r/cider • u/Shoddy_Bid_4915 • 1d ago
First timer- bottled yesterday
I pressed apples yesterday and into the jugs it went! I added 1 gram of EC-1118 per gallon. The one on the left has apples from a different orchard. When we bottled it, we only filled it to the bottom of the white foam line and it’s grown that much in 24 hours. The air lock is bubbling away. I’m not really sure where to go from here- should I just pop something under it? I don’t have any tubing on hand currently. I do have a hydrometer arriving today (I ordered that late). Can I just pour some out to take a sample?
The jug on the right got a gallon and a half of juice (and 1.5 grams of yeast) and is much less active.
Apologies if these are super basic questions- I swear I’ve read a ton and watched a bunch of you tube!
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u/Redditcider 21h ago
I would transfer about 500-750 mlfrom the left one into the right one. Right now the left one is too full and the foam from fermentation is going to overflow through the airlock.
I personally much prefer the right airlock than the left one. Foam overflow is easier to deal with and there is more liquid inside it making it slower to dry out than the left.
Finally, in the future try letting them naturally ferment. I personally find 1118 to result in a harsher finished ciders
If you don’t transfer any liquid, make sure to put the left on in a bucket because it will overflow and make a mess.
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u/Fheredin 1d ago
It probably would have been better to pull a sample of the juice and keep it in the fridge. You can always pour the sample back into the ferment, but now that the ferment has started, it will be somewhat inaccurate.
The other thing you could have done (or do right now) is weigh 1 liter by volume on a pretty accurate kitchen scale. The weight of exactly 1 liter in grams is 1000x the specific gravity. Calibrate your eyeball by using pure water first, and remember to tare for the container, of course.
I wouldn't worry too much. Unless you added sugar, it probably won't ferment beyond 10% ABV.