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Very First Batch of Cider--Is Hazy OK?
After reading some of the discussions on here the other day, I went to the grocery store and bought 5 one gallon jugs of apple cider. I rehydrated a SAFALE-33 dry yeast package a couple of hours prior and had it ready to pitch.
About 3 hrs in, the top 5 or 6 inches down into the cider was really cloudy. The next morning (and still 5 days later) the entire batch is really cloudy...also never formed a krausen ring on top....Is that normal?
And lastly, in general, how long should I be looking a the primary & a secondary (if necessary...I don't know). Thanks for any assist.
Are you sure it is fermenting? Is your air lock bubbling after 5 days? Hazy isn't bad at this stage in the game, but you for sure should see some sign of fermentation like krausen on top or air lock activity. You might not see a ring signifying high krausen, but should have SOMETHING letting you know the yeast is working.
I have cider that is just over 2 months in the making and it's sitting in secondary right now. I added honey and brown sugar to mine which I wouldn't recommend to anyone else unless they really want a potent finished product. I wanted about 5-6% abv and will have about 10%, oops. Mine was hazy even when transferring to secondary. It didn't really clear up until the fermentation was finished and has gotten much clearer since sitting in the secondary. I'd say you're right on par for where your cider is now. You'll read on these boards to let the beer (or cider) tell you when it's ready to rack or ready to bottle. The best way is to get out your hydrometer and take a SG reading. When it reads the same reading below 1.010 a couple days in a row it is probably finished fermenting. I transferred mine earlier than that because it was going into secondary anyway. My SG was still dropping and it was still fermenting a little when I racked to secondary (and I didn't really do a SG check to determine when I would transfer). I waited until the fermentation signs started to slow significantly. I wanted it this way to push all the Oxygen out of the secondary while it settled out and cleared. Your rate of fermentation will vary a lot depending on the conditions you're fermenting in. Watch and wait and let me know if you're actually fermenting or not. Good luck.
Thanks JohnDixon for your reply. I appreciate your comments and think you're right on line. I should let you know that it is fermenting, I never got the krausen ring but have had good airlock activity...no worries on that.
Having said that, just this morning, pitch +6 days, all activity has stopped. I'm in a plastic 6.5g PET carboy and can only see activity in the airlock now if I touch the bottle.
Here's my question now to you...should I just leave in this primary bottle and not rack to a 5g glass secondary? If I have no (visible) activity at all, I don't want oxygen in the new head space to mess this up. (Fearful I won't have enough fermentation to push it out now)...
OR--should I consider now adding some sort of adjunct? I have some honey, brown sugar etc....(I also heard your comment on the increased ABV, but I like to live dangerously 
)
Thanks, look forward to your thoughts.
That was much faster than my fermentation. I guess I would open it up and check the SG. As I understand it cider benefits greatly from aging. Mine went through an amazing transformation in color and clarity after I moved it to the secondary. After I racked to the secondary it really took off again at a higher rate of fermentation than it ever had before. I think the best advice I have to offer for your situation I have already offered. My experience is so different because of the adjuncts from the beginning. If you wanted to move it over to the secondary and you're afraid of oxidizing add some brown sugar or honey to push the O2 out of the carboy. You probably won't change the abv a lot because you probably won't be adding pounds of it (not that you couldn't) You might be surprised to find that your fermentation isn't really finished after you rack it. From my experience I would wait for clarity before bottling so either keep it a while in the primary or rack it, but wait for the clarity.
For my hard cider I also add pectic enzyme which assists in the clarification process.
- BK
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