Hard Apple Cider

[earl]

Maize


If you use apple concentrate, ie. frozen from the can, be careful with the amount of sugar you add. I used 1 can of frozen concentrate with 1/3 cup of sugar and mine was carbonated within a week. If you are after an apple taste use the apple flavoring... http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=3500 this will give you an apple flavor with minimal effect on the carbonation. I would check a bottle every 5 to 7 days to check carbonation. If you get a loud fizz or it spouts from the bottle then cool it off and leave it in the fridge until you are ready to drink it.


I promise you, about a month to 6 weeks in the bottle, and you will have a completely different cider then you started with.


Great Job


earl

 

[maize]

Earl:


Well it went pretty smoothly this weekend. Didn't read your last post before proceeding. So I added 6 oz of corn sugar (had read 6-8) and 1 can of concentrate along with 1-2 oz (about 1/2 of the small bottle) of Georges apple flavoring. It was very tasty as we bottled it. We ended up with about 66 bottles worth - but I only had 65 bottles, so the last one is in a half full screw top wine bottle. That's the one I will check first later this week. I'm really looking forward to having a little come Memorial Day.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Here I am again...found this old Post and will continue along with a new batch...

The last batch was a hit, it was rationed form day one...so this time will make a batch and then try to get another one going soon...so we will never be short of Hard Apple Cider....[Or what ever you like to call it]

Started with:

-6 gallons store brand Apple Juice [S.G. 1048]
[they called it cider] ingredients were apple juice and ascorbic Acid [Vitamin C]

-9 cartons frozen apple juice concentrate [Old Orchard..use what you have]

This brought the S.G. to about 1066 [want it about beer % alcohol volume]

Added:

-6 crushed campden tablets
-4 tsp Acid blend
-4 tsp Liquid tannin

Stir it up...

Will wait till tomorrow and ....

Add:
-3 tsp Pectic enzyme
And:
-3 tsp Yeast Energizer
-6 tsp Yeast Nutrient
Munton's Ale Yeast
[Was happy with this yeast last time around....it finished at about S.G.1000.....next batch I might try Côtes des Blanc...it is suppose to make good cider, and should leave some residual sugar also]

Will prime this like beer with corn sugar and bottle in beer bottles....Hope it's as good as the last batch....

 

[masta]

Awesome.....So little time and so many things to make!

 

[Wade E]

Just remember to keep it nice and warm and be patient as this yeast is
a little TEMPermental and slow to start. Ive used this yeast quite a
few times and every time seems to take longer then the last but always
works.

 

[OGrav]

1.066, that's some strong beer! How is the apple flavor with the store bought juices? I wanted to try cider/wine myself but store bought juice was all I could find. Growing up, I could go down the street to the mill and pick up twenty gallons fresh from the press. I guess those days are over. I was afraid of the juice being diluted. Have you bottled already? I've heard that the champagne yeasts work good here.

 

[NorthernWinos]

It gets good flavor by bringing the S.G. up with frozen apple concentrate..

It needs to get racked again...soon...

I used Ale yeast as it finishes with some residual sugars and probably some yeast left, then it primes nice with corn sugar and gets nice and carbonated.Next batch I am going to try Côtes des Blanc...and see if the flavor is different...

 

[NorthernWinos]

Going to rack the Hard Apple Cider tomorrow...took a look at it tonight and it is clearing nicely....

 

[Wade E]

Looking good NW. Can you describe what this tases like by any chance? I know its hard but I tried to make it once and either I screwed it up really really bad or I just dont like it flat out but I think I just screwed it up. I used really good apple cider and wine yeast but thats about all I remember.

 

[NorthernWinos]

It tastes like.....well....fizzy apple juice with a bit of a beer taste....Don't know if the beer taste comes from the yeast or just our imagination...

Next batch I am going to use a wine yeast..Côtes des Blanc...I am interested to see what flavor comes out of that....Gee....So many things to try....and they all take time...Sure makes winter fly by tho...

