# Apple cider



## Monica

Here is my apple cider recipe. I have had lots of luck with it and it has caused many forgotten nights!

5 - gallons of apple cider. (no preservatives but pasteurized is ok)
10 lbs of sugar 
12 - cinnamon sticks
1tsp wine tannin
4tsp acid blend
2 - teaspoons of yeast nutrient
1 pack of Cote De Blancs 


For those of you that are in the Lancaster County Pa area, Cherry Hill Orchards is the best place for the cider. As a side note, they also sell cherry/apple cider. Don't use this!! It comes out tasing like Robotussin. 

Sanitize your fermenting bucket and pour in a gallon of cider. Add the wine tannin, acid blend and yeast nutrient to the gallon in the bucket. Simmer the other 4 gallons on low heat with the cinnamon sticks. DO NOT BOIL. Once you bring it up to a simmer turn off the heat. Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Pour it into the bucket with the other ingredients. 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. Put the lid on and attach the air lock. Within 24 hours you should see the air lock bubbling. After about 4 weeks start timing the bubbles in the air lock. Once they are more than 1 minute apart rack it into a carboy. This will not clear completely, its ok that way. Wait 3 weeks and then bottle. I have used beer bottles and wine bottles. Either way it has always come out great! I know that there isn't any sg measurements, but this is they way I've always done it. I did measure a batch once and it came out to 15%. ENJOY!


----------



## St Allie

Cheers for that Monica!

Allie


----------



## Old Philosopher

*Second batch*

After getting feedback for the 4th time, I'm going for apple cider, instead of wine.
I'm trying an experiment, using a variety of techniques. Wish me luck.
I've ground the apples as you would do before putting them in a pressing bag and then in an apple press. I ground them into a 5 gal bucket lined with a straining bag. Now I'm taking the ground apples and freezing them. After a day, or two, at 5-15 degrees F, I'll thaw them.
I'll get some juice that way. The next step is to add pectic enzyme and let it work for 24-36 hours around 70 deg F. I'll drain that, and hand squeeze what's left.
I may have to add just enough sugar to get a SG of around 1.070.
If it goes like the first batch, it'll be ready to rack to secondary in about 7-10 days. At some point, I'll have to filter it.


----------



## Monica

I stated in the first post that the cherry cider came out gross. I have now changed my mind! I started 2 more 5 gallon batches awhile ago because everyone else liked it. I'm not sure what is different (I noticed that my local home brew store started carrying different cinnamon sticks at the time I was making this these batches. Possible that this made a difference?) but it is delicious!! Just wanted to share the update....


----------



## mmadmikes1

I think you should send us all some so we can give you a real good feed back*hic*


----------



## Green Mountains

*Long term storage?*

Monica,

Wanted to ask......does the cider need to be consumed in any time frame? I recall another post like this stating to drink it within a few weeks...but 5 gallons would be difficult to do that....FUN but difficult.

Also, is it best served cold?

Darren


----------



## Monica

Darren, I haven't ever had it last longer than 2 months. Our friends love it! My first batch I bottled in beer bottles. Big mistake. My husband and his buddies thought that they could consume it at the same pace/quantity that they drink beer. Lets just say that it turned into a long weekend for them! I now bottle it in wine bottles and pour it over ice. I think that it is best served cold. I have one person that warms it up and drinks it from a mug. They swear its best that way. I have a friend who also makes it using the same recipe. After he bottles it he lets it age for 3-5 months. I don't think he has ever had an issue with keeping it that long. Hope this helps!


----------



## Old Philosopher

*Question*

I think my question in another thread got lost in woods, so I'll ask here.
I have 2 gallons in 1 gallon jugs. I believe it's going to need more sweetening. It probably won't get consumed for another few months.
My question is, should I sweeten it to taste now, or wait a couple months for it to "mellow" and then check the flavor? Would there be a problem of adding a little syrup later, if it IS not sweet enough then?


----------



## Green Mountains

Monica,

We've got 6 gallons going as we speak...the airlock is bubbling nicely.

Question, no mention how long you leave the cinn sticks in. We still have them in the primary. 

What do you do?

Darren


----------



## Green Mountains

Monica may be on walkabout. Anybody wanna pipe in on if we should keep the cinnamon sticks throughout the fermentation. We're opting for YES as it smells so Freakin' good.


----------



## St Allie

Have never added cinnamon to cider. Am not a big fan of mulled spiced wine at xmas.. so I probably wouldn't add it, just a personal preference..

Allie


----------



## Green Mountains

Thanks Allie. The recipe called for it, it smellssssss so goooood.

