Improving mouthfeel of cider

[ckvchestnut]

I used the brown sugar to back sweeten, added 2 cans of pure apple concentrate, it tastes amazing!

Sounds great! I'm going to try the brown sugar too and the apple concentrate. I still need to backsweeten a batch I have in the secondary right now. My last batch I backsweetened with cranberry concentrate also turned out amazing. Also used cranberry concentrate as part of the juice, turned into a nice sparkling rosé!

 

[Pumpkinman]

Carolyn,
That sounds great! I forgot to mention (I think) I did't use any sorbate as I wanted the cider sparkling, I bottled in beer bottles.

 

[ckvchestnut]

Ya I would like to bottle in beer bottles but don't have bottles and caps or a capper. For now we bottle sparkling stuff in 2litre pop bottles. It's ok but not if you only want one drink! But it does stay sparkling for a bit tightly capped in the fridge once opened. Kind of like pop.

 

[Pumpkinman]

I think that you should send it all to me so I can bottle it and test it for you...I promise to give you accurate and detailed feedback....he he

All joking aside, I use the red plastic capper for beer, I believe that they are around $16.00, I can cap a case of bottles with it faster than my corker with the cap attachment.
Beer caps are fairly inexpensive as well.

 

[ckvchestnut]

ya! i would love to get my hands on some retro stubby bottles!

 

[byathread]

What kind of crabs are you guys using? We are planting Dolgos,Chestnuts, Wickson, Transcendant, whitney plus our wildling tree. WVMJ

I don't know much about crabs, but Chestnut (which I think is only 1/2 crab) is a SUPERB eating apple! Its small, but it has a lovely, explosive aromatic flavor. Not sure it will lend appreciable tannin or acid like other crabs, but should contribute lovely aroma and flavor to your cider blends.

 

[ckvchestnut]

Those sound wonderful!

 

[petey]

Have you tried DME? That'll give it more of a malt beverage feel I think your looking for

 

[BernardSmith]

Have you tried DME? That'll give it more of a malt beverage feel I think your looking for

DME? Is that dry malt extract? How does that work?

 

[bluedog]

DME? Is that dry malt extract? How does that work?

I use this method when making a Graff, which is technically more of a cider-ale hybrid.

I make a gallon of beer wort by steeping half a pound of Crystal malt and 1 oz of torrified wheat in 3 quarts of water at 155 F for 30 minutes, then rinsing the grains with enough ~170 F water to bring the volume to around 1 gallon. To that add 2 lbs of DME (typically 1 lb amber, 1 lb light, but it varies based on what's on hand) and 0.5 oz of mild hops (~6% AA), and boil thirty minutes. Sometimes I'll add spices (cinnamon or clove) during the boil. Cool the wort (~70 degrees), strain into a 6 gallon fermenter and add 4 gallons of apple juice. Pitch a packet of beer yeast (Safale 05 or Nottingham) and ferment on the cool side (~65 F) around 2 weeks. Keg or bottle, and carbonate as appropriate.

Because the DME provides some non-fermentable sugar for the beer yeast strain, it doesn't ferment completely dry and no back-sweetening is required (at least to my palate). That natural residual sugar may contribute to the mouthfeel. This stuff is so easy to make, I almost always have some on tap. It's a house favorite around here.

 

[Descender]

ya! i would love to get my hands on some retro stubby bottles!

Coors is using the stubbies right now. I would imagine you can find Lucky Lager too. Also, check the pop aisle. There's often craft sodas that use the oldschool style bottles.

Rhino farts and rocket fuel!

 

[ckvchestnut]

Coors is using the stubbies right now. I would imagine you can find Lucky Lager too. Also, check the pop aisle. There's often craft sodas that use the oldschool style bottles.

Rhino farts and rocket fuel!

Haha! Thanks for your tip! Love your signature