"Its Leigh from Oswestry
Hope you are well. Just a couple of silly questions
My 80litres of fermenting juice are in 4 , 25litre plastic containers, they were popping the airlocks about every 20secs in the start .now its down to about once every 2mins
When do I rack it off ?
How do I know when its stopped fermenting? I no the obvious answer is when the bubbles stop but can you over do fermenting it?
How do I know how strong it is?
And is better to leave the airlocks in or seal the container complete after racking . I would not want in to be still fermenting and blow the bung
Many thanks In anticipation
Leigh "
Hi Leigh,
It sounds like it is time to rack off that cider. The fermentation is coming to an end by the time of the popping. One way of checking it has stopped fermenting is to take a hydrometer reading a reading of around 1000 would indicate that all the sugar has turned into alcohol.
You cannot over ferment really. Although some people try to stop the fermentation to retain some of the natural sugars to produce a sweet cider (this is called 'keeving'). I would not attempt this yet. You can only tell how strong it is if you took a hydrometer reading when you pressed the juice. Then take a reading once fermentation has finished from this you can work out the alcoholic strength. Here is is simple formula to use:
Alcohol by Volume = (Initial Gravity - Final Gravity) / 0.75
The cider is now going through a secondary fermentation which will produce a small amount of CO2. It is best to seal the container. BUT CHECK REGULARY. Unscrew the lid to let off pressure. It is OK to do this as CO2 is heavier than air and will form a protective layer over the cider. Your cider should be ready in a month or so.
Herefordshire Cider at Checkley Brook
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