I am sure these have been covered but I am not finding them …
Nov 10 I made 5 gallons of cider with White Labs WLP002 English Ale (via the zymurgy article). I took a sample last night at it was down to 1.001ish. So I am guessing with this yeast it’s done. It tastes nice, dry wine/applish. Still slightly cloudy but not bad.
So I guess my questions come on the aging side. I am going to leave it a bit to clear up a bit more, but should I bulk age it longer? Or bottle in Jan. and age it that way?
I was planning on going still, but now I am thinking about splitting the batch and trying to sweeten or carb some. So if I do that, would I need to prime and re-yeast?
I’ll keep on reading, but thanks in advance.
OK, first things first re:cloudiness. It’s hard to say without getting a look at your cider if there is a large amount of yeast in suspension or if it is pectin haze. Dousing the cider with pectic enzyme will likely help clear up the latter issue. You can also try adding gelatin to the carboy. That will take everything out of suspension.
Me personally, I like to bulk age my cider. Then when it comes to bottling time there is a little sediment spread out over many bottles. If you choose to bottle now, All bottles will have enough sediment that you won’t be able to pour the bottle without stirring it back up. Never mind that the haziness add no flavor, but it sure doesn’t look as nice in a glass.
As for carbonating, I would definitely add the pectinase. Once it clears up I would bottle with 1/3 cup of sucrose. That will give your cider some spritz without stepping into champagne effervescence.
