aging time vs in-bottle fermentation (carbonation)

[Tomáš Černohous]

Hi, I would like to ask you - how long do you suggest I can age cider in glass demijohns if I want to carbonate it later with adding priming sugar right before bottling. Context of my question is that I suppose if I will leave the cider age for too long the yeast might become quite weak and low nutrient to restart the fermentation in bottle afterwards and I would need to reintroduce some yeast along with priming sugar, right?

1) So how long we could safely say we can age cider before bottling with sugar/juice and without necessity of reintroducing some yeast?

2) If there will be need to add some yeast, how much do you add not to introduce too much sediment in the bottle?

Thanks!

[Nick MacLean]

Hi,

While it’s true that older yeast can take a while to carbonate, if you aren’t in a big rush to carbonate, the residual yeast can usually get the job done. I’ve bottled year old cider that naturally carbonated over the course of about 2 months. For a more reliable method, some companies make yeasts that are meant for secondary carbonation. They typically don’t need a lot of nutrients, and flocculate very well to maintain a clear cider. Alternatively, if you have access there is a tool called a “beer gun” around here that allows you to fill bottles with carbonated cider directly from a keg. They are a tad pricey for the amateur, but it lets you carbonate your cider to whatever level you would like and you don’t have to worry about excess sediment.

Nick

--
--
Visit our website: http://www.ciderworkshop.com
 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Cider Workshop" Google Group.
By joining the Cider Workshop, you agree to abide by our principles. Please see http://www.ciderworkshop.com/resources_principles.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cider Workshop" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cider-workshop+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cider-workshop/25816956-edd7-4fc6-9d7b-8ede79f20064n%40googlegroups.com.

[Francis Bonenfant]

1) It depends. Last year I apparently managed to kill enough yeast to prevent in-bottle fermentation by a combination of: unfertilized trees, pre-fermentation clarification (sulfite+pectinase and racking the clear juice after 24h), three rackings, aging a year in glass after adding 25 ppm sulfite. Normally unless your cider is low-nutrient and naturally has stopped fermenting before reaching dryness, and you wait less than a year, there -should- be yeast left. 

2) See https://llancider.wales/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Bottle-Conditioning-guide.pdf section 6

With some assumptions it comes down to around 2 g /100 L. A dry packet of yeast is 5 grams most of the time. For smaller quantities (5 gal/20 L batch, or bottle by bottle) it's suggested to make a starter that's easier to dose than fractions of a gram of dry yeast.

I like to mix sugar (In my case, frozen apple juice from the same batch as the cider, or sometimes apple blossom honey) with the cider in bulk before bottling, to ensure a good mixing and consistency between bottles.

[Nimzo]

If you prime the aged cider with the following year's fresh juice when you bottle it, there should be natural yeasts in the juice that will ensure secondary fermentation in the bottle.  That can take a bit of time, but it has worked for me.    

Nimzo