# Hard cider



## Tom (Sep 23, 2009)

I got this from my wine club

Hard Cider


5 galon apple cider, preservation free, unpateurized
2 lbs brown sugar
2 lbs honey
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
4-6 cinnamon sticks
2 pks conte des blancs yeast
5 campden tablets
4 teaspoon acid blend 2 teaspoons yeast energizer
2 teaspoons pectic enzime
2 cups white rasins (optional)
1 cup pure maple syrup (optional)
Start- day 1 mix cider and crushed campdens
Day 2 add pectic enzime, acid blend, yeast energizer
Day 2 + 6 hours add brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, mix very well
drop in rasins, cloves, cinnamon sticks, mix 
Day 3 add yeast.
Ferment till dry. Stir every couple days. 
After 2-3 weeks rack. Adjust taste if necessary. 
After another 3 weeks rack again. Satbilize but don't clear.
Bottle after another 2-3 weeks.


----------



## Mud (Sep 29, 2009)

Have you tried this, Tom? I'm looking at 6 gallon of cider here and this New England style recipe looks promising. But it seems a little busy with all the various sweeteners. If you have made it, what did you think? 

-Mud


----------



## Tom (Sep 29, 2009)

I did not make it BUT, tasted it. Very nice taste and aroma. As I said got this recipe from a member of my wine club.


----------



## Wade E (Sep 29, 2009)

Prety close to what I put in my Cyser, I didn t have any raisons and didnt use any maple syrup.


----------



## Mud (Sep 29, 2009)

The cider has a gravity of 1.04, and if my guesses are right the other sweeteners should add another .035 - .04. That's gonna be a 12% cider, plus whatever the raisins add. Is that right? I'm going to try a gallon of this. If it's the ticket I'll do the other 5 gallons and use the first gallon to top up. Thanks for the help guys.

-rookie Mud


----------



## Mud (Oct 3, 2009)

Made up the first gallon with perry instead of cider. Skipped the maple syrup and raisins, and used goldenrod honey. It was at 9% potential. I had forgotten how bad that yeast smells.


----------



## Wade E (Oct 3, 2009)

Are you going for a 5 gallon batch of elder or a blend? Those yeasties can really stank up a good thing, my cyser does not smell that great right now and its hard to believe it doesnt with how good the 2 things that went into it were. I know it will take a long time like meads usually do though.


----------



## Mud (Oct 3, 2009)

It'll be 6 gallons total. I ended up doing something else with the 6 gallons mentioned above, so I pulled a frozen jug of perry from the freezer and started that. Sometime this week I'll get 5 gallons of cider and use the perry for a starter. 

I happen to like cider with a fair amount of perry mixed in. It adds a nice note and taste testing showed all of our friends liked it that way, too, at least when sweet.

I've used Cotes de blanc on apple juice before and the smell clears off right away once it's gone dry. This batch didn't lag and is working off quickly. It's impossible to tell what it's going to be like, though, until its done. Mrs. Mud makes me take the fermenter into the garage when using this yeast because it's so bad.


----------



## Mud (Oct 12, 2009)

About 24 hours ago I added 5 campden tablets to 5 gallons of cider and placed under airlock. Just tested the acid with a titration kit and it's .3%. 

The plan is to ferment as is and then add 55.5 grams (1.78 oz) of citric acid after fermentation. That'll bring the TA to .6%.

As far as I know, apples have primarily malic acid and citric acid can balance that well. It will be largely lost during fermentation, though. Hence the late addition. I'm new to this and if I have something wrong please chime in. Thanks.

-Mud


----------



## Old Philosopher (Nov 22, 2009)

*Tell me again...*

Sorry...slow study here.
Tell me again why you don't want to use pasteurized apple juice, even juice you've pasteurized yourself?


----------



## St Allie (Nov 22, 2009)

Hey Mud?

Have a look around for a cider yeast, there are a number of strains available.. and they all bring apple specific pluses to your ciders..rather than using wine yeasts.. you might be surprised at their contribution.. and it'll give you something to experiment with..

I use brewtec brand cider yeast.. it costs the same as wine yeast.

Allie


----------



## Leanne (Nov 22, 2009)

Allie, I took your suggestion and made cider with my apples. Yummy at first taste but so damn quaffable even at bottling stage.


----------



## Mud (Nov 22, 2009)

My LHBS sucks. There are 2, and they suck equally, both in selection and knowledge. I used the Cote des blanc because I wouldn't have to order anything and it's recommended for apple wine. I'd definitely like to try other types, too, though. Gotta make an order soon for sanitizing supplies. Maybe I'll order some yeast, too. 

Anybody know a source for chestnut barrel staves? I'd like to age this cider on chestnut but am not interested in buying a barrel right now. I have some chestnut lumber in my woodshop, but I think it's the wrong type. Also, it might have poo on it. 

-Mud


----------



## Mud (Nov 25, 2009)

I think it's a bust. Racked it for the second time today and it smells like sulfur. The taste isn't bad, but the smell is awful. Not sure what I did wrong.

-discouraged Mud


----------



## Mud (Dec 11, 2009)

After some behinds the scenes advice from Wade, and some patience, the smell has cleared off. It's just great, and I'm intending to bottle it tonight. I haven't added sorbate, but it's been racked twice and is very clear. Do I need to add more yeast for bottle conditioning? 

I intend to use white sugar instead of dextrose because it's handy. I intend to add 5/8 of a cup. ok? 

-Mud


----------



## Wade E (Dec 12, 2009)

I would add another yeast just becauseI dont know how long this has been clearing and just for good measures. Im not sure how much table sugar to use as I always use corn sugar at this point cause its easier for yeast to convert and at this point the yeast has enough stress on it but table sugar will work, many do use it, I dont so hopefully so one can jump in on how much of this to use.


----------



## Mud (Dec 12, 2009)

Beer forums say use 80% table sugar in place of dextrose. But I used evaporated cane juice. It's less refined than white, and has a lot of nutrients. If you had a sensitive palette you might taste molasses, but since there is molasses in the recipe I called it good. Used 4.5 oz per 5 gallons. 

-Mud


----------



## Mud (Aug 9, 2010)

Bottled this last December with ec-1118 and sugar as mentioned above. By May it hadn't carbonated so I thought they yeast was dead or something. Kicked myself for forgetting to proof it.

Just cracked one for lunch and it's full of carbonated cidery goodness! Gotta remember this is hi test. It's in beer bottles and goes down too easy for 9%.


----------



## skiboarder72 (Sep 28, 2010)

started a 6 gallon batch today, looking forward to trying this in a few months!!

SG was 1.075 btw


----------



## skiboarder72 (Dec 15, 2010)

Just bottled it sunday, turned out real nice! Backsweeten'ed with honey and maple syrup. 

The honey seems to have settled to the bottom though. I stirred it quite a bit too! Sorbated so it wouldn't start fermenting again.


----------



## jbyrum (Oct 25, 2013)

Cider problem,
I started a batch of cider using a very similar recipe as above but the fermentation took several weeks. I racked it last night and the sulfur smell is terrible. I'm not even certain if it will be any good at this point although it did ferment dry. Do any of you know how I can remove the sulfur smell and taste of is this destined for the drain?


----------



## Rosa321 (Dec 9, 2013)

I have a similar recipe going now with unpasturized cider from a local orchard.
However, my recipe specifically said not to put the spices in right off the bat or it will ruin the flavor and make it taste bad. Anybody had an experience with that? Just curious......as that's not quite what I'm reading. 

I hate honey....but the maple syrup might be interesting. Also, mine called for less brown sugar, so I might throw some more in there....


Thanks!


----------



## Rosa321 (Dec 10, 2013)

So.... I have a similar recipe going minus the cloves, cinnamon sticks, honey, and raisins, What is meant by "stabilize" ? What do you add to stabilize it after racking? OR do you just check the SG to make sure it's stabilized? It's not a part of my recipe.

Also, currently in the primary, it has a rather funky smell......Normal?


----------

