Snyder

Recipes 

With all the talk of Edworts Apfelwein has given me the bug. I was looking to make something a bit sweeter and had a couple of questions. My recipe as follows:

6 cans of apple juice concentrate
18 cans of water (when reconstituted, will equal 2.25 gallons)
1 lb. dextrose
1 pk. Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
Let ferment about a month
When ready to bottle prime with 1/2 can concentrate and then bottle

Overall, does this recipe look good, or should I reduce the dextrose a bit. If I used an ale yeast, would it come out any sweeter? And will a 1/2 can concentrate be right to prime, or will I get bottle bombs.

The Blow Leprechaun

Recipes 

Pretty much no yeast is going to leave much residual sweetness behind, apple juice is just too fermentable.

I only prime with corn or cane sugar, ever, because anything else is too unpredictable and offers negligible benefits flavor-wise, but that's a personal decision. There's not really any certain way to know if 1/2 cup of concentrate is enough, too little, or too much.

Whether or not 1 pound of corn sugar is enough depends on how alcoholic you want it to be. Keep in mind alcohol has a drying effect on the palate, so that dextrose is going to make it seem marginally dryer than it is.

fireball

Recipes 

I wouldn't expect any residual sweetness with EC1118, everything I've done with it so far is bone dry and wine like.

lapaglia

Recipes 

13 oz of Treetop concentrate will carbonate 5 gallons of cider so 6 oz (half a 12 oz can) will be fine for 2.25 gallons. Just remember that EC-1118 will eat all the sugar in the carboy and then try to escape to get the sugar in your coffee. S-04 Safeale yeast does leave more apple flavor and some sweetness.

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Primary: 3 gallon cider S-04
Secondary: Valentine Apfelwein Clone 1 Gal
Bottled: Halloween Apfelwein Clone 1 Gal
On Deck: 90 Shilling Clone

wreckinball9

Recipes 

+1 on safale 04 or even better = Wyeast sweet mead yeast (4184) to leave residual sweetness

__________________
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And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?- Homer S.

Snyder

Recipes 

Thanks for all the help. Maybe I'll give it a shot with the S-04 or mead yeast.