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Last week, I started making cider. Later that evening there were signs of life, and by the next day, I definitely had some more yeasty friends:
The bubbling rate steadily increased until by Friday it was bubbling every 2-3 seconds. By today, though, that rate had slowed as more of the sugars in the apple juice got used up. Much of the slightly scummy foam had gone, too:
So, time to top up! I sterilized my funnel (and the wine thief) using boiling water, extracted a tiny amount of the proto-cider, and topped up the demi-john with some more apple juice. Fairly quickly, the rate of bubbling increased again:
I had a taste of my sneaky sample, and it wasn't bad, so I think that's a sign nothing has gone horribly wrong, yet! I also used my newly-acquired hydrometer to measure the specific gravity of the apple juice (since I had some spare!). That came to 1.049 at roughly 20 centigrade; the internet has helpful calculators that tell me that if I ferment everything out to a final gravity of 1.000, that would result in 6.5% abv, whereas if the end point is a seemingly-usual 1.010, the result will be around 5.2% abv. The final fermentation process (when the specific gravity will be stable, the cider clear, and no activity in the airlock) is likely to take another 2-3 weeks, though, so I have to be patient!
The bubbling rate steadily increased until by Friday it was bubbling every 2-3 seconds. By today, though, that rate had slowed as more of the sugars in the apple juice got used up. Much of the slightly scummy foam had gone, too:
So, time to top up! I sterilized my funnel (and the wine thief) using boiling water, extracted a tiny amount of the proto-cider, and topped up the demi-john with some more apple juice. Fairly quickly, the rate of bubbling increased again:
I had a taste of my sneaky sample, and it wasn't bad, so I think that's a sign nothing has gone horribly wrong, yet! I also used my newly-acquired hydrometer to measure the specific gravity of the apple juice (since I had some spare!). That came to 1.049 at roughly 20 centigrade; the internet has helpful calculators that tell me that if I ferment everything out to a final gravity of 1.000, that would result in 6.5% abv, whereas if the end point is a seemingly-usual 1.010, the result will be around 5.2% abv. The final fermentation process (when the specific gravity will be stable, the cider clear, and no activity in the airlock) is likely to take another 2-3 weeks, though, so I have to be patient!
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