Does this look right?, first brew

[Supersocks]

So I've been reading the brilliant and helpfull threads here for advice for a while before deciding to take the plunge.
I'm a big fan of the Aspall "Cyder's" and would love to eventually create something that tastes like their Premier Cru version.
Hopefully this isn't to long, thanks for reading, I could use some advice/reassurance!

Today I made up two demijohns using Lidl Cloudy Apple juice in one and Lidl 100% AJ from concentrate in the other.

Immediately before putting the mixture below I sanitised both demijohns with Sodium metabisulphate and shook out as much drips as i could.
Both got a teaspoon each of pectolase and malic acid.
Each got about half a pint of extra strong tea with a squirt of honey and about 35grams of demerara (I think I should have put more in in retrospect) dissolved in it.
I measured both with a hydrometer and both had the same reading of 1.045 approx (not sure if I'm reading that properly but its not far off).
As I've seen posts here talking about very vigorous bubbling (gassing?, don't know what its properly called sorry) so left a bit of space with the intention of topping up in a few days.
I then sprinkled half a sachet of Mangrove Jack's M02 cider yeast on the top of each as per the instruction on the packet and gave each a demijohn a good shake to mix all up.

A couple of hours later it looks like below with what seems like the yeast sitting on top which has me worried I've ballsed it up somewhere along the line.
Any advice?, thanks.

 

[johncrobinson]

All is well.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Wait and see what it looks like tomorrow evening :-)

 

[Stevieboy]

All good.

 

[Supersocks]

Thanks, it does look more proper today, got a nice foam in both demijohns, panic over! Exciting :)

 

[johncrobinson]

I must admit after 55yrs of winemaking I still watch my ferments taking off like an expectant father.

 

[Tavi-brewer]

Agreed. Love coming down in the morning like Xmas day to see if the fermentation has kicked off!

 

[Supersocks]

Topped up yesterday with a mixture of cranberry juice and apple, because why not, bubbling away every one or two seconds. Must have a check about 10 times a day !

 

[Stevieboy]

Looking good.

 

[Supersocks]

Bottled up both today, final reading from the hydrometer was 0.995 on the cloudy one and forgot to the second one as i was in full stream bottling and sugaring mode by then and flustered.
Funny enough the 100% juice from concentrate tastes better than the "pure" cloudy apple juice one which is a bit watery and less appley, hoping both improve with time. Got 8 bottles out of the first and and almost 9 from the second one - will be carbonating that one in the sodasteam and drinking later as its already pretty decent.
Was bricking it capping them as it takes more force than i thought and was convinced the bottles would smash for the first few but none did.

Lessons learned, sodium metabisulphate tastes pretty bad, an auto-siphon or some practice before next time may be in order.
Leave space at the top for carbonating sugar and back-sweetening if doing so next time.
Figure out how to tilt the demijohn without exploding the muck at the bottom to get that ellusive ninth bottle out.

Heres hoping none of the bottles explode and taste improves in time! Cheers!

 

[Stevieboy]

Upturned rubber bung.

 

[Supersocks]

I decided to try back sweetening one of the remaining bottles of this stuff to see how much sweetness to add before bottling next time as I think I'd prefer slightly sweeter. I had added a level teaspoon of sugar to each bottle before capping and as a result they are pretty bubbly by now (and stored outside for safety!)
So, as a test i added a teaspoon of erythritol to a bottle i had taken literally taken one sip from and the end result was a bloody fountain with half the precious TC all over the floor and down the sink by the time i got there.
Its making me nervious about adding now at bottling next time, am i going to end up with hand grenades?