Bottle Conditioning

Great news for the Pennbrook Cider... after 3 weeks of fermentation, I took a gravity reading of 1.000 which indicates that it has completed fermenting.  Before starting the whole process I took an inital gravity test, which yields an ABV of around 5.2%.  The next step is to bottle condition the cider.  This process allows the cider to carbonate, but you can certainly drink the cider as is.

First and foremost I cleaned everything with Five Star PBW cleaner, this is a recommend cleaner for brewing equipment.  Personally, I don't really care for it, but since I bought it I am going to use it.  Next thing is to sanitize EVERYTHING!!! You don't want wild yeast to get into the cider and make any unnecessary changes to taste.

I measured out 15 grams of dextrose, I used a calculator that I will link... here!  Added in some boiling water just to dissolve the sugar.  I waited for the water to cool and then siphoned the cider into a bucket that contained the sugar.

 This might be an unnecessary step, as you can probably siphon into the bottles directly, but I wanted to make sure the sugar was properly incorporated into the cider.  Since I didn't buy or save and 12 oz bottles, nor did I purchase a bottler (yet), I decided to use two half gallon growlers, courtesy of Happy Puppy.

Finished product

The growlers will sit for two weeks as it carbonates and then I will finally have my first batch of cider.

A little before and after of the siphoning process.  You can see the dead yeast, or lees, in the bottom of the carboy.  There is a tad bit of cider left over, but I didn't want to chance that dead yeast getting into the growlers.

With that I sit and wait another two weeks!

Cheers,

Happy Penguin

Quick Update

Good Evening Home Brewers,

I finally have one of my graphics from Ben!  I like it a lot and if/when I start bottling the cider and giving it to friends and family, I will be creating a label with this graphic as the official "Happy Penguin, Happy Puppy" logo.

Happy Penguin, Happy Puppy, by Ben Sawyer

As far as my first batch of hard cider goes, most of the bubbles are gone, there is very few signs of fermentation, however it will continue to sit for another 6 or 7 days.  What I think is super interesting is that the cider is quite clear.  You can see your hand from the other side.  Normally brewers will add pectin to the cider to make it clear and less cloudy.  From my understanding pectin does not effect the flavor, but the appearance.  I did not add any to my cider.  I did start buying some new yeast and some new juice for my next batch!

So clear!

Well that's all for now, the next time I will update is when I am ready to rack my cider!  Until then...

Cheers,

Happy Penguin