Stuck/slow fermenting cider

[vtbrewer]

I apologize if this has been asked before, but I am brewing my first batch and I'm not sure if I did something wrong. I basically used the default cider recipe from the instructions, adding 2 cups of sugar and filling the bottle 90% with apple juice (I was hoping for a stronger, dryer cider). However, after 10 days fermenting in my pantry at ~72F, i don't see any bubbles rising anymore (there were modest amounts earlier), but when I taste it, its still sickly sweet. Am I being too impatient? Should I add more yeast? Is there something I'm missing?

Thanks!

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

Two cups of sugar is going to make a very sweet cider but should have also shown very active fermentation the first few days. Did you see active fermentation? It should have been very bubbly and you might have observed the caps venting.

[vtbrewer]

Hey, thanks for the response.
No, I wouldn't call what I saw a 'very active' fermentation, but it was bubbling. There was obviously pressure built up in the bottle, and the cap was venting, but there was no real head that I noticed at any time. Now, however, its fairly still, so do you think there's a way to rescue/restart fermentation at this point? If not, should I use less sugar next time to avoid this situation? I'm guessing 2 cups sugar too much? I was hoping for a wine level (12-14%) abv.

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

Hey, thanks for the response.
No, I wouldn't call what I saw a 'very active' fermentation, but it was bubbling. There was obviously pressure built up in the bottle, and the cap was venting, but there was no real head that I noticed at any time. Now, however, its fairly still, so do you think there's a way to rescue/restart fermentation at this point? If not, should I use less sugar next time to avoid this situation? I'm guessing 2 cups sugar too much? I was hoping for a wine level (12-14%) abv.

My guess is that fermentation completed and therefore cannot be restarted. The beginner recipes are extra sweet, if you find it too sweet to drink you may want to clarify and store it, and mix it with drier ciders you make in the future. You can try 1 cup in the next batch, but I usually recommend less drastic changes, like do 1.5 cups next and see how you like it.

[vtbrewer]

I just wanted to follow up on the cider's status. It would appear that waiting helped considerably. I gave it another week or so, and it dried out noticeably, so fermentation hadn't really stopped, it was just very slow. Actually, I've tested out several more, and for whatever reason, all of my batches have taken quite a bit longer than the instructions state, but they've all ended up working out well. And lastly, you were right, 2 cups is basically headache inducingly sweet, even after all fermentation stops. So I've switched to experimenting with dextrose to limit the residual fructose, and adding only between 0.5 - 1.5 cups.

Cheers!

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

Great! thanks for the update!