Hard Apple Cider

[NorthernWinos]

Is there a place on this forum where I can learn about making hard apple cider???? Meads are with honey...right?? Know beer is brewing....so, where is some info on Hard Cider?? I probably just missed it someplace.....?Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[smurfe]

I am not sure but I think Masta makes Hard Cider. I never have but am interested in trying it. I did a search here and didn't find a whole lot about it. You might read through all the fruit wine posts. Make sure to click ALL posts at the top left to see older posts.


Idid a Google search and found quite a few recipes. Don't look hard at all. Looks like a regular wine recipe. Looks like the process is pretty well like any type scratch wine.


Smurfe

Edited by: smurfe

 

[RAMROD]

Here try this one. [url]http://www.winesathome.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30&pag e=6[/url]

 

[Big Port]

Here is a link for you to check out. It's fromthe local homebrew store here. http://www.sicilianosmkt.com/cidermaking.html


And...there is what looks to be an awesome Pork loin recipe to go along with the cider!Edited by: Big Port

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks RAMROD & BIG PORT....getting close to starting this batch of Hard Apple Cider. Liked the Site/recipe with the pork loin. Kind of been putting together a recipe and waiting for a corboy...all takes time. Going to use 6 gallons of store bought apple juice/cider [no preservatives] and some ale yeast,then at the end prime it like beer and bottle in beer bottles and champagne bottles. Seems on all the Sites we've looked at that it is a pretty simple process...seems almost too simple, so I want all the info possible. Thanks again for your input.
*BIG PORT...have you figured out how to upload the label???
Thanks!!!Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[masta]

I am not sure but I think Masta makes Hard Cider. I never have but am interested in trying it. I did a search here and didn't find a whole lot about it. You might read through all the fruit wine posts. Make sure to click ALL posts at the top left to see older posts.


Idid a Google search and found quite a few recipes. Don't look hard at all. Looks like a regular wine recipe. Looks like the process is pretty well like any type scratch wine.


Smurfe

I did mention I made a hard cider which we had on Thanksgiving day. Mine was a simple basic recipe with apple cider, sugar, golden raisins. It was fairly high ABV of 16% and no carbonation and sweeten slightly with apple juice concentrate.


...yes I will post recipe!

apple wine/hard apple cider/cider is funny as it depends where you live as to what it is called.

 

[AAASTINKIE]

Well, I had to go read this last night, now I have started my hard apple cider...lol here's my recipe:

5 1/2 gallons apple juice (fresh)

4 lbs. honey

1 1/2 lbs. brown sugar

no acid blend (TA was .60)

2 TBS. nutrient

1 TBS. energizer

Pectic enzyme 1/4 tsp. (liquid)

Tannin 1 tsp.

Campden 6 tabs

water 1 qt. to 6 gallons

heavy toast oak chips 1/2 oz.

cinnamon 1 8" stick

yeast tomorrow

 

[NorthernWinos]

AAASTINKIE.....
What is your Starting Gravity???
What kind of yeast are you going to use???
What is your projected Finished Gravity???
What is your desired alcohol???
Are you planning on priming it to give it a little fizz???
or
Are you wanting a still wine type drink???
Gee, aren't I full of questions tonight????
This PM I took out my jugs of apple juice/cider and got them to room temp..it didn't mention any additives, but you never know. All it said was to refrigerate after opening....this was some cheap store brand stuff.
The S.G. is 1050, so I ran into town and picked up some frozen apple juice concentrate, and will fortify it and try to get the S.G. near 1060-1070 with more apple juice, if I have to will add some sugar. I want kind of a Ale type drink.
Then I put 1/2 cup in each of 2 clear measuring cups. I added a few grains of Ale yeast to one and Lalvin Champagne yeast in the other. Just testing to see if there was any Sorbate or Sulfites in the juice. There appears to be some activity with the yeasts, so will attempt to mix up a batch tomorrow.
I am debating not using Campden Tablets.....? Don't want anything to disrupt the action of the Ale yeast...I want it to ferment to about 1004...so there is some residual yeast, at which time we plan on priming it with corn sugar, like beer, and then bottle it in beer and champagne bottles...
I am planning on adding Peptic Enzyme, Yeast nutrient, Yeast Energizer...just undecided about the Campden Tablets. If I do add them I will wait a day or two before pitching a started yeast.
******How does this sound to you pros out there???

 

[AAASTINKIE]

Starting SG 1.083

Yeast White Labs liquid Champagne wine yeast WLP715

finish to dryness

I wanted low alcohol but my brew guy said bring it up

will prime and bottle in champagne bottles and beer bottles

I kinda made my own recipe from putting others together.

 

[peterCooper]

So is the difference between cider and apple wine just if you make it fizzy or
not?

 

[peterCooper]

By the way, in England, cider is alcoholic, anything between 2% and 15-18%.
No such thing as apple juice marketed as cider.

