Black Rock temp

geebz · Post by **geebz** » Wednesday Jun 20, 2007 9:19 am

Im new to the game and recently put down this as my 2nd brew.

1x black rock cider
1kg dex
250g lactose
4 peeled quartered granny smiths and a cinnamon stick

forgot to take a og but it has been fermenting for almost three weeks temp around 17-18. Airlock is bubbling away every 30sec-1min but the gravity seems to be stuck around 1.022 for the last couple of days which seems a bit high to me.

Taste test is good but is sweeter than i expected for that ammount of lactose. Which gives me the impression that it hasnt finished fermenting. Do i need to just try and warm it up a bit ? What temp ? and why would there still be that ammount of airlock action with no drop in gravity ?

111222333 · Post by **111222333** » Wednesday Jun 20, 2007 4:33 pm

That'll get down to ~1.006 ish. I think 500g lactose is 1.011.

So it's go a ways to go yet. get it to 20*C if possible, the yeast isn't the best i've come across. Although, the aroma of the apple is driven off at around 23*C i seem to remember, so you don't want it too high. Next time i'll try a lager yeast. Your right, that will be dry with 250g, i find 500g lactose dry tho ...

geebz · Post by **geebz** » Thursday Jun 21, 2007 9:09 am

THanks for the reply. I will try and keep it a bit warmer. The first week or so it sat at 20 but with this cold snap it has been difficult keeping the temp up. A lager yeast probably would have been perfect.

bottle top · Post by **bottle top** » Thursday Jun 21, 2007 7:58 pm

I'm in the exact same boat, same recipe and all. At 16 degrees the airlock is still bubbling, but slowly...

How fricken cold is Brisbane at the moment?

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Friday Jun 22, 2007 2:03 am

Not as fricken cold as Melbourne, trust me.

Rysa · Post by **Rysa** » Friday Jun 22, 2007 6:21 am

-1 in Ballarat. Top of 6 yesterday i think it was!!!

Trizza · Post by **Trizza** » Friday Jun 22, 2007 12:55 pm

Sort of off-topic... But would anyone use Cara-Pils grains with a black rock cider.

I've heard that Cara-Pils have the same effect of Maltodextrin, but with less off-flavors.

I'm planning a 2 can brew of the wonderful black rock cider for early august. (23L)

Trizza.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Friday Jun 22, 2007 1:29 pm

-5 in Canberra!

And the blackrock can take 20-odd days+

Mine got down to 998 from memory- I added lactose at bulk priming.

dragonphoenix73 · Wednesday Jul 04, 2007 10:22 pm

Surely a lager yeast wouldn't be called for for temps of 16-17.... I would have thought those yeasts better at around 10-15....

I found that putting the granny smith apples in mine made the cider a little sour. Next time, I'll put in more lactose, and less grannys. Actually next time, I plan to add pears/pear juice instead.

I'd be very interested in trying a Black Rock 2-can brew!

dragonphoenix73 · Wednesday Jul 04, 2007 10:22 pm

Chris wrote:-5 in Canberra!

And the blackrock can take 20-odd days+

Mine got down to 998 from memory- I added lactose at bulk priming.

How did that go? How much did you add?