Ok, so for kicks and giggles, I brewed (if you can call it that) a hard apple cider. Basically took five gallons of raw apple cider got it to about 180, added 4 pounds of honey, and stirred like crazy to get all the honey disolved.
Cooled, and transferred to a bucket. (OG was 1.082) Added two packs of rehyrdated champagne yeast.
Three weeks later and the FG is 1.000. Obviously very dry. But, I like it. It’s carbonating now.
Now, doing the math on the gravities. (on iPhone app called “brewmath”) that takes me to 11%abv. I used a couple online calculators and got from 10.6% to 11.3%.
Looks like my recipe if you cut the honey in half, but added 5 cans of frozen apple juice concentrate. I get down to .995 usually with EC1118. Everyone likes the champagne dry finish.
I need to do another one of these. I have used champagne yeast in the past but find that regular English ale yeast works quite well and it is plenty dryyyy.
I’ve got some dregs from a bottle of cider that needs culturing up. Maybe I’ll use that.
I used Nottingham in my crabapple cider and it was so dry I had to backsweeten it with table sugar so that my wife would drink it. All of our European friends really love it, but the judges at the competition said it was still too dry for French cider. I don’t think many of them have ever had a true French cider, they are normally bone dry in my wife’s village.
I never pasteurize my apple juice and I’ve never had an issue with it. I normally use 3 gallons of fresh pressed apple juice with 2 gallons of store bought pasteurized juice.
Well, I tried this last night. It still needs more C02, but I didn’t like the flavor as much. It should be done carbing tonight, and I’ll make a final judgement. Might have to add some sugar of some sort. Any suggestions?
Due to the nature of the sugars and the yeast ciders tend to ferment nearly all the way out so “stunning” the yeast with [ur=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_metabisulfitel]potassium metabisulfite [/url] and I believe you can also use campden tabs- 1 per 5 gallons. Then you can add more sugars to “backsweeten” the cider.
Or you could use sugars that the yeast can;t ferment- maybe lactose? I’ve used splenda to lightly sweeten up a cider before and didn;t get any “synthetic” flavors.
and 11% cider at the company picnic? that sounds like a recipe for some hangovers!
Mic’s co-worker: Mmm this cider is so good!
Mic: thanks!
mic’s co-worker: and it’s so light and refreshing, i think I’ll have another cup!
mic: go for it!
some hours later
Mic’s co-worker: MmmIahhh jesswannasay… man… mic, Tis… this shyder…cider ishsho good. I thunk I am drink… I mean, I think…yeah, I think… I’ll jess haf one… [thumping crashing sound]
But seriously guys. Cider doesn’t have to be rocket fuel. I have mine max out at 6%. The cider I grew up drinking was 3.5%. And believe me you can get bombed on 3.5% cider.
I spent many a weekend in college getting ripped on Woodchuck. Fond memories (at least what I remember lol).
When you make cider that low on ABV, do you let it ferment out then blend back after you stun the yeast, or do you follow the gravity as it’s going and kill off the yeast when it gets where you want?
When I do it I’ll let it ferment out and rack to a keg and chill. Then I will add a can or two of frozen apple juice concentrate to back-sweeten. I’ve found out that that is about right for my tastes. I keep the keg cold to inhibit fermentation, but if I were planning on bottling I’d use a campden tab or two when racking and before back-sweetening.
Keeping it cold slows the process down dramatically and works with beer as well.
How long do you generally keep your cider in secondary before kegging/chilling/backsweetening? I’ve made dry cider several times, and waited nearly a year before bottling, but plan to keg this time and am shooting for only a four month secondary, basically until the cider pretty fully clears, before kegging/chilling/backsweetening.
Campden tabs are sulfites, so don’t use both. And for best yeast control you’d need potassium sorbate too. Sulfites won’t do it alone.
I’ve used splenda. It does sweeten, but doesn’t add any mouthfeel, which I miss. Good for bottle conditioning though. I’ve tried some maltodextrin and found that it retained mouthfeel over time, but the sweetness fades over a few months. Don’t use aspertame (nutrasweet or equal) as it hydrolyzes and stops tasting sweet within a few weeks. Haven’t tried lactose.
