CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP

Brand new to brewing, and on a very tight budget.  I’m sick of the high prices of beer and liquor in my area, wanted to home brew.

I’ve acquired some equipment, and made two batches so far, very unhappy with the results.

Trying to make Hard Cider, with the aim of perhaps freezing it into Apple Jack later on.  Honey is very expensive, but once I learn how to do this, I plan on making Mead also.

Using this pair of brew jugs from Amazon:

From Amazon:  Home Brew Ohio One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2

First time, used a commercial liquid no-rinse sterilizer on all items, Star San.

I strongly suspect each time that temperature was inconsistent.

First batch:

One gallon Apple Juice (member’s mark brand from Sam’s Club, no
preservatives),

One quarter teaspoon Yeast Nutrient per each gallon jug
(Amazon:  Yeast Nutrient 1 lb. from Home Brew Ohio)

One fifth teaspoon (approximate) Champagne Yeast per gallon
(Amazon:  Red Star Premier Blanc Wine Yeast, 5 g, )

Star Sans Sanitizer 4 oz.

Sanitized all items without rinsing, poured apple juice in jug leaving about two inches of air at top,  then heated one fourth cup water to 100 degrees and dissolved yeast. Let yeast sit 20 minutes, added yeast nutrient to juice, then added yeast to juice.

Covered with lid and airlock, took about two days to begin ferment.
Seemed to bubble inconsistently, sometimes fast, sometimes seemed to stop.
After about ten days, tasted.
Very carbonated.  Dry, sour, bitter.  Very strong Vinegar flavor. No impression of alcohol.

Second batch was made the same way, except with these changes:

Used approx. one gallon apple juice Safeway Grocery Store “Signature Select” brand with only juice and ascorbic acid in it;

Also used approx. one gallon Safeway Grocery Store brand Cranberry Juice for the other gallon, again no preservatives in it except ascorbic acid. Did say it has some added sugar.

Used one tablespoon bleach to one gallon of water to make sink full of sanitizer.  Boiled a large quantity of water to rinse with.

This second batch took 24 hours to begin fermenting, bubbled very aggressively for about three days, then seemed to completely stop.

Worried, I made up another quarter cup yeast, and added one tablespoon to each batch. Foamed furiously, capped back up, and began fermenting again.

After about ten days, stopped fermenting.  Again, I think my temperatures where it was sitting were very inconsistent.

This time, apple juice a tiny bit better.  Very dry, very carbonated.  Sour flavor similar to a type of wine I powerfully dislike, I think Pinot Grigio.
Did not taste like vinegar, but like a sour and very weak wine.

The cranberry was incredibly bitter and very carbonated.

Poured into jugs, careful not to transfer yeast. Put about a quarter cup white sugar in each jug. Capped and sitting now.

Probably will end up pouring down the toilet unless this radically improves.

I’ve bought cider at the store, left it a long time in a cool place, and it has naturally turned “hard” by itself eventually.  This was sweet and delicious.  But cider from the store in expensive. I’m looking to produce alcohol cheap, very cheap, and delicious.

What I made completely destroyed any sweetness or flavor.

So, my questions are:

Am I using the wrong type of yeast?  I like the fizzy carbonated result, but the dryness is bitter.

Should I be adding in some white sugar at the very beginning? The jugs are glass, can’t afford an explosion.

I have not invested in a thermometer or hydrometer. Are those two tools going to get me better results?

Am I fermenting too long? Too short?  Will this improve with age?

What I’d like is a relatively fizzy but medium sweet Apple wine with high alcohol content.
What I most want to avoid is the SOUR flavor almost like sour Pinot Grigio white wine.
Cranberry wine would be nice also, though that came out incredibly bitter.

“Poured into jugs, careful not to transfer yeast. Put about a quarter cup white sugar in each jug. Capped and sitting now.”
That is a LOT of sugar in a jug with yeast still in suspension. I suggest wearing welding gloves and safety glasses and loosen the caps on those jugs to vent pressure before they explode.

Low and slow is the way to go.  Do not rehydrate the yeast, just sprinkle on top.  Let ferment cool in the 50s F if possible for a couple of MONTHS.  Then enjoy.  It will turn out dry and tart though.  You’ll want to backsweeten with xylitol, which tastes just like sugar but does not ferment.  But be careful – xylitol is poisonous to animals.

Thank you for the advice. Brewing time is indicated to be signifigantly shorter in the YouTube video
that inspired me:          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUvvlgpKzyo

“How To Brew Hard Apple Cider The Super Easy Way - Only Takes A Week - Beginners Brewing 101”

Will be challenging to get an area down to 50 degrees, but I will make an effort.

Is this second batch salvageable?  I just tasted the Cranberry gallon again which has added a quarter cup white sugar.  It is much less bitter, and almost no Sour flavor that the Apple has.

The Apple is so watery, I’m sure there is almost no alcohol in it.

As to the sarcastic person saying this will explode, the sugar and brewed material are in plastic bottles.

The glass jugs, had I used them, have airlocks.

If you can make decent cider in a week, it will be contrary to what I’ve experienced in the dozens of batches I’ve made.  Good luck.

Well, of course it all depends upon the definition of “decent”.  So far, no, I’m not pleased with the results.
If you’re saying fermentation should take longer, fine, say so.
However, you’d need to account for the fact that the Airlock completely stopped bubbling for days.
After that, what is the point of leaving it in, exactly?

Something not explained in the YouTube video, is the guy says you have to drink this up within a very short time of making it.  Perhaps this is because it turns to vinegar otherwise?