It is pretty inexpensive to make...give it another try...you might surprise yourself...

 

[OGrav]

Probably your yeast. That carboy looks great! Years ago apple wine was my first try before I had access to wine yeast. It was going great for a couple weeks before it got stuck, though it smelled phenomenal. Probably for this, the lower the alcohol, the more apple flavor maintained. I gotta try it, can you or Wade recommend a brand for the apple juice or should I just pick whatever's available? I might put together a gallon or 4L batch tomorrow. I have some grolsch bottles just begging to be filled with it. Another option, toss some hops in with the next batch. Hey, I think this is Old World brewing!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Use what ever you can find...as long as it doesn't have any preservatives that might hinder the fermentation...if it says Ascorbic Acid [Vitamin C] that is fine.

Sometimes you get lucky and the juice comes in glass jugs...great for Little carboys.

I saw a Post on another Forum...[sorry George] the guy made 5 one gallon batches...used a different yeast in each batch...I check back there now and then to see how it is going.

Not many Cider Brewers here....maybe more of us should try it and help each other along with ideas.

Keep us Posted on your venture....photos are nice too.

 

[Wade E]

I only tried once using really good apple cider fresh pressed and dont know what happened but did not come out good but that was when I first started making wine and had no idea what I was doing so I cant help. I will have to try again when good cider is available.

 

[grapeman]

I'm with you there NW. More of us should try to make hard apple cider/ apple wine, or apple whatever. I've made a fair amount of it over the last few years, but I haven't really found a killer combination. I would love to hear how other people try it and what recipes, yeast, juice, cider used etc. Descriptions of taste would be especially helpful.

 

[NorthernWinos]

The Hard Apple Cider has cleared so nicely that I think we are going to prime and bottle it real soon.... = another empty carboy...

 

[Wade E]

Prime? What do you mean by prime NW? (Never mind as I just read your
post lower down) So its kinda like a sparkling. Do you degorge these
too and use champagne bottles or just enough sugar to give it a little
kick and have you ever blew a bottle ding this!


Edited by: wade

 

[NorthernWinos]

We 'prime' at bottling with
-3/4 cup of corn sugar dissolved in a small amount boiled water..[cooled]
-1 tsp Ascorbic Acid to keep the color...


Use a yeast that hopefully doesn't use itself up during fermenting...like a cider yeast, ale yeast and have heard Côtes des Blanc works...going to try that one next.


We bottle in beer bottles and crown caps..let them sit at room temp or 65* for a couple weeks.


We do not dégorge these...at time of drinking just gently pour from the bottle and leave a bit behind in the shoulder of the bottle...there is a small amount of sediment..like homemade beer sometimes gets.


Have never had a bottle blow, nor a cap. Seems the longer it sit the fizzier it gets.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

That looks a lot clearer than I imagined it would be, gonna have to try me a batch of that, soon as I get an empty carboy I reckon.

 

[Ippymiss]

NW,,, that looks like our hard apple cider , Glad the color looks the same..... how long has it been the carboy before bottling?. I will have to get the hubby to get ours out of hiding so I can take a picture of it. Has been in carboy final stage for one month in the basement covered

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks for the complement... It really was nice and clear, had been in the carboy only 6 weeks...but itfor sure was finishedand we bottled it today....I had an extra 1/2 jug and a small bottle too...we got 69 bottles...

So...have an empty carboy and primaries....mixed a batch of Strawberry/Red Grape....this time I put the oak in the Primary as well as a couple Vanilla Beans...did the same to a batch of Raspberry last week and I think it will be really nice....was good at first racking.


Ippymiss...show us yours too...what recipe did you use????...always open for new ideas....we want to make another batch soon to get us through summer.

Wish my Sparkling Apple Wine was this clear....got a batch that is slower than normal in clearing....?Edited by: Northern Winos