Alcohol limit of Natural Cider yeast.....................Cyser

Other Fermentables
1

Took 5 gallons of the cider from a homebrew club “group buy” this past fall (OG 1.048) and added 8+lbs of Honey to it on November 3rd.
Cider is “all natural” nothing done to it.
Left it in my basement using only the natural yeast that was in the cider along with some Fermax

OG 1.119

Basement was 63 and dropped steadily on the 13th it was at 62, 24th it was 59 and today stands at 44.
I racked the Cyser to a secondary carboy and took a gravity ready

1.004!!!

This stuff is sitting at 15.4% ABV and may not be done yet.
Granted its young and needs some time but it is tasty

2

Wow, that is awesome.  What are the flavor and aroma profiles you are getting off of it?

3

The apple is there in an earthy way is the best I can describe it from memory, the honey is floral.

What was most impressive is the complete lack of hot alcohol in something this strong that is this young.
The first year is going to pass very slowly. It hasnt cleared yet and I dont expect it to for a while (again it was made 11/3/09)

4

Yea…I’d let that stuff age for at least a year, two would be better. It’s probably going to taste similiar to an apple wine. I have a cider at 11%ABV that’s about a year and a few months that is spot on right now.

5

Yeah, a buddy is saying bring some Saturday
Ah, I just put the carboy under my brewing table and probably wont touch it again until it clears

6

Of course you keep forgetting to bring me some :wink:

7

…right you are my freind. I will try to get it this weekend.  8)

8

Cyser=Nectar of the Gods. Man I love that stuff, I have 6 gallons going now. Can’t wait!! Never let it ferment with natural yeast though. I always use Lavlin 1118.

9

Took a peek under the brewing table yesterday… its starting to clear  ;D

10

:-[ All I think of when I hear that is… Boone’s Farm. The best apple wine $2 can buy!

11

Yeah but this stuff wont be anything like applewine.
Its definately got much in the way of the honey character.

12

I know this stuff needs some aging in the bottle but its very smooth now
FG is 1.002 from a start of 1.119

Great blend of flavor/aroma between the apple and honey.
Might bottle it up tonight or rack to  tertiary to make sure its 100% clear going into the bottles.
Going to have to force carb anything I want with some bubbles though

13

Just an update

Bottle this up Monday night, wound up finished at 1.002.
Its crystal clear so I would imagine the apple yeast is done but you never really know.
Since its not carbonated I put some of it into 6 wine bottles. I guess if they start shooting corks I’ll know the yeast wasnt done but I’d doubt that. Its been at 1.002 for over a month now, I think the only reason it went from 1.004 to 1.002 was the racking of it back in January and it was also still cloudy at that point.

Looking forward to opening one in the Fall.