Good afternoon all,
I hope somebody can help me.
I currently have 100 litres of cider fermenting from home grown apples, yes it took a long time to collect, rinse, squash, and de juice!
I am looking to make proper old fashioned scrumpy as nature intended. I have added nothing to the juice & I am letting the natural yeast & sugar do the job, which it is doing. My first 25 litres is reaching the end of its fermentation as there are now hardly any bubbles left coming up the air lock.
After reading so many different opinions on what to do, I am looking for some advise.
What I would like to now know if do I need to rack (siphon) the cider from my plastic fermenting buckets to a large glass demijohn or carboy, or to simply bottle it right now? I know scrumpy is cloudy so I would of thought one or none racking is required? The next question is then can I drink it right away, or shall I leave it for a while?
Either way it looks like I am going to have to spend some dosh & buy 3 large carboys and a lot of 1 litres bottles! The idea is keep most of the cider in the large carboys while I drink the ones from the bottles. Once done, refill.
I have found the below on a website which makes sense, but unsure if this means drink straight after the first fermentation or to drink after the maturity phase. I won't be leaving it for 4 - 5 months that's for sure.
Within a few days the natural yeast will start to work and the fermentation process begins. This will be evident as the juice will begin to bubble. The fermentation process involves the yeast, which feed off the natural sugars in the juice to produce alcohol. We expect the process to take between 4 - 5 months to the point that all the sugars have been 'processed'. Once the process has been completed we will then seal the barrel. The next stage is to 'rack' each cider around springtime. The process of racking is to remove approximately 95% of the cider into another container. This is in order to take the cider off the 'lees'. This appears to be a fine dust at the bottom of the container and is made up from the spent yeast. An old name for the lees is 'the snarlydogs'. The cider in the new barrel will be then allowed to mature over the next few months. A secondary malo lactic fermentation may occur but not always. The maturation period mellows the cider and the taste is not as sharp as a newly fermented cider. This may be the origin of 'scrumpy' or 'rough cider' and the practice of drinking it as soon as the cider is ready to drink.
Many thanks, SJB395.
I hope somebody can help me.
I currently have 100 litres of cider fermenting from home grown apples, yes it took a long time to collect, rinse, squash, and de juice!
I am looking to make proper old fashioned scrumpy as nature intended. I have added nothing to the juice & I am letting the natural yeast & sugar do the job, which it is doing. My first 25 litres is reaching the end of its fermentation as there are now hardly any bubbles left coming up the air lock.
After reading so many different opinions on what to do, I am looking for some advise.
What I would like to now know if do I need to rack (siphon) the cider from my plastic fermenting buckets to a large glass demijohn or carboy, or to simply bottle it right now? I know scrumpy is cloudy so I would of thought one or none racking is required? The next question is then can I drink it right away, or shall I leave it for a while?
Either way it looks like I am going to have to spend some dosh & buy 3 large carboys and a lot of 1 litres bottles! The idea is keep most of the cider in the large carboys while I drink the ones from the bottles. Once done, refill.
I have found the below on a website which makes sense, but unsure if this means drink straight after the first fermentation or to drink after the maturity phase. I won't be leaving it for 4 - 5 months that's for sure.
Within a few days the natural yeast will start to work and the fermentation process begins. This will be evident as the juice will begin to bubble. The fermentation process involves the yeast, which feed off the natural sugars in the juice to produce alcohol. We expect the process to take between 4 - 5 months to the point that all the sugars have been 'processed'. Once the process has been completed we will then seal the barrel. The next stage is to 'rack' each cider around springtime. The process of racking is to remove approximately 95% of the cider into another container. This is in order to take the cider off the 'lees'. This appears to be a fine dust at the bottom of the container and is made up from the spent yeast. An old name for the lees is 'the snarlydogs'. The cider in the new barrel will be then allowed to mature over the next few months. A secondary malo lactic fermentation may occur but not always. The maturation period mellows the cider and the taste is not as sharp as a newly fermented cider. This may be the origin of 'scrumpy' or 'rough cider' and the practice of drinking it as soon as the cider is ready to drink.
Many thanks, SJB395.
