Apple cider

[savaytse66]

Hi all,

I just recently bought the basic equipment I need to start making my own wine, and I thought this recipe would be a good one to start with since I had two gallons of non-preserved, unpasteurized apple cider in the freezer. Since I only had two gallons and somewhat limited ingredients, I scaled the recipe as follows:

2 Gallons Cider
4 lb White Table Sugar
2 Camden Tablets
1-1/4 (approx.) tsp acid blend
1/4+ tsp tannin

I mixed this all together this evening and plan to add a packet of Lalvin IVC D-47 yeast tomorrow.

If I am reading the hydrometer correctly, my starting SG is at 1.125. Based on all of my reading, this seems high, and I am assuming that the cider was pretty sweet to start. Therefore, adding the full 4 lb of sugar is giving me a high SG.

So what should I do? Do I add water to get the SG around 1.080? This seems like it would dilute the cider though. Or do I just let it go. If I let it go, I assume the yeast will die/stop fermenting when the alcohol content reaches around 14%, then I'll have a sweeter cider from the residual sugar?

Thanks in advance. BTW, I've really enjoyed reading the forum thus far. I hope to be able to contribute before too long and minimize the newbie questions.

Chris

 

[Old Philosopher]

My first cider started at SG 1.100, and went all the way to .998. That ended up about 14% abv. I had to back sweeten. But if you aiming for 'hard cider', I don't think you need to worry.
I recently found the wisdom of making a syrup out of some of the juice, and slowly adding sugar while monitoring the SG. That way you're not guessing, and can get just the SG you want to start.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Here are some photos of my father's fruit press. We pressed some apples the other day for some fresh apple cider. I plan on mixing it with some crab apples I picked.

My dad built this in 1978. It's had a lot of use.

 

[Old Philosopher]

Outstanding craftsmanship! Mine won't turn out like anything near that. Thanks for posting!

 

[CaptKarl]

love it

FANTASTIC !!!!

I made this great cider and tried last night and is great. I did lower the sugar to only # pounds of sugar and used the cheapest Cider I could find. (walmart brand) it is a awsome hot sipping drink in a coffee mug but its even better served chilled. Also I did and some beninite to help clear it and it help to take away some of cloudy look.

 

[drummerguysteve]

Hello all. This is my first post, but I've been reading for a bit now. I've brewed beer for some time, and have a batch of skeeter pee going. I'd like to get a start on some wine in the near future.

I've made several batches of Apfelwein, which I've really enjoyed. I backsweetened the last batch with 2 cans of frozen concentrated apple juice. It came out great. It's been aging in a keg for a couple months now, and is getting pretty tasty.

Just wanted to put that out there if you try to backsweeten.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Just wanted to put that out there if you try to backsweeten.

That's what I have intentions of doing with my sour apple skeeter pee. Only add 1 bottle of lemon juice to the 5 gallon batch and add 2 cans of frozen apple concentrate.

 

[savaytse66]

I have a question regard post-fermentation adjustments to this cider. I have two gallons of cider that I just racked from a 3 gallon secondary to two 1 gallon jugs. My starting SG was a whopping 1.125 (first attempt at wine, didn't really know what I was doing!) and it is currently at 1.006 (16%, which is way higher than I wanted, but what the heck). Fermentation seems to have stopped, presumably from the yeast (Lalvin D-47) dying to high alcohol %. After racking to the 1 gallon jugs, I added 1 campden tablet and 1/2 tsp. of k-sorbate to each jug.

I tasted a bit of the cider, and I think the flavor needs adjusted. I can obviously taste the alcohol, but I think I need to back-sweeten and possibly adjust the acid. I tastes kind of flat. So I guess my question comes in several parts:

1. Can I add acid blend post-fermentation?
2. How much acid blend should I add? I only have ph strips, no titration kit. I realize this is hard to answer, but where would a good starting point be? 1/4 tsp per gallon? More? Less?
3. Should I backsweeten immediately after racking to the 1 gallon jugs, or should I wait?

Thanks!

 

[lead_fallout]

I cannot find this Cote Des Blancs yeast for sale in the UK. It only seems to be available in America. Does anyone know of a UK equivalent yeast ?

 

[Catfish]

I can't help you with that question Lead_Fallout I'm sorry. Wish I knew more about yeast.

Here's a stupid Question. You said "Start the yeast while the cider is cooling. Once it's cool enough to add the yeast stir it in with a big stirring spoon".

What do you mean by start the yeast. I take it you dont just pour it in. There is a process you do with the yeast? Sorry..new at this.

 

[Old Philosopher]

What I do when making a "yeast starter" is take about 1 cup of my batch and heat it to about 90 F degrees. I mix in the amount of yeast I'm going to use, and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes. That gives it time to acclimate to the sugar/acid, etc. When it's got a good start, I pour it into my primary.
Also, if for some reason your yeast is not viable, you know right away.

 

[Catfish]

That's what I was looking for. Thank you.

 

[Catfish]

I'm going to start a 5 gallon batch of this Saturday. I bought the ingredients and a 6.5 gallon fermentation bucket. I just have to go pick up 5 gallons of juice at the local orchard. It is pasteurized. The best part is I get to leave the juice in the fermenting bucket for 4 weeks. So I have 4 weeks to find another carboy. lol


Monica does it have a fizzy taste to it like apple cider does?

 

[Catfish]

I followed the recipe to a T. I thought I read on here that it would put off a good aroma. So I left it up stairs. Now the whole house smells like sulfur or something really bad. Whoops. It's in the basement now.

Is it just fermenting and it's a normal part of the process or should I be worried about this?

 

[Catfish]

I racked at 1.020 two days ago. Tasted it. I didn't like the taste too much but it needs degassed still. I was thinking of maybe adding a maple syrup to sweeten it a little more. I've heard of that being used before. Have any of you tried using maple syrup?


** Oh yeah and it still has that sulfur smell. My guess is because when I started it I sealed the lid. I now realize that I should of let it breath the first few days. I splash racked it so maybe that will help.

 

[Wade E]

Fermentation usually reduces S02 to just about nill. Apple cider fermented will surely need some time to come aroujd or at least I know mine did.

 

[Catfish]

Thanks Wade. Just gotta tell myself to be patient. The recipe said it should only take a few months and be ready to bottle. But the more I wait, the better it is I'm guessing.

 

[Runningwolf]

Thanks Wade. Just gotta tell myself to be patient. The recipe said it should only take a few months and be ready to bottle. But the more I wait, the better it is I'm guessing.

I am also in the process of making it and I was told it would take the better part of a year before being ready.

 

[Catfish]

The recipe on this thread says about 2 months and she seems to enjoy it

Not trying for anything fancy, just something to drink when im fishing on the river or at the pond

 

[djrockinsteve]

Below is a photo of my Apple Cider Cinnamon Mead I racked today. I'll age it 5-6 months. It has a really nice color to it and smells wonderful.

As I was racking today I thought when it comes time to sweeten, should I sweeten with honey or sugar? I would think honey. I used 6 gallons of Apple Cider and 6 pounds of honey. Reached a perfect 1.080 starting gravity.

You can see one of the 4 cinnamon sticks in the carboy, it's standing up.