1-Gallon in Whole Foods Jugs

So the Whole Foods near me has the 1-gallon apple juice jugs on sale this week so I figured I would pop in here to see what I should know. I am sure it has been brought up a bunch but its hard to search for the term 1-gallon in this forum because I get hits on the word gallon.

So I found this article online (http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2009/10/how-to-make-hard-apple-cider.html) which basically says buy Apple Cider / Juice, use some Safale S-04 or similar, toss yeast in, and put on the airlock.

Is it really that easy? I see a bunch of recipes adding brown sugar, etc so not sure if it really is as easy as it seems.

Also I read that primary should be almost 2 months (60 days) time - is this correct? Or should I do a regular beer fermentation, rack to a secondary for a longer aging time?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

"Is it really that easy?" yes, unless you want to make it more compicated, it can be as simple as that.

I added sugars to boost the ABV, but yes, it seems as simple as that. I haven't tasted it yet, though.

My only quibble is - I would leave a little more head room in the glass jug. If the yeast decides to take off, it can foul the airlock.

Probably the hardest part is waiting for the cider to mature. After a few weeks the bubbling will stop and the cider will start to slowly clear. Even after the cider has cleared it isn't done. Tasting it at this point will give the impression of sour water with notes of alcohol, and no body. Wait another 12 weeks and the story will be entirely different.
It will have body, better alcohol incorporation, and an actual tang - I consider it an actual taste, like umami...
At this point back-sweeten with simple sugar to taste.
It is worth the effort, and it is a true creation accomplishment one should be proud of.

i currently have 2 1-gallon jugs fermenting in my cube at work. well, the fermenting is done, now it's just aging a bit. one of them i added a cup of sugar to, the other i just pitched the yeast. i have to say, the one without added sugar is much clearer than the other.

i did have to use blowoff tubes, because there wasn't much headroom, but otherwise it was stupid simple.

anyway, i'll give it another month or two, then i'll have cider to share with coworkers.

I called my nearest whole foods today (in canada) to see if they had these, which they do.

But, they're 11.99 here . and I know that I can get a 1 gallon growler for 7.49 at my LHBS (which Is actually pretty local) + 4 litres of juice for 4.00.

So going over an hour out of my way to save 50 cents doesn't appeal. may if they had a sale or I didn't already have 3 of that type of jug

you can buy a gallon of wine for 4 bucks, pull a bender on it and pour in that 4 dollar apple juice and add yeast
cost less
you get to get you and about 3 friends ripe for a night
and start a fresh hobby all in less than 12 hours
all that and save 4 bucks

One other nice thing is that the Rossi jug wine comes in four liter bottles (a gallon is 3.78 liters) which can make them better for primary fermentation of a gallon of must. If you use a secondary fermentor a gallon jug will avoid having excessive head space. I've got both.

Renoun said:

One other nice thing is that the Rossi jug wine comes in four liter bottles (a gallon is 3.78 liters) which can make them better for primary fermentation of a gallon of must. If you use a secondary fermentor a gallon jug will avoid having excessive head space. I've got both.

Click to expand...

I recently bought 3 quarts jugs (10 of them) to transfer my whole foods one gallons into. It was expensive, but I see a lot of 1 gallon batches in my future for testing.

My favorite cider recipe is very simple, add 1 can of concentrate for every gallon of juice. Verify that there are no preservatives in either.
Add a little yeast nutrient, oxygenate it very well, and let it rip (add yeast).

I like to back sweeten and force carbonate it afterwards; but if you like traditional still cider then you can enjoy it right after fermentation.

mredge73 said:

My favorite cider recipe is very simple, add 1 can of concentrate for every gallon of juice. Verify that there are no preservatives in either.
Add a little yeast nutrient, oxygenate it very well, and let it rip (add yeast).

I like to back sweeten and force carbonate it afterwards; but if you like traditional still cider then you can enjoy it right after fermentation.

Click to expand...

Do you use Potassium Metabisulfite and/or potassium sorbate before you backsweeten and carb?

Cold crash, rack off of yeast, add recommended dose of potassium sorbate, add 1 can of concentrate per gallon to back sweeten (at this point it doesn't matter if it contains preservatives or not), force carbonate, enjoy.

So if I am making 5 gallons of sweet sparkling cider (like Angry Orchard or Woodchuck), I buy 5 gallons of decent apple cider juice and 10 cans of cheap apple juice concentrate (no preservatives).
If I remember right, 1 can of concentrate is roughly equivalent to 1/2 cup of sugar. But just adding sugar seems to thin it out.

I got a keg of cider half way done that was pretty simple yet so delicious if you like a little sweeter cider.

for a 4 gallon batch, I added some honey and brown sugar and yeast for primary. gravity got down to 1.004 after 2 months. Then I backsweetened with brown sugar, frozen apple juice concentrate, and spices. The spices were cinnamon (liquid extract), vanilla (liquid extract), cloves, and allspice.

Message me if you want more details, but all you need to do is add a little extra sugar to boost the sugar concentration and then add yeast to get it going, worry about spices and backsweetening in a few months