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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 ?

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 ...

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.

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?

Not as fricken cold as Melbourne, trust me.

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

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.

-5 in Canberra!

And the blackrock can take 20-odd days+

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

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!

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?