So i have been tasked by a friend to make 2 ciders for a baby shower. I have good grasp on making beer but less so on ciders.
here are all the details
cider one- “Rose style”
50%sweet. 35%sharp/crisp 15% bitter/tart
Apples to use in blend
Sweet- 25%honeycrisp, 10% ambrosia, 25%pear (anjou and bartlett)
Crisp 15%fuji, 10%gala
Bitter- 100% granny smith
For color add blend of grapes/red berries/blueberries/ rose pedals
cider two- 50%sweet. 35%sharp/crisp 15% bitter/tart
Apples to use in blend
Sweet- 25% honey crisp, 10% ambrosia, 10% autumn glory, crisp- fuji 15%, gala 10%, bitter 100% granny smith
Add salted caramel sauce, the sauce will be added to secondary after primary is done
both will be 5gal, bottled and carb’d
we plan fresh pressing as much as possible. herein lies my first question. I have looking at many different sources in trying to figure how many pounds of apples i need to make 5gals. i have seen between 10-20lbs for 1 gal, which would equal like 1.5-2bushels for 5gals correct?
second the the rose cider- i know that red flesh apples are available but not until the fall (in Colorado at least), so we were thinking of adding some red/pink fruit to give color but limited flavor. is there a good ratio for lbs of fruit to cider for color and not overwhelming flavor?
my biggest questions after the amount of apples needed, is bottling.
For the Rose cider we are looking for dry to semi-dry cider. from what i gather i can bottle like a normal beer?
the second cider is tricky- trying to make a caramel hard apple cider- so sweet and carb’d. what is the best process to to have sweetness with natural carbonation?
i know that on the pressing day i need to add Camden tablets and pectin enzyme and then wait a day the add yeast?
any and all suggestions and knowledge is greatly appreciated