a dry carbonated cider or something between someone on here will be able to advise you.

 

[chewie]

If its beer bottles you are using they should be strong enough. What is the gravity reading at the minute?

 

[pb1uk]

I've just taken a reading and it has come out at around the 1010 mark, the first reading around half a day into fermentation was 1060.

 

[pb1uk]

Normally final gravity is probably more important than the original gravity since if the yeast has not consumed all the sugars and stops but then restarts again you might end up with bottle bombs as a worst case. However if you have already added the campden tablets then that should have killed off the yeast, and a fermentation restart without new yeast shouldn't happen.
So I suggest that first you check the SG and try to get it right. If it had properly finished it should be around 1.000. If not it will be higher
If you are unsure about how to read a hydrometer have look at this.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=60895.
If you come back to the forum with this reading and tell us whether you want a sweet still cider or a dry carbonated cider or something between someone on here will be able to advise you.

I'd like to try and carbonate it with somewhere between sweet and dry please :)

 

[Pirate_Pete]

I was under the impression that campden tablets do not kill off yeast. I don't use them.
Terrym is correct though it should really ferment down to 1.000. Mine usually end up there or below.

Personally I don't think you used enough yeast in the first place. The packets I buy are 9 grams for 25 litres.
Did it smell like sulphur at all while fermenting? That's a sign of stressed yeast.

If you want the cider to be slightly sweet you'll have to add artificial sweetener when bottling.

I'd leave it a few more days and see if the gravity drops. Less chance of bottle bombs.
When mine go down to 1.000 I use about 9 grams sugar per litre. But I'd be concerned using that much with the gravity you've got.

 

[pb1uk]

I was under the impression that campden tablets do not kill off yeast. I don't use them.
Terrym is correct though it should really ferment down to 1.000. Mine usually end up there or below.

Personally I don't think you used enough yeast in the first place. The packets I buy are 9 grams for 25 litres.
Did it smell like sulphur at all while fermenting? That's a sign of stressed yeast.

If you want the cider to be slightly sweet you'll have to add artificial sweetener when bottling.

I'd leave it a few more days and see if the gravity drops. Less chance of bottle bombs.
When mine go down to 1.000 I use about 9 grams sugar per litre. But I'd be concerned using that much with the gravity you've got.

Thanks for the advice. It did smell a sulphuric when it was fermenting.

It is wise to give it a good stir before taking another sample to test with the hydrometer?

 

[terrym]

OK.
If there are doubts about the Campden tablets not killing off the yeast then I suggest the following.
Leave it a few more days as Pete has said and see if the gravity drops. If it continues to drop then simply leave it until it has stabilised.
If it remains at 1.010 it should have residual sweetness given what you say you want.
If it drops further it will obviously become drier. What I have done in the past is add artificial sweetener in the form of Cologran tabs from Lidl at 4 per litre which just takes the edge off the dryness without being sweet. Others may have their ideas for back sweetening.
If you still want to carbonate I suggest you come back again for advice after you know what the FG actually is unless someone wants to cover all the options at this stage.

PS. It's not necessary to stir for hydrometer readings

 

[Personal91]

Hi all,

Apologies for yet another newbie question. I've found websites and books contradicting each other and much prefer to ask experienced brewers their thoughts instead :)

I set my home brew cider fermenting 3 weeks ago. To 3.5 gallons of juice I added around 3.5 grams of cider yeast. I'm can't recall which website I got that from but it doesn't sound like it was enough. The Cider stopped bubbling around a week ago and tastes ok, but doesn't taste too alcoholic. I was going to bottle it this weekend and added campden tablets to my brew last night.

Would it be ok to add more yeast now or is it too late? Do i need to bottle and see how it turns out? I was going to bottle with some carbonation tablets, would that increase the strength?

I did take a hydrometer reading at the start, but I don't think i did it right.

Apologies for the barrage of questions, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

pb1uk

i would start iff with smaller batches to get your technique down - do you have any 1 gallon DJ ( demijohns) if not they are not expensive and if they are then use a 5 litre water bottle that you can get for about a quid from tesco asda iceland etc and drill a hole in the top for your airlock

 

[cheapbrew]

Campden tabs will not stop fermentation on their own (should be used in conjunction with Potassium Sorbate to stop fermentation) but they will cause the yeast to stall, but if there was enough yeast at the start then eventually they should get going again, but it sounds like you were short on yeast.

 

[pb1uk]

OK.
If there are doubts about the Campden tablets not killing off the yeast then I suggest the following.
Leave it a few more days as Pete has said and see if the gravity drops. If it continues to drop then simply leave it until it has stabilised.
If it remains at 1.010 it should have residual sweetness given what you say you want.
If it drops further it will obviously become drier. What I have done in the past is add artificial sweetener in the form of Cologran tabs from Lidl at 4 per litre which just takes the edge off the dryness without being sweet. Others may have their ideas for back sweetening.
If you still want to carbonate I suggest you come back again for advice after you know what the FG actually is unless someone wants to cover all the options at this stage.

PS. It's not necessary to stir for hydrometer readings

I've taken another reading and it has dropped slightly to 1008. Would this be safe to bottle?

2 days ago when I added the Campden tablets and extra sugar it looks this the latter is starting to carbonate it a little. I added about 200g to 3.5 gallons. With this in mind around how much sugar should I be adding per 500ml when bottling?

 

[terrym]

I've taken another reading and it has dropped slightly to 1008. Would this be safe to bottle?

2 days ago when I added the Campden tablets and extra sugar it looks this the latter is starting to carbonate it a little. I added about 200g to 3.5 gallons. With this in mind around how much sugar should I be adding per 500ml when bottling?

In spite of the campden tablets your yeast is still active as the SG has gone down. The sugar you put in plus the residual sugar are still being consumed.
You cannot rush things. Basically it will be ready when its ready.
So just continue to take SG readings on a daily basis until this bottoms out.
You can then decide your next step.

 

[pb1uk]

Thanks for your comments. I definitely think the suggestion of smaller batches until I find a good method is worthwhile doing!

I've just taken a sample, 36 hours or so after the 1008 it now at around the 1000 mark. Does it need bottling asap or will it keep for a few days until next weekend? It's in a bucket with a lid on at the minute.

 

[chewie]

Same reading 3 days in a row will pretty much tell you its finished.

 

[terrym]

Thanks for your comments. I definitely think the suggestion of smaller batches until I find a good method is worthwhile doing!

I've just taken a sample, 36 hours or so after the 1008 it now at around the 1000 mark. Does it need bottling asap or will it keep for a few days until next weekend? It's in a bucket with a lid on at the minute.

There's no such thing as 'asap' in home brewing. If you are pushed for time, leave it until next weekend assuming its bottomed out. It will do no harm whatsoever.

 

[pb1uk]

Thanks for the advice. Was worried if I left it until next weekend it would go off, if it's fine happy days :)

Bearing in mind I added 200g extra sugar to 3.5 gallons 2 days ago, if I want to make it carbonated how much sugar should I add per 500ml? When I took my last sample I can see it's starting to get a few bubbles.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

When i started making supermarket juice wine the recipes advised leaving it a week after fermentation had finished for the yeast to clean up after itself, it never caused any problems so i do not think you have anything to worry about.

 

[cheapbrew]

you have had the best advice, just leave it, I left one two months coz I hid it away in our conservatory as there were comments about kitchen space, and coz I had loads of other stuff brewing I forgot about it, when I found it again and primed/bottled it etc it was one of the best ciders I made all year.