I have to jump in here because of my experience last year. I used 5 gallons of
unpasteurized cider from Pine Tree in Dellwood. I crushed and used one Campden tablet per
gallon, waited 48 hours and pitched. It apparently wasn't enough, because the cider
ended up tasting VERY infected - I had to dump the whole batch because it was so
undrinkable. What's more, the bacteria from that cider ended up infecting my siphon,
which in turn infected several (7-8) subsequent batches of beer I brewed. The bacteria in
there is nasty stuff that can even infect a beer in the secondary, and will leave a sharp
throat taste in any beer if infected. The only good result I had out of that cider was
when I took the remaining six gallons and boiled it in my kettle before pitching. Beware!
~ Scott
On Oct 24, 2014, at 10:54 AM, Dave Royer
<dave(a)droyer.org> wrote:
Hey cider experts...I am putting together a Cider quickstart guide for the club website
and would love some thoughts/comments/suggestions from all the cider experts in the club
here. I posted this to the Facebook group as well. I'll compile the suggestions and
answers and share with everyone.
I'm going to toss a few questions here to get opinions, suggestions and thoughts on
the process. I'll stagger these over a couple days to cover the specific steps.
Starting out, what do you do first things when you get your juice? Here's what I
have. What did I screw up or what would you suggest doing differently?
If using pasteurized cider:
- Add Sugar, if desired
- Add yeast nutrient - 1.25 tsp (or Fermaid K - 5 grams)
- Add 2.5 tsp pectic enzyme
- Check and record the gravity
- Pitch yeast (this is my next topic for another day)
If using unpasteurized cider (5 gallons):
- 1 crushed Campden tablet, blended with a little juice to disolve
- Add yeast nutrient - 1.25 tsp (or Fermaid K - 5 grams)
- Add 2.5 tsp pectic enzyme
- Add sugar, if desired
- Check and record the gravity
- Wait 48 hours for campden to come out of solution before pitching
- Pitch yeast (this is my next topic for another day)
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