Sam's Choice Sparkling Cider
 

Type: All Grain
ABV: 5.5% (give or take)
OG: 1.050
FG:1.008
Fermentation Time (Primary): Untill done (roughly 3-4weeks at 65F)
Fermentation Time (Sec) : None
Yeast: Nottingham Dry yeast
Difficulty level: Easy


Taste notes: dry and good apple taste, good strong almost burning carbination, pleasent and refreshing despite this. When still fruit flavor almost over powering. Taste best cold. When served warm carbination more pronounced. Champagne like flavor with more fruity undertone, and less of a kick. Smooth, no burn from ABV present at all. No ageing nessesary. Taste better then a Woodchuck and is much cheaper.


Its simple enough

List:

5 gallons Sams choice apple juice (from concentrate, it contains no preservatives) (2.27$ per 3/4 gallon jug, 15.89$ per 7 bottles)

Pack of Nottingham Ale Yeast (1$-3$ depending on LHBS prices)

1 gallon quality apple juice, i used "Tree Of Life" orgain apple juice. "Simply Apple", apple juice works well too. (for use as priming sugar) (Note you dont need a full gallon of high end apple juice for priming, for a 5 gallon batch 40oz is enough) (7$ - 12$ depending on quality and price)

1) 5 gallon carboy, bucket or prefered fermenting vessal

Total Price max (without cost of fermenting vessal): roughly 30.00$

Price per bottle: .60$ (with a yeild of 50, 12oz bottles)

Pro:

Add 5 gallons of juice to carboy, shake each throughly before adding to fermenter, then shake fermenter after all juice afterward to allow good Oxagenation

Add Nottingham, shake fermenter for good measure (not required). Will take 2-4 days for yeast to start due to high ammount of Vitimin C which is already present in juice.

Let ferment... wait...(note: ferment in the dark, did a small batch which fermented on the counter in the light, final tasted buttery and rancid)

(the juice will ferment completely clear during most stages of fermentation due to the fact that the Sam's Choice juice is so heavily filtered it will not require Secondary fermentation to clear or other additives. The final product will be so clear you could almost mistake it for white wine.

When fermentation complete rack to bottling bucket, read nutrient facts for priming juice for sugar content:

I use "Tree of Life" apple juice which contains 30g of sugar per 8oz (1 cup) serving. That is roughly one ounce (2 grams over) of sugar per cup. Im not picky and i like a little extra fizz so i added 5 cups for a total of 40oz of juice. Gave 5 quick stirs with a slotted spoon, then bottled.

Let sit in bottle for 1 week before tasting, should be fully carbed by then if not just wait will carb well on its own.

End

I personally have done this for well over 25 gallons of this stright juice cider. The only down side is you'll always want to keep a batch going and a couple of cases on hand. Works well as pain reliever because the ABV goes stright to your head because of the heavy carbination. I have personally drank 8 bottles in one night and found that the drunkeness provided is heavy but the same weather one has 4 bottles or 8 bottles. I have yet to have a hangover from it providing properly hydrated before going to sleep.

Warning: You will need to pee, the heavy ammounts of Vitimin C which Sams Choice adds to the juice (roughly 100mg per 8oz serving) increase the dieretic effects of the drink to a near system flush proportion. This is why after a certin ammount you never seem to get any drunker. Great if you have a drug test the next day, but then again you'll just get busted for acohal rather then anything your flushing out, you wont get fired though.

Cheers

First, it looks like the Sam's Choice has maltodextrin in it. Is this a recent addition, and will this harm the brewing process?

Second, could honey be used instead of apple juice for a priming sugar? Corn sugar? Other juices?

Thanks - this looks good!

I never knew if sams choice has maltodextrein in it, i never it may account for some of the flavors i taste in it, but it doesnt hurt the brewing process at all.

You can use any thype of sugar you want to prime, just use the rule of thumb of 1 oz per gallon of brew. You may prefer the apple juice though because the limited apple taste left in the brew after fermenting. Useing the better higher quality of apple juice to prime puts some of it back in, So i would sugest useing a high quality apple juice, but yes sugar wroks.

Honey is unpredictable, and it carbs very slow and leaves the juice sweeter and i like it the way it comes out. Its good stuff, i would sugest trying it the way i said it above, you wont be sorry.

Cheers

Malodextrin is non fermentable. It won't hurt at all

Okay, made it tonight. I used honey as an added sugar / sweetener. Hope it will turn out well. For fermentation, I will use the organic apple juice you recommend, or something like it. Thanks again!

How much honey did you add? I mean if you added alot of honey then you OG will be quite high and your fermentation time will go up greatly depending on the added honey. You have made cyser, not a simple strait juice cider. Sorry i have never done that so i don't know what your final product. Good luck.

cheers

2 cups of honey, which is 24 oz, or about 1.5 lbs. I also used Red Star Pasteur Champagne Yeast, so it should be an interesting result.

As long as it tastes acceptable, I am fine :-)

I plan to carbonate with honey, and go with 1 oz per gallon of brew, as you recommend, or slightly less than 1/2 cup of honey.

Thanks again!

you may want to rethink that, honey carbs slowly, because it is much slower to ferment then regular sugar. It also sweetens the brew because not all of the sugar in honey is fermentable. Becareful, read the neutrient facts on the back of the honey you carb with (that is if your useing honey which has nutrient facts on it) to get an accurate measurement of the sugar that is contained in your honey. Also be prepared to wait longer for it to carb. but already your looking at a much longer fermentation time then i said in the orginal recipe, and a differnt flavor profile. You are useing a champagne yeast, and have boosted your OG by probably 25-30 points off the bat, think wont be ready for sevral months... good luck, you might get another fermenter and start a batch the perscribe way for comparision, or maybe some edworts apfelwien, thats good stuff too.

Cheers

I started a batch of this last night and have a question. How much krausen forms on top of the juice. I used a 5 gal. better beer bottle and their is not much head space. I know that apfelwien with monoratchet yeast doesn't make much krausen, but what about the nottingham?

Thanks,

Thanks!
 

Thank you for the advice - it is greatly appreciated. :-)