First go at cider... thick cake on top in fv

[guyb]

I've made plenty of beer, wine, and also turbo cider, however, this is my first go at cider from apples...

I accumulated about 100kg of apples from various sources, etc - I've stuck the ones I've not used yet (about 50kg) in a chest freezer I happened to have spare.

I made a press off some of the links off here, I'll post some pics etc later - suffice to say it's using a 2ton bottle jack and an apple smasher someone made me who works as an engineer (it's a vicious little beauty made entirely from stainless)! The same engineer is going to be the recipient of most of the cider - as I am unable to drink at the moment due to some medication.

52days to go - not that I'm counting at all (suffice to say I got an app for that countdown) :thumb:

So I got about 30L of juice from half the apples (50kg or thereabouts) in about 2hrs, added campden tablets for 24hrs, diluted the juice to get it to about OG 1.046, and made a starter from Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne / Cider yeast, pitched it at 21deg into two fermenters, I kept adding juice to the starter until I had about 500ml, letting it grow each time.

It started to ferment, and now I have about a .5inch crust (looks like a floating victoria sponge) on top of each - I think this is the equivalent of beer krausen - I can see this through the fv.

Should I stir it in, or just leave it alone?


Out of interest....
I also had 20kg of pears, so they are also fermenting separate bucket that I can't see into - but they are going like a rocket!! also diluted to about OG 1.046

 

[Peapodmaster]

well this happened to me when i made a turbo cider with some Robinsons strawberry and kiwi juice. and i had a big cake on top... i tried to get most of it off but it seemed to just stay inside the mix.. i'd leave it go if i was you and then maybe use a filter when you rack into another container, otherwise you may have bits in your drink :sick:

 

[Baldilocks]

I have this too. Can I just siphon from below the cake to avoid it ?

 

[Moley]

I'm not a cider maker, but as a winemaker I would suggest that if this is in a bucket you should give it a gentle stir a couple of times a day to push the pulp cap back into the mix. After a few days it will stop rising and will just circulate within the brew (the ‘lava lamp effect’), and then later on it will settle to the bottom with the dead yeast.

 

[oldbloke]

This is what my son calls The Living Sponge Of Death.
Anything pulpy does it.
It will eventually sink, and compact a bit.

 

[user 1290]

It sounds like the sediment you always get when pressing pulped apple filling full of CO2 and rising to the top.

If you want to eliminate this, stir in 1 teaspoon/gall of pectolase after pressing (at same time as sulphiting) and leave indoors (the enzyme needs warmth to work) and it will drop the sediment on on the most murkiest of pressed juice, even juice pressed from soft overripe apples which never seems to drop by itself. Then syphon the clear, sediment free juice off the top and make your cider or apple wine with it.

This will ensure no problems with pulp rising out of airlocks, and reduce sediment after fermentation to only a very thin layer (and is why I buy my pectolase in 1 kg bags).

 

[Archtronics]

Leave it, it will eventually sink/stick to the sides then you can rack off.

 

[guyb]

This is what my son calls The Living Sponge Of Death

haha, quality!

It sounds like the sediment you always get when pressing pulped apple filling full of CO2 and rising to the top.

If you want to eliminate this, stir in 1 teaspoon/gall of pectolase after pressing (at same time as sulphiting) and leave indoors (the enzyme needs warmth to work) and it will drop the sediment on on the most murkiest of pressed juice, even juice pressed from soft overripe apples which never seems to drop by itself. Then syphon the clear, sediment free juice off the top and make your cider or apple wine with it.

This will ensure no problems with pulp rising out of airlocks, and reduce sediment after fermentation to only a very thin layer (and is why I buy my pectolase in 1 kg bags).

I was in a mind to add pectolase, thanks for this tip, I will do this next time.

Leave it, it will eventually sink/stick to the sides then you can rack off.

I will do just that :thumb: