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Atek · 12-07-2010, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coldrice

wow you really re-awakened an old thread! I never did make any exchanges with anyone... I have learned a ton since then but for what its worth my batch came out pretty nice. i ended up adding premier cuvee yeast (which I'll never use again) to that batch which was started with s-04 (which I'll also never use again!) and it finished around 10.5% ABV if memory serves (it usually doesn't but I'm too lazy to get up right now). i primed it and bottled in champagne bottles. the last one i tried was probably 7 or 8 months ago though I've had one in my fridge since then. one thing I've learned with ciders/cysers/meads is don't drink them for a long long long long long long time. the key is to forget about them completely. its always so tart. the first cyser i made was 3 years ago and it now tastes like one of the best chardonnays i have ever had with a appley honey-like finish when you exhale through your nose. it was just 5 gal cider, 4 lbs wildflower honey (both local) and cotes de blanc yeast. it RULES. the point, i guess, is this: if you want to carb something, it won't be sweet unless you use a (bastardized) unfermentable sugar, or if you force carbonate with CO2 (also lame). lalvin dc-47 is the best choice for these applications and their ec-1118 is also good. what i will do for residual sweetness from here on out is continually rack off the yeast cake over a period of 6-12 months, and add a small amount of honey and monitor the gravity the whole time. when the gravity stops changing you know the yeast has petered out. adjust sweetness to taste and bottle still. if you want bubbles just swish it around really vigorously in your mouth before you swallow, there will be plenty of bubbles i promise...

Hahahaha, your bubbles comment got me... :-) Anyway, the S-04 yeast sounds like it would be great for this or for other fruit centric brews. It also sounds like the fruit flavor it is preserving is more of a tart fruit flavor is that right?

**coldrice** · 12-07-2010, 09:49 PM

no what i was trying to say is that i wouldn't use s-04 again... for anything. lalvin d47 is the way to go for apple wines and meads. as far as tartness, its mostly a matter of how long it has conditioned after fermentation, and to what degree fermentation has completed. you can cold crash or add sulfites to stop the metabolisis of yeast and preserve some of the natural sugar content- though I never have. I like things dry, its just a matter of waiting for it to become palatable. using a goodf amount of honey also creates the impression of sweetness on your palate, without it actually being there. but remember the more honey you use, the longer you must wait...

**RugenBrau** · 12-09-2010, 02:36 PM

Some of the changes that I have made to recipe are very simple. I've nixed the campden and K-meta. I can notice a definte difference in the taste. I obviously can't add any sugar to sweeten it up so it is a little drier that I like but still good.
A friend of mine told me he jacks up the sugar in his cider to about 1lb/gallon and uses WLP002, an English ale yeast. He says it poops out a little early and leaves some sweetness. Perhaps I'll try that.
I still have 5 gallons that I made two years ago that is sweeter than hell. I added Splenda, which I will never do again. I have been making graff and will bottle some this weekend. I'm going to try to blend different amounts inbottles and see what happens. This has been one long never ending experiment.

**RugenBrau** · 12-09-2010, 02:38 PM

I forgot to add that I have had success with bottle pasturization but it is difficult to get consistency between batches

Atek · 12-09-2010, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RugenBrau

I forgot to add I have had success with bottle pasturization but it is diccicult to get consistency between batches

What is bottle pasturization?

**RugenBrau** · 12-09-2010, 06:18 PM

Go to the Cider forum and check the sticky at the top by Pappers. I do mine in a large pressure cooker with the top on, BUT THE BLOWOUT SEAL MUST BE REMOVED. This way if a bottle breaks/explodes it is contained.