My plan is to make yet a third batch, this time just one gallon.
The differences will be that I will place a small amount of white sugar in the fermenter.
Some recipes call for an entire cup of white sugar for a gallon of apple juice.
Since I have Yeast Additive, or whatever it’s called, I don’t think I need that much extra sugar.

This time I will have a hydrometer and a thermometer, and will brew inside a closet.
Various recipes suggest a variety of temperatures to brew at.
My aim will be a steady 70 degrees.
As for how long to brew, that is still a problem.
I suppose I could use the hydrometer to measure when it reaches a good alcohol percentage.
But common sense suggests to me that if the airlock isn’t bubbling any more, it’s done.

I think I have a big plastic storage tub I can put the glass Fermenter Jug into, incase it explodes.

Champagne is very dry so champagne yeast makes for a very dry cider.  Try Winsdor ale yeast if you want to retain some of the natural sweetness.

Fermenting cooler means the fermentation will be longer.

Thank you very much for that specific practical advice.  Any suggestion as to what temp to ferment with Windor Ale Yeast?

I don’t mind the “Dry” so much as I mind the SOUR flavor.  Not vinegar exactly. More like a crummy type of white wine.  I think Pinot Grigio has this sour/bitter taste.

I was unpleasantly surprised on Amazon. Why is Ale Yeast so expensive?

Edit:  Found a non-Amazon source that is inexpensive, though I imagine that the $1.10 packet will have a six dollar shipping fee…

After trying maybe a dozen different cider yeasts, i tried WY1450, which I had around.  Fpr my tastes, its makes the best cider I’ve made.  Dry, but it leaves apple flavor behind.

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After trying maybe a dozen different cider yeasts, i tried WY1450, which I had around.  Fpr my tastes, its makes the best cider I’ve made.  Dry, but it leaves apple flavor behind.

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Thank you.  I now have a great many packets of Champagne Yeast. Bought in bulk for economy.
No idea what I will do with it now.  Maybe use it with White Grape Juice?

At any rate, what I ended up getting this:

Safale S-04 (3 ct.11.5 g Packs)

After trying maybe a dozen different cider yeasts, i tried WY1450, which I had around.  Fpr my tastes, its makes the best cider I’ve made.  Dry, but it leaves apple flavor behind.

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Thank you.  I now have a great many packets of Champagne Yeast. Bought in bulk for economy.
No idea what I will do with it now.  Maybe use it with White Grape Juice?

At any rate, what I ended up getting this:

Safale S-04 (3 ct.11.5 g Packs)

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Not a fan of that yeast in beer.  Maybe it will be better in cider.  It will likely leave you with a very dry cider.

I don’t like S-04 in cider.  It throws more sulfur than other yeasts.  My favorite yeast for cider is Cote des Blancs.  Should perform pretty similar to the champagne yeast, actually, as both are white wine yeasts.  I too buy in bulk, I think I got 10 packs for about $10 years ago on Amazon, still have about 8 or 9 packs left!  But it will keep for many years in the refrigerator.

Note: I do not recommend adding a cup of sugar to the cider.  This will just increase alcohol and serve to dilute the flavor and reduce drinkability.  Even without any added sugar, you can expect about 7% ABV, which in my view is strong enough anyway.  So only add sugar if you want more of an apple wine than a cider.

So much terrible horrible advice out on the internet on how to make cider… If I might recommend a good book on the topic, try Cider Hard & Sweet by Ben Watson.  Or also I think Drew Beechum might have written a book on the topic… :wink:

Your big problem is that bottled apple juice by itself does not create great cider. It is a lot of sugar with little flavor wrapped around it. Once you strip out the sugar with fermentation you are left with very little flavor from the apple juice, the flavor of ethanol plus flavors left behind from fermentation.

You can improve your process by adding apple juice concentrate to the apple juice which will increase the sugar content as well as the flavor content without adding as much water. The small number of times I have made cider I did that and turned out a drinkable product although nothing I would describe as especially great.

I’ve only made cider two times , and certainly not an expert.
I was never really happy with the results.
But the last time I left a bottle in my garage for about 18 months and it tasted really good.
I would suggest not dumping out what you have made, but let it age for a while and give it another taste.

No sarcasm, just legitimate concern for a newb. According to an online priming calculator I use, if you fermented at 70°f and primed a gallon with a quarter cup of table sugar, you would have approximately 4 volumes of CO2, which could be enough to explode the average glass jug. You never specified that they were plastic so I assumed that “jug” means glass.
A former national cider maker of the year did a little talk at a club meeting and made it sound really easy. Some things I remember him saying, off the top of my head: ferment fairly cool and get it off the yeast as soon as fermentation slows.

Buying beer is cheaper than making it yourself.  Buying cider and mead is WAY cheaper than making it yourself.

If you’re only getting into homebrewing to save money you’re doing it for the wrong reason.

Indeed

Fermentation removes most of the sugars from the juice, and fruit flavors are accentuated when the sugars are removed. Try it with a mildly flavored apple juice rather than one of the tart ones.

I once made a blueberry mead that turned out terrible. Blueberry flavor without the sugar reminds me most of old sweaty gym socks!

When I make apple cider I use a gallon or two of generic bottled juice plus a can of frozen apple juice concentrate to raise the OG up to 1.055-1.060. Add the proper amount of sodium metabisulfite to sanitize it, and wait 24 hours to allow the sulfur dioxide to dissipate before pitching the yeast. You can bottle it still or carbonated, but I like the sparkling version better.