Fav Apple Cyser recipe?

[Ken914]

My fall honey flow is about over. I robbed the hives before they could collect too much goldenrod nectar. After robbing the hives, I have an abundance of honey in the kitchen. I'm grateful it's far more than I will use for cooking until the spring harvest.

Does anyone have a favorite cyser recipe? I made spiced cyser last year, but I'd like to try something without the spices.

 

[fatbloke]

My fall honey flow is about over. I robbed the hives before they could collect too much goldenrod nectar. After robbing the hives, I have an abundance of honey in the kitchen. I'm grateful it's far more than I will use for cooking until the spring harvest.

Does anyone have a favorite cyser recipe? I made spiced cyser last year, but I'd like to try something without the spices.

Hum? I understood that Goldenrod honey is supposed to be very nice, but I can't say for certain as I can't source any here (and shipping is prohibitively expensive).

Anyway, yes there's a number of recipes around, but you don't really need one, as you can just use the apple juice that you like, take a reading with hydrometer, then add 1lb honey per gallon and take another reading. You can then add a little more honey as you need to, measuring in between additions.

You need to think more about the type of yeast and it's likely maximum tolerance for alcohol as it ferments.

I'd suggest that you went for 71B, because it makes for brews that are often found to be "early drinkers" i.e. less ageing time.

It also is good for metabolising some of the malic acid that will be coming from the apples/juice.

It's tolerant to about 14% ABV, so you would be thinking of a starting gravity that will drop by 103/104 points for the final gravity (presuming "finished" is at 1.000, the starting gravity would be 1.103/1.104). Then once it's finished the ferment, you rack it off the sediment/lees, onto sulphite (crushed campden tablets, normally) and sorbate, then it can be back sweetened with either honey for a more honey-ish taste or apple juice to help it have a more "appley" type flavour.

 

[dessertmaker]

Cotes Des Blancs yeast from fermentis for anything to do with apples!

 

[Wade E]

Here is my recipe. By the way I used Orange Blossom Honey in mine.
5 Gallons - Apple Cider
12 lbs – Honey
6 lbs – Brown Sugar
3 lbs – White Raisins
6 tsp – Yeast Nutrient
3 tsp – Yeast Energizer
¼ tsp – Liquid Pectic Enzyme
¾ Gallon - Water
2 – Cinnamon Sticks
1/8 tsp – K-Meta
2 Sachets - Pasteur Champagne
Warm up honey and boil water and dissolve sugar and honey into this water and add to 7.9 gallon primary bucket or bigger. Chop up raisins and add to primary. Add K-Meta, Yeast Nutrient, Yeast Energizer, Ascorbic Acid, Apple Cider, and Cinnamon sticks and check SG, it should have a SG of around 1.085 give or take a little, if more then add a little more water, if less then add a little more dissolved sugar in small amount of water as sugars from fruit can vary a little. Let sit for 12 hours with lid loose or with a cloth covering bucket with elastic band or string tied around so as that not to sag in must. After those 12 hours add your Pectic Enzyme and wait another 12 hours while also adjusting your must temp to around 75 degrees. After those twelve hours, pitch your yeast either by sprinkling yeast, dehydrating yeast per instructions on back of yeast Sachet, or by making a yeast starter a few hours prior to the 12 hour mark. At this point either leave primary lid off with the cloth again, place lid on loose or snap the lid shut with airlock. Punch down cap twice daily to get all fruit under the liquid level. When SG reaches 1.015, rack to 6 gallon carboy and let finish fermenting with bung and airlock attached. When wine is done fermenting, (check a few days in a row to make sure SG does not change and SG should be around .998 or less) you can stabilize by adding another ¼ tsp of k-meta and 3 tsps of Potassium Sorbate and degas your wine thoroughly. You can now sweeten your wine if you like by using simple syrup which consists of 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of boiling water or by using a juice or frozen concentrate. I typically take 2 quarts of an a like juice and simmer on stove at medium heat with lid off until its 1/3 its original size and let it cool to room temp and then add slowly to taste. Be careful not to over sweeten. At this point you can use a fining agent or let it clear naturally. Once clear, rack into clean vessel and bulk age more adding another ¼ tsp of k-meta at 3 month intervals or add ¼ tsp k-meta and bottle age for at least 3 months and enjoy. Longer aging will give you a better wine so save a few bottles till at least 1 year mark so you can truly see what this wine can aspire to.

