Holiday Cider

bigandy73 · 12-02-2009, 11:43 PM

Mixed this up this evening. Should be ready for a family fishing trip in mid-January.

4.5 Gallons Mott's Apple Juice
1 Can Cranberry juice concentrate
1 Can Orange juice concentrate
2 Cinnamon Sticks
6 Whole Cloves
2 Tsp Vanilla extract
3 lbs Light brown sugar
1 packet Red Star Premier Cuvee dry wine yeast

I put a gallon and a half of apple juice in my brew pot, and the other 3 in the fridge, and started proofing the yeast. I heated the juice on high until it was warm to hot, and then added the cinnamon sticks, cloves, juice concentrates and vanilla, stirring constantly to break up the concentrates. I continued to heat the mixture until it was almost boiling and then killed the heat and stirred in the brown sugar. Once it was dissolved I strained the mixture into the fermenting bucket and added the cold apple juice. Let it cool down and then added the rehydrated yeast. OG 1.076

My plan is to ferment this for 3 weeks and then see if I need to backsweeten it at all. I'm going to prime this before I bottle it so it will be sparkling. Condition in the bottle for about another 3 weeks. This will probably end up having a good amount of sediment in the bottom, any ideas how I can clear that up without losing the yeast for carbonation?

flyweed · 12-03-2009, 12:25 AM

I made a holiday cider as well...it was super easy and tastes excellent. It was the southern sweet cider recipe in the recipe forum, and then I added 2 sticks of cinnamon to the primary and two fresh stick to secondary....then when I kegged I added a tsp of pure vanilla extract and it is YUMMY...I don't think this one is gonna make it to christmas

bigandy73 · 12-09-2009, 06:32 PM

Racked to secondary yesterday. SG 1.080. Tasted pretty good, although there is still a pretty dominant sulphur smell to it. Will let it go for about ten days in secondary and then see where it is at.

bigandy73 · 12-27-2009, 03:02 AM

Bottled on 12/24 at 0.098. Backsweetened with about a 3/4 c of Splenda mixed into the priming sugar (a little more than 1/3c brown sugar and 1/3c white sugar in 1.5c water). Didn't have as much sediment as I expected, hopefully it's not still all suspended! Tastes like apple wine with a little citrus behind it. The vanilla hasn't come out yet, but we'll see what happens after sitting in the bottles for a few weeks and then the fridge for a few days.

bigandy73 · 01-08-2010, 06:22 PM

Tapped the mini keg the other day to find pretty good carbonation and a clear pour. Primarily tastes of apple and orange with the dry finish of the cranberries behind it. I got a little of the vanilla out of it, although no one else tasting did. Maybe it's just because I know it's there. Pleasantly drinkable and hides the 12% abv almost too well.

MarcJWaters · 01-10-2010, 03:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigandy73

Mixed this up this evening. Should be ready for a family fishing trip in mid-January.

4.5 Gallons Mott's Apple Juice
1 Can Cranberry juice concentrate
1 Can Orange juice concentrate
2 Cinnamon Sticks
6 Whole Cloves
2 Tsp Vanilla extract
3 lbs Light brown sugar
1 packet Red Star Premier Cuvee dry wine yeast

I put a gallon and a half of apple juice in my brew pot, and the other 3 in the fridge, and started proofing the yeast. I heated the juice on high until it was warm to hot, and then added the cinnamon sticks, cloves, juice concentrates and vanilla, stirring constantly to break up the concentrates. I continued to heat the mixture until it was almost boiling and then killed the heat and stirred in the brown sugar. Once it was dissolved I strained the mixture into the fermenting bucket and added the cold apple juice. Let it cool down and then added the rehydrated yeast. OG 1.076

My plan is to ferment this for 3 weeks and then see if I need to backsweeten it at all. I'm going to prime this before I bottle it so it will be sparkling. Condition in the bottle for about another 3 weeks. This will probably end up having a good amount of sediment in the bottom, any ideas how I can clear that up without losing the yeast for carbonation?

Interested about your signature. Apple Pear Hooch? Whats that?

bigandy73 · 01-14-2010, 04:31 PM

Oh it's sort of a higher strength sweet fruit wine that I'm working on. I'll post a recipe here if you're interested.

bigandy73 · 01-14-2010, 05:07 PM

Here you go:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/apple-pear-hooch-157034/#post1809302

bigandy73 · 02-27-2010, 01:02 AM

I found a couple of these in the back of the brew closet the other day, and be warned - they do not age well.

The flavor has become quite dry, and slightly sulphurous. I think maybe the cranberry or orange has done something funny as it breaks down some more.

I don't think I would make this again.