Guess I'll leave 'em in and see what we get.


By the way, this is one of those ferments that SIZZLES on the top of the must like a freshly poured ginger ale.


----------



## St Allie

I like spices in baking and cooking.. just prefer a dry and clean palate in a finished wine.. if that makes any sense?


"Fizzing"...peach and nectarine does the same thing.. you can hear it.. it's like a radio being "off station'.

lol 

Allie


----------



## Green Mountains

MMMmmm....smells so great. The Cider is coming along nicely.

On 1/28 the starting SG was 1.10 (so nice). 6 gallons of cider and 10 lbs of suger made for one sweeeeet must.

On 2/3 SG was 1.074
On 2/4 SG was 1.062
On 2/5 SG was 1.052

I didn't measure it today, but I'm guessing it's progressing nicely.

Darren


----------



## Monica

Sorry I was gone for awhile. I ended up getting sick and being admitted to the hospital for a week  Anyway ~ I leave the cinn sticks in until I rack it into the carboy. It does smell great, doesn't it?!?!


----------



## NSwiner

Hope you're feeling better Monica .


----------



## Green Mountains

Wow glad you're OK.

Actually if you check my other post you'll see that I've already racked to secondary. The fermentation ripped right along and then stopped cold after 10 days or so. The ABV won't be as high as you've gotten but it sure tastes good.


----------



## Monica

Yay! Glad you like it! I can't drink it anymore, which sucks. I was racking it while I wasn't feeling so hot and now every time I smell it my belly isn't too happy. Don't worry, I didn't contaminate it while I was sick. It turned out to be a neurological disorder so at least its not contagious!!! I'll still make it though. My husband and friends would be devestated if I didn't. Did you try it yet? Other than just taste testing?


----------



## Green Mountains

Yes, when we racked we had more than 6 gallons as we started with 6 gallons of cider and added the ten pounds of sugar that was in a simple syrup so it brought the primary closer to 7 or more gallons.

We dumped a lot but both had a glass.

Nicely sweet, with a def. alcohol kick to it. Not quite the GROGG you make, but maybe we'll achieve that next time.

Gonna let it sit another few weeks before we bottle.


----------



## Monica

I'm thinking of cutting back the sugar or changing the yeast. I'd really like to get a lower alc content.


----------



## 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

drummerguysteve said:


> 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:


Can I add acid blend post-fermentation?
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?
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

Catfish said:


> 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.


----------



## Runningwolf

Steve, so you used honey to up your starting sg and you're going to use it again to back sweeten? I am thinking of splitting mine in half. I have some pretty tart Cranberry from last year that I bottled just for blending. It was really good with the Skeeter Pee, but now I am thinking of adding it to three gallons of apple.


----------



## djrockinsteve

Runningwolf said:


> Steve, so you used honey to up your starting sg and you're going to use it again to back sweeten?



Yes. It is dry now and aging. I would like to make it sweet but thought is there any drawbacks to sweetening with honey again. I could do a half and half with sugar to taste the difference but I already have 5 gallons of apple Cider made from sugar, not honey.

Luc gave me the suggestion to make some with honey. This one really excites me.


----------



## Runningwolf

Cool, I can't wait to taste it. It sounds good.


----------



## djrockinsteve

Runningwolf said:


> Cool, I can't wait to taste it. It sounds good.



and you will my friend!


----------



## Catfish

Wow that looks good do you mind posting the recipe when you get time.


----------



## djrockinsteve

Catfish said:


> Wow that looks good do you mind posting the recipe when you get time.



It's real easy.

I started with 6 gallons of Musselman's 100% Pure Apple Cider -WalMart @$4.49 a Gallon. Specific Gravity 1.050
Added 6 pounds of Honey. $12.99 at GFS. This raised gravity to 1.080
4 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient
2 Teaspoons Super Ferment
21 drops of pectic enzyme
Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast

Blend cider with honey. (Honey must be warmed slightly to be mixed in.)
Add nutrients and superferment. Add pectic enzymes. Wait 24 hours.
Add yeast after rehydrating and stir at least twice daily.

When finished fermenting splash rack and add 1/4 teaspoon sulfite and sparkolloid to fine.

4 to 6 weeks later rack off of sediment.

Add a pinch of sulfite and cinnamon sticks. I had 4, wanted 5, maybe next time.

Back sweeten after aging 6 months. Don't know how far I'll sweeten. Maybe @ 1.015???


----------



## Catfish

Sounds great thank you! I will start a batch after I see how this Apple Cider I have now turns out.

