Sweet cider suggestions

BaronIV · 06-05-2010, 03:31 AM

I've done a few ciders now where i have used 4.5 gallons of apple juice with a few cans of concentrate, and sorbated/backsweeted with a couple cans of flavored conc.

well anyways these ciders take quite a while to mellow out and actually be drinkable. they have a really "hoochie" taste for 4-5 months.

i was curious if there is a way to create a cider that would either stop before it goes completely dry (maybe high OG?) or one that will mellow out sooner?

I dont have the room to cold crash and i dont mind backsweeting. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to make a semi-sweet to sweet cider that is drinkable in under a month after bottling?

goodbyebluesky82 · 06-23-2010, 02:59 AM

Eh. Backsweeten with Splenda. And use less sugars overall for a mellower cider that ages quicker.

This was my first recipe, and I come back to it after trying some other things. AND, it was tasty after 2-3 months in the bottle. Its to make 2 gallons but you can adjust accordingly.

1 gallon apple juice
1 can concentrate (with appropriate water added)
3/4 pound brown sugar

bulk prime with 1/4 cup splenda and
1/4 cup brown sugar

Between the splenda and residual sugars left from the brown sugar it has a nice candied apple taste.

CvilleKevin · 06-23-2010, 06:04 AM

cold crash in a keg bucket or trash can with some ice if you dont have room in the fridge. it will be drinkable as soon as the crash is finish - 10 days or less if you're really in a rush

sjlammer · 06-23-2010, 04:42 PM

Try Brandon O's Graff recipe... its good.

Somewhere near 1200 gallons have been made to date

Ottis · 06-23-2010, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodbyebluesky82

Eh. Backsweeten with Splenda. And use less sugars overall for a mellower cider that ages quicker.

This was my first recipe, and I come back to it after trying some other things. AND, it was tasty after 2-3 months in the bottle. Its to make 2 gallons but you can adjust accordingly.

1 gallon apple juice
1 can concentrate (with appropriate water added)
3/4 pound brown sugar

bulk prime with 1/4 cup splenda and
1/4 cup brown sugar

Between the splenda and residual sugars left from the brown sugar it has a nice candied apple taste.

What and how much Yeast did you use? any Yeast nutrient?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CvilleKevin

cold crash in a keg bucket or trash can with some ice if you dont have room in the fridge. it will be drinkable as soon as the crash is finish - 10 days or less if you're really in a rush

Newbee question;
What is cold crashing? I assume you stick the fermenter in the fridge, but what temp and for how long?

CvilleKevin · 06-24-2010, 01:07 AM

cold crashing - use an ale yeast like Nottingham, S04, WLP005, etc. These flocculate at low temps. Rack the cider first, then chill for as close to freezing as you can get it for at least 24 hours, max 48. The cider will clear and form a compact sediment on the bottom. carefully syphon the clear cider off the top. be careful not to suck up any of the yeast on the bottom. If you are careful, the cider will be stable for years. Dont use yeast nutrient if you want a sweet cider, it will make it harder to crash

Ottis · 06-24-2010, 01:36 AM

Thanks for the info!

goodbyebluesky82 · 06-26-2010, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ottis

What and how much Yeast did you use? any Yeast nutrient?

sorry it took me a couple days to respond. I used S-05 in this recipe. Similar to Nottingham, but I like it since it makes for a crisp and clean cider.

ivanoharris · 08-10-2010, 09:15 PM

Can you use a plate filter, at some level of fineness and get the yeast out? Wanted to play aorund with this this year, was thinking somewhere b/w 2 - 0.5 micron range. Any thoughts on this, and negative consequences (i.e. body?). Read something on BYO about needing to do some pectin tests, and possibly having to add liquid pectinese.
Ivano

CvilleKevin · 08-11-2010, 01:44 AM

I've never tried plate filtering, but it seems like it would work if you are not set up for cold crashing. The main challenge is that if you want a sweet cider, it will still be fermenting and cloudy when you filter it, so it would probably take two different filters, first coarse then fine enough to get the yeast. You might be able to hit it with a clarifier first and get it clear enough to filter in one pass. Or you could cold crash and then use a fine filter if you were worried about the crash not getting everything. It would probably worthwhile to try this on gallon batches first and scale up when you have it working. US05 is a good yeast also. My experience is that US05 is better with some extra sugar to get the sg to 1.065 or so