 

[mrdillon5]

Here is my recipe. By the way I used Orange Blossom Honey in mine.
5 Gallons - Apple Cider
12 lbs – Honey
6 lbs – Brown Sugar
3 lbs – White Raisins
6 tsp – Yeast Nutrient
3 tsp – Yeast Energizer
¼ tsp – Liquid Pectic Enzyme
¾ Gallon - Water
2 – Cinnamon Sticks
1/8 tsp – K-Meta
2 Sachets - Pasteur Champagne
Warm up honey and boil water and dissolve sugar and honey into this water and add to 7.9 gallon primary bucket or bigger. Chop up raisins and add to primary. Add K-Meta, Yeast Nutrient, Yeast Energizer, Ascorbic Acid, Apple Cider, and Cinnamon sticks and check SG, it should have a SG of around 1.085 give or take a little, if more then add a little more water, if less then add a little more dissolved sugar in small amount of water as sugars from fruit can vary a little. Let sit for 12 hours with lid loose or with a cloth covering bucket with elastic band or string tied around so as that not to sag in must. After those 12 hours add your Pectic Enzyme and wait another 12 hours while also adjusting your must temp to around 75 degrees. After those twelve hours, pitch your yeast either by sprinkling yeast, dehydrating yeast per instructions on back of yeast Sachet, or by making a yeast starter a few hours prior to the 12 hour mark. At this point either leave primary lid off with the cloth again, place lid on loose or snap the lid shut with airlock. Punch down cap twice daily to get all fruit under the liquid level. When SG reaches 1.015, rack to 6 gallon carboy and let finish fermenting with bung and airlock attached. When wine is done fermenting, (check a few days in a row to make sure SG does not change and SG should be around .998 or less) you can stabilize by adding another ¼ tsp of k-meta and 3 tsps of Potassium Sorbate and degas your wine thoroughly. You can now sweeten your wine if you like by using simple syrup which consists of 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of boiling water or by using a juice or frozen concentrate. I typically take 2 quarts of an a like juice and simmer on stove at medium heat with lid off until its 1/3 its original size and let it cool to room temp and then add slowly to taste. Be careful not to over sweeten. At this point you can use a fining agent or let it clear naturally. Once clear, rack into clean vessel and bulk age more adding another ¼ tsp of k-meta at 3 month intervals or add ¼ tsp k-meta and bottle age for at least 3 months and enjoy. Longer aging will give you a better wine so save a few bottles till at least 1 year mark so you can truly see what this wine can aspire to.

I know what I am making next !

 

[fatbloke]

Here is my recipe. By the way I used Orange Blossom Honey in mine.
5 Gallons - Apple Cider
12 lbs – Honey
6 lbs – Brown Sugar
3 lbs – White Raisins
6 tsp – Yeast Nutrient
3 tsp – Yeast Energizer
¼ tsp – Liquid Pectic Enzyme
¾ Gallon - Water
2 – Cinnamon Sticks
1/8 tsp – K-Meta
2 Sachets - Pasteur Champagne
Warm up honey and boil water and dissolve sugar and honey into this water and add to 7.9 gallon primary bucket or bigger. Chop up raisins and add to primary. Add K-Meta, Yeast Nutrient, Yeast Energizer, Ascorbic Acid, Apple Cider, and Cinnamon sticks and check SG, it should have a SG of around 1.085 give or take a little, if more then add a little more water, if less then add a little more dissolved sugar in small amount of water as sugars from fruit can vary a little. Let sit for 12 hours with lid loose or with a cloth covering bucket with elastic band or string tied around so as that not to sag in must. After those 12 hours add your Pectic Enzyme and wait another 12 hours while also adjusting your must temp to around 75 degrees. After those twelve hours, pitch your yeast either by sprinkling yeast, dehydrating yeast per instructions on back of yeast Sachet, or by making a yeast starter a few hours prior to the 12 hour mark. At this point either leave primary lid off with the cloth again, place lid on loose or snap the lid shut with airlock. Punch down cap twice daily to get all fruit under the liquid level. When SG reaches 1.015, rack to 6 gallon carboy and let finish fermenting with bung and airlock attached. When wine is done fermenting, (check a few days in a row to make sure SG does not change and SG should be around .998 or less) you can stabilize by adding another ¼ tsp of k-meta and 3 tsps of Potassium Sorbate and degas your wine thoroughly. You can now sweeten your wine if you like by using simple syrup which consists of 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of boiling water or by using a juice or frozen concentrate. I typically take 2 quarts of an a like juice and simmer on stove at medium heat with lid off until its 1/3 its original size and let it cool to room temp and then add slowly to taste. Be careful not to over sweeten. At this point you can use a fining agent or let it clear naturally. Once clear, rack into clean vessel and bulk age more adding another ¼ tsp of k-meta at 3 month intervals or add ¼ tsp k-meta and bottle age for at least 3 months and enjoy. Longer aging will give you a better wine so save a few bottles till at least 1 year mark so you can truly see what this wine can aspire to.