I started this recipe on November 12th. It was fermenting fast and after about 4 weeks it had slowed down to a bubble every 45-60 seconds.I racked it. Then the basement got cold. Down to around 52. I put a heater down there about a week ago and got it up to 67. 3 days ago it was bubbling about every 40 seconds. Now it's bubbling every 20 seconds. The dang stuff wont quit fermenting. Its been 6 weeks! The recipe on here said to wait 4 weeks, then rack. Then let is sit for 3 weeks and bottle. I must be doing something wrong.


----------



## djrockinsteve

You need to put a hydrometer in it to be sure of a final fermentation. Without more info. I can't say but it sounds like it's degassing itself.

If it is still on it's gross lees this could be bad but the colder temps would help you here.


----------



## Catfish

When I racked, it was at 1.020. I haven't check it since then. I will check tomorrow.


----------



## Jolly_Roger

Do you stabilize with K-sorbate and K-meta or anything?


----------



## djrockinsteve

I have sulfite (K Meta/Potassium Metabisulfite) in it. I'll age it then add sorbate and back sweeten.


----------



## wvbrewer

I made mine in a in the same fasion using EC-118 and it turned out very clear and dry. I bottled it in EZ cap bottles with some corn sugar and it came out beautiful like champagne. It did not last very long if you know what I mean.


----------



## BaccusIsWine

Well I think this is going to be my first "wine" For yeast Im going to use wyeast 3766 cider.


----------



## Kujo66

Would leaving airlock off of primary be better, then apply airlock once racked in secondary??


----------



## Old Philosopher

Kujo66 said:


> Would leaving airlock off of primary be better, then apply airlock once racked in secondary??


All my primary fermentation is done in a bucket with nothing more than a lid to keep out airborne crud. I don't apply an air lock until the secondary racking.


----------



## Kujo66

ya same here. I meant to ask that to the apple cider maker


----------



## stevo

hey monica question...going to try your recipe but have 1 question,, did I read the primary time rite 4 weeks ? thanx


----------



## Derekc

I have seen the cinnamon sticks kept in right up until racking. It works well. I currently have a batch of hard apple cider in the primary stages. Its going very well.


----------



## Neeshac

Monica said:


> Here is my apple cider recipe. I have had lots of luck with it and it has caused many forgotten nights!
> 
> 5 - gallons of apple cider. (no preservatives but pasteurized is ok)
> 10 lbs of sugar
> 12 - cinnamon sticks
> 1tsp wine tannin
> 4tsp acid blend
> 2 - teaspoons of yeast nutrient
> 1 pack of Cote De Blancs [/QOUTE]
> 
> Is yeast nutrient a deal breaker? I forgot to pick some up.
> 
> Well it appears it is not, I have a nice fermentation happening. I still wish I had picked some up though. I really like to follow directions as closely as possible.


----------



## shelldon

Thanks Monica , I will try to make it in my Garden.


----------



## VitruvianMan

All I can find is 1% or 1/10 of a % preserved I can't find any completely non preserved ciderwould those work or not?


----------



## crdman

Question, is "Apple Cider" the same as "Apple Pie Wine"?

Thanks in advance


----------



## thinman56

Racked my apple cider wine, getting ready to bottle, tastes awesome! I followed joeswine's advice and added 1/2 lb white raisins and 1/2 lb pineapple chunks to a 3-gallon batch, really gives it a lot of flavor.

I only have one thing to add to this awesome long string of cider wisdom. For those who want a clearer wine in short time, I add the meta to the cider before I add anything else and let it sit 24-36 hours. All the natural yeast falls right out of it, then I rack it off and proceed with the clear juice. Here's the raw cider and the clear cider, 36 hours apart:


----------



## buffalofrenchy

I am guilty of not reading through the whole thread but is it a 5 or 6 gal recipe?


----------



## brewski09

It's 5 gallons of juice plus a ton of sugar. I would assume the final volume would be 5.5 to 6 gallons but haven't made it myself. 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


----------



## buffalofrenchy

I will try without all the extra sugar to keep it hard cider traditional style, using priming sugar for carbonation.


----------



## brewski09

I did that and ended up with a coder that is just shy of 5% ABV. Not bad at all


----------



## thinman56

I bottled my apple cider wine in April and cracked the first one a couple weeks ago, I really like the raisin and pineapple addition, gives it a little more body than pure apple wine. Have this year's batch fermenting now, made 6 gallons instead of 3, and used 3/4 lb of dried pineapple and 1/2 lb of dried apricots this year. Wrung 'em and pulled 'em out at about 1.030. I'm thinking forward to my F-pac and using a similar dried fruit mix with a little sugar. Any thoughts on that?


----------