 

[masta]

<TABLE>
<T>
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<TD =txt>


Found this bit of history:


During the Colonial Era, hard apple cider was by far the most popular alcoholic beverage in America. There were many reasons for the immense popularity of apple cider at that time.





First of all, apple cider is relatively easy to make. In addition to that, the early English colonists in America brought a great quantity of apple seed with them to plant in the New World resulting in an abundance of apple trees. By as early as 1629 there were already many apple orchards in Virginia and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The reason for all this growing of apple trees was not to eat apples but to drink them in the form of hard cider.


Apple cider had been popular with the people of Great Britain going back to the time of the Celts. By the time the English had settled in America, the art of cider brewing was very well known to them due to centuries of consumption of apple cider.





Unlike many other alcoholic beverages, apple cider could be consumed at any time of the day. In fact, John Adams, second president of the United States, drank it regularly at breakfast to soothe his stomach. The fermentation of apple cider killed the bacteria in that drink which made it preferable to drinking well water in that era because water was often contaminated and therefore less healthy than apple cider.





Apple cider continued in its popularity well into the 1800s due in part to the efforts of the legendary Johnny Appleseed who planted many apple trees in the Midwest. As a result, apple cider brewing spread into that area of the country. By mid century, beer was a distant second to apple cider in popularity. However, soon a series of events took place which was to diminish the consumption of apple cider and make beer the most popular alcoholic beverage in America.





As the settlers moved further west, it became more difficult to grow apple trees in those arid regions. Later, as more people moved from the country to the city, there wasn’t adequate transportation to deliver apple cider from the farms to the urban areas. Meanwhile, German beer with its faster fermentation process, was introduced into America. The German immigrants also set up large sophisticated breweries for producing beer in great quantities while apple cider production remained limited to the small farms.





What ultimately led to the demise in the popularity of apple cider consumption was the Temperance movement. Because the Temperance movement was religiously based, many of the church going farmers gave up their drinking of apple cider. Many of them even went so far as to chop down the apple trees on their farms.





When Prohibition finally became the law, this marked the death knell for apple cider. Although beer staged a quick comeback following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, apple cider brewing was effectively destroyed and remained only on a very few family farms for many years to come.





With the growing popularity of microbreweries in the 1990s, alcoholic apple cider is once again enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Although apple cider is nowhere close to the popularity it enjoyed in the Colonial Era, the consumption of apple cider did double in just one year from 1995 to 1996 with renewed public interest in this brewing process considered to be so much a part of Americana. </TD></TR></T></TABLE>

 

[NorthernWinos]

I am still confused about apple wine/apple cider. For us, we have been making Sparkling Apple Wine [Champagne Method], usually a lower alcohol clear stable wine, [do not stabilize] and add 1 3/4 cups sugar and another package of Champagne yeast at bottling [wonder how much more alcohol you gain at this point...?] Then we do the shaking and riddling thing, dégorge the lees, recap and wait again, it is an awesome drink.
This time, just for grins, we wanted to do a lower alcohol drink like apple beer, using kind of a beer method. We kind of think it is a waste of apple juice/time as we like the other so much, but see so many posts elsewhere about this Hard Apple Cider thingy, so....if the Ale yeast works on the juice sample tonight will give it a whirl and see what comes out...hopefully an Apple Beer type drink...will keep up posts and follow others as well....
Think the Cider/Juice thing will never be resolved....[Cider sounds more orgainic at the stores]and the Sparkling Apple Wine/Hard Apple Cider thing is also still a question of method....so who can say...?
Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[NorthernWinos]

Since no one was going to hold my hand and walk me through the Hard Cider making process...I just tabulated my readings and dove in.
Dec 1st....took 1/2 cup of store brand apple juice [they called it Cider] and brought it to room temp.Put a few grains of Munton's Ale yeast in it to check for unmentioned preservatives. All it said on the label was to refrigerate after opening, didn't mention any sorbates or acids. The yeast took off.
Dec 2nd....Mixed:
6 gallons juice[O.G.1050]
4 cans frozen apple juice concentrate [S.G. 1058]
4 cups sugar [S.G. 1065] perfect for the apple/beer type drink we want]
2 tsp acid blend
6 crushed Campden tablets [seems to be some controversy about whether to add them of not...I did.]

Let it sit for 30 hours, stirring occasionally.

Dec 3rd.
Added:
3 tsp. Peptic Enzyme
6 tsp. Yeast Nutrient
Divided into 2 buckets as I didn't know how frothy this was going to get.

Added:
2 packages [1 to each bucket] Re hydrated Munton's Ale Yeast.

Fermenting took off.

Day 2 fermenting

By Dec 6th the S.G. was 1000, lower than expected, thought it would finish at S.G. 1004 ......so it got racked to a carboy.