Now while most of that makes sense, I have no idea why the sugar is included other than to boost the starting gravity/resulting alcohol level. If it's for flavour, then surely extra honey, but with a tsp or so of black treacle/molasses would sort that out ?

 

[dessertmaker]

My family has an age old recipe for spiced apple cider. It's not hard cider so I didn't bother posting it, but brown sugar is one of the main ingredients other than apples. It isn't just for sweetening. It adds one of the traditional flavors to spiced apple cider. It brings out both the apple and the cinnamon flavor. We used regular sugar one time and it was NOT the same.

Most of the recipes i've seen online call for brown sugar as well.

 

[J-Gee]

Wade, Can you describe the taste of this wine?..and the abv you were shooting for?

 

[Wade E]

The brown sugar gives it a nice sort of Fall"y flavor to it that does come through in the finished product. Ive done it with just honey and with the brown sugar and prefer the brown sugar addition better. For an abv I shot for 1.115 on this and most meads as it requires lots of aging as does almost any mead with the exception of the JAOM which I am not fond of. Not sure how to describe it other then a more viscous mulled cider with less apple taste.

 

[J-Gee]

That is a good description of a cyser I bottled this past spring.I didn't use the brown sugar.I used clover honey and pasteur champagne,but the recipes are very similar.I'm not sure where I got the recipe...maybe you.It is now two years old and the last bottle that I opened showed a vast improvement over one that was opened 4 months ago.It is really coming into its own now. I'm going to do another cyser soon,but will change it up quite a bit.

 

[saramc]

Question Wade.....are you adding ascorbic acid to this recipe? I see it in the instructions but not in the ingredient list.
And did you make your first batch with an O.G. of 1.085 as the recipe details or did you end up bumping it to 1.115 as another post details? If you have made it at both points, which did you like best? And did the 1.115 ferment to dry for you or did it die off sooner?

Have all ingredients, think I will do a blend of orange blossom and a hometown wildflower honey.

 

[CB750]

Due to the poor apple crop in Michigan due to our early spring and then a sudden freeze the apple crop was very poor. I had pretty much given up on making a Cyser this year until I noticed some natural stuff from Ohio at my local Costco for $2.98 a gallon a couple of weeks age. At the same time I picked up some Costco Clover honey.

I pretty much followed Wades recipe but keep out the Brown Sugar and forgot the raisins, and didn't add any water and used Lavin 71B-1122 as I was looking for a sweeter Cyser

What was really surprising was how fast my primary ferment went. The SG= of my 5 gallons of cider was 1.056 when I added 12 lbs of honey the starting SG=1.122. I pitched three packs of Lavin 71B-1122 @ 72 degrees directly into a 6 1/2 gal glass carboy. I got my first CO2 two hours later. I am lucky that I decided to use my large 1" over flow tube that I use for brewing beer because two days later I got a very strong discharge of crud through the tube into my bucket of water. This was simmilar to a big beer blow and has never happended to me before with mead or any wine I have made.

I got strong CO2 for about 5 days and then things slowed down a bit and put on my wine bung. After 13 days CO2 had just about stopped and I feared stuck fermentation. However, to my surprise when I checked my SG it was SG=1.000. I have never had a mead let alone one with a rather high starting SG ferment down that far that fast. The calculated Alcohol is about 15.2% which was high given that my wine store guy tells me that Lavin 71B-1122 maxes out at about 14.5%.

I am going to transfer it to my secondary and stop fermentation and let it age. A quick taste reveals it is still pretty sweet for SG=1.000 with lots of honey, and cider taste, with a hint of Cinnamon. It also has that nice Alcohol warmth as it went down which I find typical of Cyser. But it is very very raw after taste. Which will go away in time.