so some family friends wanted me to make some hard cider (after they tried my beer), they will be supplying the apple juice fresh from a couple backyard trees (not sure on the variety yet), anybody have a good/simple recipe(s)? I was thinking just the juice and champagne yeast, maybe some spices but not sure.
I like Nottingham instead of champagne yeast, but it can be as simple as juice and yeast. Champagne yeast will really dry your cider out.
I agree…no ‘recipe’ needed. Just juice and yeast. Really good cider is comprised of just those two elements.
The ‘backyard’ apple varieties are probably a plus, especially if they are older varieties (Winesaps make particularly excellent cider). The best cider is made with a combination of sweet and tart apples…and really, an emphasis on the latter makes the best.
Of course, ‘best’ is a subjective thing. Traditional ciders are not particularly sweet. That said, it seems that modern tastes do not skew towards the traditional, at least judging from the many commercial ciders popping up these days, many of which seem to be back-sweetened and sulfited…
i have heard that some people use anything from champagne, wine, cider yeast, to plain beer yeast. i guess i will have to research it a bit and determine what yeast will suit the taste of everybody
You can just let the cider set and it will ferment with the wild yeast that is on the apples. This can result in very good ciders, or not so good. It is a crap shoot. You might try one gallon this way and compare to cider made with commercial yeast.
The quality of the cider starts with the apples. As stated, the right varieties used make a good cider. It takes a blend to make a good one unless you have one of the classics like Kingston Black, which makes a fine cider by itself.
Here is more information than you asked for. Read the old school cider digest if you have time.
http://www.talisman.com/cider/#FAQ
I read almost this entire thread when I first looked to make cider: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/
There is an amazing depth of information there.
I found that beer yeast (I think I used Notty, maybe Windsor, maybe one of each) produced a cider I liked better than the ciders from wine yeasts.
Ultimately, though, I found that I’d rather drink beer than cider so I stopped making it.
It is truly as easy as juice and yeast, though it can get as complex as you like if you want to sulfite, back-sweeten, press your own apples, etc.
I’ve had great luck with lager yeast fermented cool and with Kolsch yeast. Never used wine or cider yeast but I’ve scored in the 40s with American lager yeast.
Juice, yeast and then sulphite and back sweeten just a touch.
A guy I know who makes excellent cider says backsweeten to the 1.004 to 1.006 range IIRC.
What I’ve been doing to back sweeten is to take 1 can of apple juice concentrate, bring it to a boil and add 1/2 a cup of white sugar then add all that to previously sulphited cider. Gives a nice level of sweetness and intensifies the apple flavour a little. Usually ends up around 1.004. I’ve used tannin and I’ve forgotten to use tannin and both have been fine. My ciders have all ended up really dry so the back sweetening has been necessary.
I used champagne yeast in my ciders, and do not back sweeten. They usually end up around 0.995, which is where I, and apparently most of my friends, like it to be.
Cotes de Blanc is my go to yeast for cider. I let it go dry. As for blend, if you do not have access to the acid, tart tannic, sweet blend then you can always add acid blend and tannin to your cider. Backsweeten if you like, but to around 1.006 as stated above. I personally like a dry, winelike cider. You can add raisins, figs, spices ,brown sugar if you like. Oh, keep about a gal or 2 add honey to make a cyser. You can thank me later.
So today we picked and juiced about 10gal worth juice (way too many from the 2 trees for just juice so we made jelly, butter, dehydrated, and apple pie were the other uses)
the varieties were Golden Delicious and Macintosh, our friend pick up the yeast which as Safale US-05.
i was wondering if anyone has a calculator that would give me an estimate on the OG and FG. we did measure the OG at 1.044. no other sugar was added. I’m curious as to what the FG should be around so i can have rough i idea of when it’s ready?
It will ferment down close to 1 - like between .997 - 1.003. All of the sugars in apples are fully fermentable, unlike in malt. 1.044 OG will result in ~6% ABV.
thanks
Unlike mead, apple juice has nutrients, so the yeast have no problems fermenting out to <1.000.
so the first batch had fermented out to ~1.000 just racked today (9/21) very tart but good.
the second batch as pitched with WLP-715 champagne yeast and 2TBSp of honey was added. I’m not sure if it was the yeast or honey it as noticeably sweeter. Would the honey make it sweeter or is it more due tot he yeast? also the second batch was pitched about 1wk later, for and is already down to 1.012, that seems “fast” for a champagne yeast?
You don’t mention batch size, but 2 tablespoons of honey won’t make a noticeable difference in even a 1 gallon batch of cider. If it is at 1.012, then it IS sweeter, but that is because it is not done fermenting. There is still sugar left to be eaten, and a lot of it.
the batches are about 4gal, that makes sense for the sweetness level. I didn’t think that small of amount of honey would make it sweeter and or affect the gravity, but this is my first cider and i wasn’t sure how the honey would play with the apple juice.
This project has been interesting, i have been the consultant not the “brewer” so the addition of the honey and champagne yeast to the second batch was a surprise.
I am new to cider making and didnt take an sg before i started fermentation now im almost 4 days in and its bubbling away is there a way for me to test alcohol content after fermentation