Racking & Kegging

So I racked my cider.

Yes, it's been awhile. I have high hopes for this stuff, though, because the last batch I had take six weeks to ferment out was the batch that won a blue ribbon at the KCBM competition. Carboy in contact with basement floor equals great temperature control. Better than a brew fridge.




In the past, I've always used the lees from a cider to pitch a mead, and I would have done it again (I have nine pounds of honey left from my beekeeping days, enough to make about 45 gallons of dry sparkling mead), but I didn't plan well enough to get the mead must ready. For meads, I mix the honey 1:1 with water and add Campden tablets to the 200ppm level, wait 24 hours and then dilute it the rest of the way to five gallons and pitch. In this instance, it would have meant keeping Mo from pulling the airlocks off carboys on the kitchen counter, something that hasn't been possibly since she could reach the kitchen counter.




But I still had quite a bit of juice left, so I pitched most of that onto the lees from the first batch. It's perking along at about 60ºF, down from 66ºF.



I added some pectic enzyme to the stuff I racked, because it read 1.000 on the hydrometer so it's about done, but was still cloudy as all.



I also went ahead and kegged the wild cider Leo had pressed for me back in 2001. It's too long to let it sit in the secondary, and the hydrometer sample was not promising from a flavor/aroma standpoint. Very phenolic, very acidic, very hard to like. I'm hoping carbonation and chill will make it something I can enjoy. Otherwise, it's five gallons of marinade. Got an elk you want me to tenderize?