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Nogud247 · 12-19-2012, 06:17 PM

I'm thinking of trying this, any reason not to?

Pickled_Pepper · 12-20-2012, 01:04 AM

I've tried fermenting orange juice before and it always tastes like vomit. I've stopped experimenting with citrus stuff, but you never know until you give it a shot.

There are a TON of orchards in North Georgia an hour or so away from me, but I've had my best results with Kirkland 100% Natural Apple Juice. Considering it only takes (ahem) about 2 weeks to drink 5 gallons, I make session cider with the Costco Stuff and use orchard juice for 'sipping' ciders.

HerbieHowells · 12-20-2012, 02:07 PM

I hit Whole Foods for juice. The regular Whole Foods brand contains no preservatives and comes in nice gallon glass jugs, which you can never have enough of in this hobby. They also sell juices made with different variates of apples, if you want to try blending.

kylelarson · 12-20-2012, 03:36 PM

I did see whole foods had those jugs of cider, I read somebody else used those and their cider turned out pretty sour so I've been hesitant to buy. When you use whole foods cider does it take longer to age to lose the sour taste?

HerbieHowells · 12-20-2012, 04:49 PM

I didn't notice any particular difference between the whole foods cider and the local pressed cider that I did last year. It might be a good idea to buy a couple of gallons of the Whole Foods cider and mix it with the other ciders they have on the shelf- this time around, I went with a blend of regular organic cider and some of the Gravenstein juice they were selling. (I was flying by the seat of my pants- you might want to look into blends that have worked for others. But for plain old blended cider, I thought it worked fine.)

Nogud247 · 12-20-2012, 08:10 PM

If I buy a few of them in glass 1 gallon jugs and some airlocks could probably just ferment them in jug. Drink a jug and sanitize for a secondary right?

kylelarson · 12-20-2012, 08:36 PM

Think I'm gonna go the whole foods route, could use a few more gallon glass jugs anyway!

jakenbacon · 12-21-2012, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylelarson

Yea I am seeing a lot of the pressed cider in stores now. Noticed on the labels they have some preservatives in them, I'm assuming to kill the natural yeast. Any idea how this would affect flavor/fermenting?

It would not be good that's for sure. Fresh and Easy is pretty good about not using preservatives, I know the products I purchased were pasteurized and used no preservatives. Good Luck!

WilliamSlayer · 12-24-2012, 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke_d

So the fresh pressed, unfiltered stuff is better for making hard cider/hard sparkling cider? I've got a one gallon batch in which I used the fresh apple cider,that's been bottled and in the fridge for about two weeks now. It tastes alright, will it get better with age?

IMO yes absolutly (to both questions). The sediment adds the great apple complexity that filtered apple juice is lacking. Aging allows the harshness of fermentation to mellow and lets the pleasant phenols return to prominence.

Now, having said that, if you plan to add things like spices or other fruit flavors to the cider (cranberry, cinnamon, etc.) then getting the "good" stuff may be less important. Adding other flavors to the cider is not a BAD idea, there just may be no need to spend extra money on premium juice in that scenario.

luke_d · 12-25-2012, 07:34 AM

Awesome, thanks for the reply! Mine is still a little bit hot with alcohol taste but it definitely has mellowed out.