Honey has settled out of my cyser

[DanM]

I was afraid it was going to happen.... I picked up approx 6 gallons of fresh, unpasteurized cider from a local cider mill today. I slowly added 10 lbs of blueberry honey to the cider stopping every so often to rock the carboy and blend in the honey. I just went downstairs for a minute to put away some stuff and sure enough, it is settling out. I tried to rock the carboy to get it to mix back in, but so far no luck. Any suggestions on how to get these two back together again? ??? One possible plan is to empty a fair amount of the cider into my brew pot, dissolve it into a smaller amount of cider and then add the remainder of the cider back in.

Thanks

Dan

 

[AToE]

If you do a quick search there is actually a discussion about this exact situation going on right now, and there is some good info there.

 

[DaleP]

Relax my friend. I have made many award winning cysers without mixing the honey and juice. The yeast will find the sugars, the level of honey will disappear and a lovly cyser will emerge.

 

[afdoty]

I was afraid it was going to happen.... I picked up approx 6 gallons of fresh, unpasteurized cider from a local cider mill today. I slowly added 10 lbs of blueberry honey to the cider stopping every so often to rock the carboy and blend in the honey. I just went downstairs for a minute to put away some stuff and sure enough, it is settling out. I tried to rock the carboy to get it to mix back in, but so far no luck. Any suggestions on how to get these two back together again? ??? One possible plan is to empty a fair amount of the cider into my brew pot, dissolve it into a smaller amount of cider and then add the remainder of the cider back in.

Thanks

Dan

Hmmmmm... Blue berry Honey...I like! So what are you trying to do with this Dan? I know it's a cyser… LOL… Could you/would you post the recipe, ingredients, quantities and process, please.

If you haven't added the yeast, you could stir it in as normal. Use a long handled spoon, a lee stirrer (that's what I use).

 

[DanM]

Hmmmmm... Blue berry Honey...I like! So what are you trying to do with this Dan? I know it's a cyser… LOL… Could you/would you post the recipe, ingredients, quantities and process, please.

If you haven't added the yeast, you could stir it in as normal. Use a long handled spoon, a lee stirrer (that's what I use).

My recipe is simple....

Approx 5-6 gallons of freshly pressed, unpasteurized cider
10ish lbs of blueberry cider
Wyeast 4632 Yeast

And not a thing more!

Batch #2 is...

Approx 3 gallons of freshly pressed, unpasteurized cider
2ish lbs of blueberry cider
And no yeast or other ingredients.... This will ferment naturally.

Process?? Not much.... fill, mix, add yeast (for batch #1), and ferment.... I will transfer the mix after a while to get it off the trub.

Dan

Dan

 

[Medsen Fey]

That sounds very interesting. Wild fermentation can be fun. I hope you get a yeast that will produce a great tasting result.

One suggestion would be don't be in a rush to rack the Wyeast batch off the lees (the wine/mead term for the equivalent of trub). When you rack you leave some of the active yeast behind. Given that you are not adding any nutrients, you need to keep as many active yeast as possible in the solution. Aerate the must during the first 1/3 of fermentation, then keep swirling the yeast back up into suspension 1-2 times per day until it stops. This will increase the activity of the yeast and allow you to get the most out of them. Once it is done, then rack it.

If it gets stinky with sulfur, you may need some nutrients.

Medsen

 

[DanM]

That sounds very interesting. Wild fermentation can be fun. I hope you get a yeast that will produce a great tasting result.

One suggestion would be don't be in a rush to rack the Wyeast batch off the lees (the wine/mead term for the equivalent of trub). When you rack you leave some of the active yeast behind. Given that you are not adding any nutrients, you need to keep as many active yeast as possible in the solution. Aerate the must during the first 1/3 of fermentation, then keep swirling the yeast back up into suspension 1-2 times per day until it stops. This will increase the activity of the yeast and allow you to get the most out of them. Once it is done, then rack it.

If it gets stinky with sulfur, you may need some nutrients.

Medsen

Sounds like good advice. I will move my anti-fatigue mat by the fermentation area so I can give it a rock every morning. The 1" thick rubber mat does a nice job protecting the carboy during a good swirl. Do you recommend yeast nutrient? I have a vial of Wyeast nutrient that I can use. I am also thinking about adding pectic enzymes to make the cider clearer at bottling. Is it 1/2 tsp per gallon right?

Hmmmmm... Blue berry Honey...I like! So what are you trying to do with this Dan? I know it's a cyser… LOL… Could you/would you post the recipe, ingredients, quantities and process, please.

If you haven't added the yeast, you could stir it in as normal. Use a long handled spoon, a lee stirrer (that's what I use).

Since you are in Monroe, I will be more specific... Cider from Beardsley's cider mill and honey from Andrews Honey.

Dan

 

[afdoty]

Since you are in Monroe, I will be more specific... Cider from Beardsley's cider mill and honey from Andrews Honey.

Dan

I was at Beardsley's Mid Sept. Picked up 10 gal cider and 20# of their hoeny. Very nice!

Where's Andrew's Honey?

 

[DanM]

I was at Beardsley's Mid Sept. Picked up 10 gal cider and 20# of their hoeny. Very nice!

Where's Andrew's Honey?

They are out of Norwalk. They are usually at the Westport farmers market. You can also find them at cthoney.com

Here's my cider hard at work...

Dan

 

[Medsen Fey]

Do you recommend yeast nutrient? I have a vial of Wyeast nutrient that I can use. I am also thinking about adding pectic enzymes to make the cider clearer at bottling. Is it 1/2 tsp per gallon right?

The pectic enzyme amount depends on the formulation. You can follow the instructions on the package. You can wait and see if it clears on its own, but if it remains hazy, when you add pectic enzyme later, it is probably better to increase the amount since it doesn't function quite as well in an alcohol solution.

Most meads (even cysers) benefit from nutrients. It helps the yeast develop grow and metabolize all the sugar. You don't need so much when apple juice is involved, but if you don't use any, your fermentation could take longer and/or might not go completely dry.

 

[wildoates]

That's a beautiful sight, Dan!

 

[Medsen Fey]

Dan, that is a lot of honey sitting on the bottom of your carboy. You won't be able to mark the progress of fermentation by using a hydrometer here. You can do measurements of the thickness of that honey lay and it should thin gradually but noticeably.

Akueck and Dan McFeeley have posted some threads on using a Postal scale to measure the progress of fermentation as the weight drops due to the production of CO2. You might think about something like that.