Today, Dec 8th...looks like it is beginning to settle. The Raspberry/Apple was racked the same day, it sure settled alot more.

So....anyone with any experience in Hard Cider making, please let me know if this is going to work out??? It does not taste like 'Nectar of the Gods' at this point.

 

[masta]

Looks good to me...is the plan to prime and bottle for a carbonated cider?

 

[MedPretzel]

First I have to say, I love the tiles. I want them in my kitchen someday.

I've made apple wine, not hard cider. But this I have learned from what I made:
<UL>
<LI>You can be pretty harsh to your apple stuff, because it almost always turns out good. Leave it alone and it turns out the best.
<LI>I added spices to mine once. I didn't like it. Maybe cinnamon would be good, but don't add too much other stuff.
<LI>It takes at least 5-6 months to become pretty good. A year for it to be FANTASTIC.
<LI>Sweeten it up a bit at the end. It makes the flavor so much more pronounced.</LI>[/list]


Again, this was for apple wine, not cider. I read somewhere the only difference is really in the alcohol content. A wine is about 8-10%, cider is higher than 10... But don't quote me on this, it's just a blurb I remember reading somewhere. In europe, Cidre, is just plain alcoholic apple juice (either clear or not (which is known as apple cider in the States)). In Germany, and I am sure there are regional/international differences, but Ebbelwoi (apple wine in dialect) is made like wine. Here's a german website I found: http://www.frank-draut.de/ebbelwoi.htm


Apple wine has become the "national drink" of the Rhein-Main area (around Frankfurt, Germany) for 250 years. It was already known as "apple drink" in germanic areas. Charles the Great made the drink in his palace, after the romans and the greeks perfected it (typical german trait). In the course of time, everyone started to make it at home. Only in this century, it has lost it's description of "Drink of the Poor People." Only in recent years, there are specialties such as pure "species" apple wine and champagne (sparkling wine). You can drink it warm or cold. As always, apple wine is an exciting, low-alcohol drink which influences the circulatory system and CNS through it's organic fruit acids, minerals, aroma and it'sat least 5% alcohol.








Edited by: MedPretzel

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks guys....
Martina....Lots of info there, will have to digest all of that. We make alot of Sparkling Apple Wine [Champagne Method] Specialty of this House. It is higher in alcohol than this will be.We make a regular apple wine, then add 1 3/4 cups sugar and another package of Champagne yeast......bottle in sparkling wine bottles...referments in the root cellar 2 months.....shake once a week...turn up-side-down and riddle [lift-twist-bump...daily for 2 weeks] Rest for 2 more weeks.....then freeze for 1 hour 15 min till the neck has ice crystals, then dégorge the plug of lees, top off with same wine...recap and rest for 2 more months...it forms more tiny bubbles....it is too good...
Masta....we are going to prime with 3/4 cups of corn sugar and bottle in beer bottles and let it sit till fizzy....hope there is enough yeasties left in there to make the corn sugar ferment......Hope that it will be a nice breakfast drink

Just kidding, hope it to be a refreshing drink for out on the lake....but think it won't be ready for ice fishing season this year, but should be ready for on the fishing boat.

 

[masta]

Thanks guys....
Masta....we are going to prime with 3/4 cups of corn sugar and bottle in beer bottles and let it sit till fizzy....hope there is enough yeasties left in there to make the corn sugar ferment......Hope that it will be a nice breakfast drink

Just kidding, hope it to be a refreshing drink for out on the lake....but think it won't be ready for ice fishing season this year, but should be ready for on the fishing boat.

That was the same thing I was thinking...guess it depends how long it takes to clear. You could always add some more yeast when you prime with sugar at bottling time to be sure.


This post might prime me to make some cider this way also if I can find the time and still get some sweet cider from the local mill. It would be a great treat next summer!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Here's a german website I found:  http://www.frank-draut.de/ebbelwoi.htm




Glad you translated all that for us....I went to that Site and didn't find an English word there....My dad was French and my mom was German...I kind of missed out as they spoke English to each other.......My German grandma use to make wine...she would put Vodka in it to make it more to her liking....? She died out in her garden doing what she loved.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Here is the Hard Cider 10 days in the carboy...looks like it settled pretty good...time to rack.

This is 12 hours after racking.

Looks like it's behaving pretty much like apple wine....except that the Ale yeast has rendered a F.G. at 1000..It has for sure quit fermenting.
We plan on priming with corn sugar like beer, and bottle in beer bottles. Hoping that there is enough yeasties in there to carbonate it a tad. Don't want to add more yeast at the priming because we would make more lees.
It is rather tasty and has potential to be the light breakfast beverage we were looking for

[still kidding] It is suppose to make a nice fishing beverage...winter or summer...if it will last that long.
Will post at another time on the progress....later&gt;&gt;