Fermentation is an essential process in making cider, so it’s important to ensure it goes well otherwise, the cider won’t taste good.
Once you pitch yeast and ensure the yeast has enough nutrients for support, the yeast will do its magic and create a hard cider from sugars in the juice. The question is how long will this process of fermentation take?
For most ciders, it takes no more than 7 days for fermentation to finish. In some instances, if you are brewing ciders with higher alcohol content than usual (8%+) it can take up to three weeks for fermentation to finish.
That said, it’s important not to randomly guess when the fermentation is complete but know it for a fact as the premature bottling will result in incomplete cider and potential bottle bombs.
I’ll show you how to know for a fact the fermentation is complete and answer a few related questions I believe that will be useful in regard to fermenting ciders.
How do I know when my cider is done fermenting?
Fermentation of most standard ABV ciders should finish within 7 days, but this is the expectation that will only occur within the right conditions.
Temperature, quality, and number of yeast strains and type of ingredients used for making cider will greatly impact the fermentation, thus if something is off it could take longer than 7 days for fermentation to finish.
If you followed the recommended cider fermentation tips such as pitching at the right temperature, fermenting within the temperature range of the yeast used, and using the correct ingredients (no preservatives in the juice) you’ll likely be able to guess when fermentation is complete.
As I said, for typical 5-8% ABV cider it won’t take longer than 7 days, but my recommendation is to let your cider sit in the fermenter for a few more days.
Prolonging the time the cider spends in the fermenter will ensure the fermentation was truly finished and it will condition the cider before bottling.
Now, the only possible way to accurately tell when the fermentation is complete is by taking gravity readings and comparing them. You can’t tell whether the fermentation is complete by observing the bubbles in the airlock or by taste as it could be deceiving.
However, if you take don’t take gravity readings, by letting the cider stay in the fermenter for a few more days (up to a week more) over the time you expected the cider to finish fermenting, you’ll ensure that even if you didn’t guess it right the yeast will have a few extra days to compensate for poor guessing.
How long can I leave cider in the fermenter?
It’s possible to leave cider sitting in the fermenter after fermentation was finished for weeks or even months without negative consequences.
There will rarely be consequences to this, but yeast autolysis can happen after a few months or sooner and it’s better to condition cider in another clean, container, so don’t keep your cider in the fermenter more than necessary.
Yeast autolysis is more of a problem in big commercial fermenters that hold plenty of gallons due to the bigger pressure that puts stress on the yeast. So, in homebrewing we use smaller fermenters and thus there’s less concern about yeast autolysis.
There are two reasons why keeping cider in the fermenter longer than necessary isn’t recommended :
- You can condition your cider in a bottle, a keg, or a barrel and simultaneously carbonate it, so it’s more convenient.
- Leaving a cider sitting on the layer of sediment (lees) for months can cause yeast autolysis (the breakdown of yeast cells) which isn’t necessarily a good thing as it can affect the flavor in an unexpected way.
Leaving ciders on lees
Talking of yeast autolysis, it’s time to give you a better explanation of what’s going on and how can lees affect the flavor of your hard cider.
First, there are two types of lees we can mention, gross and fine lees.
The gross lees are the sediment full of yeast and other particles such as protein, pectin, fruit, and other particles that have fallen out of suspension.
Fine lees are the sediment that contains mostly yeast cells, as the cider maker racked the cider from the primary fermenter to a secondary container. Thus, these lees are cleaner and happen as a result of the continued process of particles falling out of suspension (simultaneously clearing up the cider).
Aging on lees can be done by simply letting the cider sit in the container on lees for as long until you find it finished by taking a sample. It’s possible to age ciders on lees for a few weeks to a year.
I recommend racking cider from gross lees and letting cider age on fine lees as from my understanding you’ll have more predictable, cleaner results that won’t result in the off-flavors.
Thus, I don’t advocate keeping the cider in the primary fermenter for too long after the fermentation is done, but rather rack it in a secondary container or bottle it and let it age on fine lees!
Tips for successful cider fermentation
Ferment at room temperature
Every yeast used for cider-making has its ideal temperature range which should be respected for optimal results.
This range is usually somewhere between 65°F and 72°F (18°C to 22°C) which can be considered as room temperature.
Furthermore, even if the yeast strain you are using can ferment at 86°F (30°C) as it’s the case with some yeasts, it’s not ideal as your cider could finish with harsh alcoholic flavors that aren’t welcomed.
These off-flavors can be removed by conditioning but why create a problem in the first place if not necessary? Moreover, the yeast can be unpredictable and sometimes finish with yeast-specific off-flavors just because the temperature got out of the suggested range.
In conclusion, yes, yeast can ferment out of its optimal range but if you are looking for the best results don’t underestimate the importance of temperature.
Add nutrients or energizers
It’s not necessary to add nutrients or energizers to a fermenting cider if you are brewing a standard below 8% ABV hard cider.
However, nutrients won’t ever hurt, so it’s still a good practice to add nutrients because sometimes the additional boost for yeast might yield better results.
Yeast can be affected by temperature drop, bacteria, light or special ingredients you might drop into your cider.
None of these should be a problem if the yeast is healthy and strong, and although nutrients may not be necessary to make it strong, a single tablespoon of nutrients will negate any bad odds.
In my mind, if my cider could end up worse than I want it even once in 10 attempts, I don’t want to risk it.
Moreover, if you are brewing highly alcoholic cider, adding nutrients is a smart idea because the higher the alcohol content, the higher the stress on the yeast to continue doing its job.
Energizers are suggested if you feel your fermentation might be stuck, as energizers are the additional boost only needed when everything stops.
Nutrients are the only thing you’ll need in most instances, and you don’t need any product if you don’t want to spend money. You can make nutrients from the common groceries you have in the kitchen.
Bulk cleaning/conditioning
It’s smart to bulk condition ciders in a secondary fermenter because clean cider is half of the taste.
You’d be surprised how much appearance plays the role in perceived taste if you never thought about it, but it indeed does.
Rack the cider when fermentation is complete to a secondary or a bottling bucket and let it sit there for at least a week before bottling. You can prolong this time if you want to bulk condition on lees though.
You can also do a bulk cold crash in the fridge as cold crashing hastens the process of clearing by a lot!
Final take on
Ciders just like any brew can spend quite some time in containers prior to bottling or kegging, but it’s important to understand why.
Moreover, conditioning and clearing will lead to a better appearance and taste, so ensuring that your process in cider making is optimized is necessary for making, consistently good ciders.
Personally, I don’t find ciders difficult for making at all, it’s just about following a few fundamental laws that should yield a delicious hard cider.
If you have more questions regarding cider or mead making, or perhaps beer brewing check my other articles, and piece with you!