I racked that Cider off the other day I lost about 1 litre pre drum in the process, I could not get it all out without sturing it all up so I chucked that bit could I have done anything to save it ?
I took the SG and it was 1006 is that ok, I took a little taste and was pleasantly surprised is was a little fresh/ tart but not bad.
I also had a brain wave ,not sure about result, at work we have a retractometer which we us to measure glycol strength so I thought I would play about with it
Its not calibrated for alcohol, but 40% scotch gave w , 13% wine x, 8.5%beer y and 4.7% beer z. my cider gave a reading between y and z nearer to the 8.5% beer I would guess between 6.5% and 7.5% not so sure about the accuracy all a bit of guess work but would this be a normal strength?
Thanks again in anticipation have a good X-mas one and all.
Leigh"
Hi Leigh,
Unfortunately you will always lose some cider when racking off. But you must get rid of the 'lees' (sediment) at the bottom. The sediment will spoil the taste of the cider otherwise. They will also make your cider more cloudy which some people do not like. There is nothing wrong with naturally cloudy cider but it should not be cloudy because the the lees. So it is always better to lose a bit cider in the process. I will lose up to a fifth of the pressed juice by the time I have racked it off once and then syphoned it again into barrels to sell. Many cider makers rack off twice during the fermentation process to let the cider clear as much as possible.
Your estimate of the strength sounds accurate. My cider seems to always be between 6% and 7.5%. Did you measure the original SG? If so there is a calculation to determine the strength using the first and last reading.
http://www.homebrewmart.com/alcohol.html
Technically your cider is ready to drink but it is 'young' i.e. it needs to mature. Store the cider, keeping it air tight for a month or two for to to mature. This rounds the cider off and helps bring out the full flavours.
Seasons greeting!
Ed
Herefordshire Cider at Checkley Brook
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