nvs-brew

Recipes 

Hey guys,
Wondering if you could help with a recipe?

So I went out today and got 7kg of granny smith apples 1kg red gala apes (sweet red apples) 2 kg of pears, also have 7g coopers pale ale yeast and loads of sugar, what else will I need? I'm guess more apple juice ? How much to make a 20/23 ltr batch around the 5% mark?

I don't my ciders dry but sounds like it could be reasonably sweet anyhow.

Do I need champagne yeast?

So far a run down,

7kg granny smith apples
1kg sweet gala apples
2kg of pears
1 pkt coopers pale ale yeast (7g)
???? Castor/brown(raw) sugar. ????

What else do you think I need?
Cheers

bottlebomber

Recipes 

If you're only shooting for 5% ABV there's no need for the sugar. Any fresh pressed cider will reach that easily.

nvs-brew

Recipes 

But what volume of apples/apple juice is needed for 5% in a 20 or 23 ltr batch?

bottlebomber

Recipes 

20 or 23 liters. As much juice as you have, that's how much you'll ferment. It will probably have a starting gravity of 1.045-1.060, and will ferment to around 5.5-7% ABV. It won't be sweet though, it will be quite dry. The only way for it to be sweet is to stabilize and back sweeten(for a still cider), back sweeten and pasteurize, or else back sweeten and keg/refrigerate.

nvs-brew

Recipes 

So I don't add any water? Just 100% juice?
Is there not a juice/water/sugar combination/ratio that works?

gratus fermentatio

Recipes 

Why add water to your juice? All it'll do is water down the cider, giving less flavour & less alcohol. And I wouldn't use champagne yeast, it tends to strip out a lot of flavour. I'd use an ale yeast (Nottingham is my fav.) It'll give you much more flavour. If you want it to be a little sweeter you could steep about 1/2lb of crystal malt in water, but you might want to add some FAJC (thawed) to make up for the added water.
Regards, GF.

nvs-brew

Recipes 

Yeah just want to bulk it out abit if possible, that's why I wanted to add some water...
I was thinking the water and sugar added would keep the % about the same..
Anyone tried it?

bottlebomber

Recipes 

So basically you want to water down your cider, and then make up for the gravity with sugar? You could probably so this, but it goes against everything I stand for so I'm afraid I can't offer advice

nvs-brew

Recipes 

Yeah I was guessing from previous beer making that that was a possibility, wouldn't water it down a great deal but I'm just looking to bulk it slightly and save abit of $$'s..
There is always next time to try,.just got half the ingredient sitting here and keen to give it a try!

gratus fermentatio

Recipes 

Just add more juice. You can always just buy some juice from the store, it doesn't have to be fresh pressed.