TC question

[stixy]

Hi guys, i need a little help..........again!!
Ive just started my first TC brew after reading such great things about it on here which is great as i love cider and cant wait to drink it!(another reason being its quick to make and itll be ready before my first brew which is now conditioning)
Anyway here is what i did and whats hapened,

Cleaned and sanitised all my equipment
added 10L of apple juice(no preseratives)
mixed in 1kg of sugar
added the other 10L of apple juice
took the SG and a very nice 1064 :thumb:
added muntons gold yeast(didnt have any SO-4 in!)
lid snaped on and left to do its thing.

Now from what i can see between 12 and 24 hours rapid fermentation occured with a little head of foam and all seems good however i checked it again at 36hours ish and fermentation seems to have subsided rather a lot ie no head of foam and a few bubbles on top, took another reading and the hydrometer doesnt seem to have moved!!

From what i can gather TC doesnt have a vigious fermantation process but it seems to have stoped completley is this normal or am i just being over sensitive but the other worrying factor is the hydrometer hasnt moved!
could i have a case of stuck fermentation?

i hope everything is ok but your thoughts on this would be much appricated.

 

[tubby_shaw]

Give it another 24 hours and check again :thumb:
Tc can go off like a rocket and then settle into an almost mundane fermentation :)
It is dependant on a number of variables such as yeast type, juice type temp etc, don't panic yet :grin:

 

[stixy]

should it go crazy again then, or a least show some signs of it doing its magic,what should i look for, and if it is the same after another 24hours should i add more yeast?

 

[BrewStew]

most of my TC's never had a yeast head.

put your ear to the fermenter... if you hear fizzing like when you listen closely to lemonade in a glass.... it's working :thumb: .. also give it a smell... you should smell CO2 (and commonly sulphur) aswell

 

[stixy]

nice one brewstew, i shall do just that when i get home!should the hydrometer start moving though?? by the time i check it again it will have been 48hours.

also when it comes to racking to the keg ill add the desired amount of campden tablets to stop the yeast (as i dont want 10% death juice!)
but should i condition it outside in the cold straight away as i dont want the yeast kicking back into action again??

 

[BrewStew]

48 hours is a bit early to tell from my POV...

if i've researched this correctly, i think the first 48 hours or so the yeasts are still using the oxygen to multiply (the violent froth you saw).. it's not until they reach the anaerobic (sugar eating and alchol making) stage that you'll start to see the gravity dropping...

i dont tend to plop my hydrometer in till the main blast of the reaction is over so the hydrometer doesn't get caked in gunk... so i've never really monitored the first 48 hours personally.

if you've had the violent start... sounds to me like its working :thumb:

yes, rack it as soon as it's down to the desired gravity and add campden if you're force carbonating it in a cornie... if you're using a plastic keg that you cant add CO2 to, then you're going to have to rack it a little earlier, and let it continue fermenting in the keg until it reaches the desired taste and carbonation... then kill it with campden and add finings to the keg to get the yeast to drop out of suspension.

it's always a bit iffy from what i've read by others trying to let a TC naturally carbonate, but not let it ferment too far. bottling TC i think isn't a good idea... unless you've force carbonated it and knocked out the yeast first.

 

[BrewStew]

oh and to add, Potassium Sorbate does a much better job of knocking the yeast down than campden

 

[stixy]

good,ill keep a close eye on it! what are the chances of the yeast kicking back into life once its in the corny lol as dont want to start drinking only to find as it goes on its getting dryer and stronger!!

 

[tubby_shaw]

oh and to add, Potassium Sorbate does a much better job of knocking the yeast down than campden

This is true it is a better inhibitor than sodium met, but it is an inhibitor and doesn't kill the yeast
Potasium sorbate stops the yeast from reproducing but any yeast left in suspension can still metabolise any sugars left :shock:
So even though you may have used a campden tablet and yeast stabiliser if you still have yeast in suspension and sugar in solution you could still get a fermentation in the bottle
This is why most commercial ciders are pasteurised.

 

[BrewStew]

if campden's all you've got, the only thing i can recommend is to use campden to knock em out, and finings to drop them out and leave the keg somewhere super cold for a week... once you've poured off the sediment, if you're getting clear cider from the tap, i'd say you aint gunna get another ferment..

if you can see cloudy whisps after all that... drink it fast :lol: (and get potassium sorbate for next time )

 

[BrewStew]

but it is an inhibitor and doesn't kill the yeast

sorry yes, i keep mixing "kill" with "knock out" ... although "knock out" isn't technically true either in the literal sense LOL

 

[stixy]

thanks you have been a great help, i look forward to tasting this, ill certainly let you know how it is, can not : wait!!

 

[BrewStew]

well that's great TC is best drunk super young! (IMO). if it tastes good/great... drink it! :drink: i've been known to start drinking it only a day or two of it being in the keg. after a month i've noticed its flavour starts to change and become a little less tastey... still drinkable, but it's usually gone by then :lol:

 

[pansub]

as we are back on TC can i ask a question please, due to the success of my last TC, BS's recipe, thought i would get another one on yesterday 25 litres of apple juice, unfortunately, i didn't check the recipe

added 3 kilo of sugar got a SG of 1084, can this be rescued!!!!!! :pray:

 

[tubby_shaw]

as we are back on TC can i ask a question please, due to the success of my last TC, BS's recipe, thought i would get another one on yesterday 25 litres of apple juice, unfortunately, i didn't check the recipe

added 3 kilo of sugar got a SG of 1084, can this be rescued!!!!!! :pray:

Add some tannin, acid and grape concentrate and call it apple wine :party:
Or let it ferment out as it is and use it to remove paint from woodwork :lol:

 

[BrewStew]

:lol:

it should be ok but will probably be in or around the 8%abv area by the time it's got to the level of dryness you like... unless you dont mind a really sweet 6% cider.

 

[MEB]

Just ferment it and drink it. TC is for drinking more than it's competition winning potential :thumb:

 

[pansub]

i can live with and in fact look forward to 8%+ abv dry cider :party:

 

[pansub]

my atempt at TC has now gone from OG 1084 TO 1024 thats 8% still sweet will let it drop a bit further maybe down to 1014

 

[pansub]

Tested my TC this morning and it is no longer overly sweet, taste's sharp but ok,

bottled 4 litres into 4 PET bottles at 1018 i presume this will continue to ferment and carbonate, hid it under the stairs.


The main batch, 20 litres finished up at 1016 which is 9% threw in 4 campden tablets and 4gms PS this sound right? Will leave it in the garage until Saturday and then siphon to my cornie and gas.

Any views on maybe adding a litre of apple juice into the cornie to give a bit more apple flavour?