Cranberry Apple Hard Cider

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Kdog22

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This recipe I got from a buddy who loves it and highly recommended it. I can't take credit for it. If you have a kegerator, this is the easy and delicious recipe for you. This could also be bottled and pasteurized for carbed sweetness. Taste is crisp apple with a touch of cranberry sweetness, but far from overwhelming cranberry flavor. Just right. Perfect on a hot day.



Ingredients:

-5 gallons of Motts applejuice
-1 packet of Nottingham Ale yeast
-1 to 2 pounds of white sugar
-1 gallon of Ocean Spray Cranberry juice
-Campden tablets and k sorbate



While re-dydrating your yeast, mix your apple juice and sugar in the primary, dissolving all the sugar. Pitch your yeast. Rig up blow off tube and let it ferment dry. I replaced the blow off tube with an airlock 2 weeks in. I didn't touch it for 5 weeks total. By then it had finished and was about perfectly clear. Racked a gallon of the cider into a gallon carboy and the rest went into the keg, onto proper amount of metabisulfite and sorbate to stabilize. Hooked it up to CO2 and purged the oxygen out of the headspace. Waited a day and then added my cranberry juice bringing the total volume in my keg up to 5 gal. Hooked it back up to CO2, purged again, then shook the hell out of the keg for a min.

The result is an absolutely delicious carbed cider that's not too sweet and rediculously good. AND... Was one of the easiest brews i've done, aside from apfelwein.



Bonus:

You now have a gallon carboy of still/dry cider to drink or experiment with. As homebrewers, we all like to experiment for our next batches. :mug:
 
Some pics from beginning to delicious end:






Notice the airlock was fitted first... Bad choice.. lol





Racking into gallon carboy and then the rest into my keg..




Finished product in all it's delicious glory:




Enjoy
 
Nice! I have been thinking about a cranberry apple cider. How do you think it would taste with spices like cinnamon and some orange peel as well?
 
Best part about these are the easy experimentation. Try it on a 1 or 2 gallon batch and report back. I would love to hear how that would taste!
 
Best part about these are the easy experimentation. Try it on a 1 or 2 gallon batch and report back. I would love to hear how that would taste!

I started with a half batch, tasted the goodness and went with a full batch. It tastes GOOD. I will let you know how it turns out with spices. I am using this with another recipe. I have a syrup mixed up which is dark rum, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, a little lemon juice and some orange extract. Smells and tastes amazing.
 
I plan on bottle carbing this, but it is my first attempt at cider and I have a question. Should I add the cranberry to bottling bucket when its bottling time? Also will I need to use priming sugar or will the sugar from.the cranberry juice be enough to carb and then I can pasturize?
 
Mott's is a solid choice of juice for a cider with added flavors.
It really let's the adjuncts shine.

-cheers.
 
Yep, it's about that time to make me some more of this recipe! Hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I have.
 
I plan on bottle carbing this, but it is my first attempt at cider and I have a question. Should I add the cranberry to bottling bucket when its bottling time? Also will I need to use priming sugar or will the sugar from.the cranberry juice be enough to carb and then I can pasturize?

Maybe. You can calculate the amount of sugar from the package of cranberry juice, leave out the sorbate, and pasteurize when needed. I will say that it's not all that easy, and bottle bombs are a risk. Kegging is the best way to have sweetened carbonated cider without a risk of bottle bombs.
 
I did a similar recipe with 3 gallons of Motts Apple Juice, 1.5 gallons of cranberry juice. Then I dissolved 3 cups brown sugar in boiling water and added it once it reached room temp. After I month I racked it to a bottling bucket for nearly another month. While racking it I sampled it and it had absolutely zero sweetness so I added 2 cups of lactose. I may not do that next time. Also added apple and cranberry flavorings just before bottling. I'm pretty happy with it and most of my friends and family have liked it.
 
I am going to try to try a one gallon batch of this so I am planning:
1 gallon apple juice
0.5 pounds of sugar
Yeast to primary
after fermentation add cranberry juice and bottle allow to carbonate and then either stove top crash or cold crash to end fementation. Any thoughts?
 
I ended up cold crashing in fridge. It was well carbonated and tasted delicious. I am going to try it for the Christmas holiday party season think it would be a real crowd pleaser.
 

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