First Brew Ever

Hey all. Just got my brew kit in the mail yesterday, and had all the ingredients ready. So today and threw it all together. Here is my recipe (I think I used a lot of sugar...we'll see).

4lbs light brown sugar
1-2lbs of regular sugar
5 gallons apple juice
Nottingham yeast (soaked in water per instructions before pitching)
3lbs honey (not sure which kind, just some store bought stuff)
2tablespoons yeast energizer
4teaspoons yeast nutrient
OG-1.105
FG-TBD

Can't wait for this to get done!!! Any constructive criticism about my recipe? I have a glass carboy on order and I'm going to fill it with a raspberry mead next (still have a 6gal BB for the cider secondary).

That should make a nice strong cider! give it time...ciders (like wine) need a long time to condition. Just don't give up on it...My last cider tasted like poo for atleast 6 months but did come around

That's a lot of sugar!!! The good news is that the nottingham will probably crap out early, leaving a sweet cider if that's what you like. That, coupled with the probably ~10% alcohol you'll get and you got one hell of a cider!

I happen to like sweet cider. So this will be interesting.

Sounds good to me......I'm looking for a sweeter cider I think be great for the SWBO let me know how it turns out.

Does anybody know what would be a better temperature to ferment in? Warmer like 68-75 or colder as in my basement (not sure how cold it is).

Grizzlybrew said:

That's a lot of sugar!!! with the probably ~10% alcohol you'll get and you got one hell of a cider!

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That's no cider - it's a wine at that point!

75 is too warm...as a general rule i would stick to the lower end of the yeast range and then warm up a little once its almost done...

also I think the yeast nutrient and energizer were a little overkill sill awesome. Depending on what you are fermenting in, I would recommend a blow off instead of a airlock...might get a little crazy for the first 2-3 days

Well I've been gone all day long. I come back to a bubble about every 5-10 seconds. The temperature on the bucket shows 64-66 degrees. So that's good so far. If it gets too high I'll have to move it downstairs.

Ya the nutrient and energizer thing...I read the instructions wrong. It said teaspoon, but I read it as tablespoon. Nubcake.

So after another 12 hour work day I return to find it bubbling every 1.5 seconds. So it's moving nicely. I read something in the mead forum about opening the fermenter and agitating/adding more nutrient/energizer. Now that's mead and this is a cider. I assume that I should just leave it be, but wanted to ask.

My friend Claude from Quebec just wrote an email that is quite fitting for your case. He wrote, "Be warned however that recommended dosages for yeast nutrients will generally provoke a very fast fermentation - which is NOT what you want for a good cider - you should rather be looking for ways to slow
down the fermentation, and as such, yeast nutrient is generally not a good idea to add to cider."

Noted. Thank you.

A question about when to check on the SG of my brew. Is it bad to do so weekly or should I just let it sit for the full four weeks then check on it? It's been about a week and I'm curious, but if it'll hurt my brew then I'll just leave it.

steralise the equipment and checking the SG is no problem. some people check SG daily!

I was just concerned about exposing the brew to air.

Edit-So I checked it today and it was down to 1.070.

Bush_84 said:

I was just concerned about exposing the brew to air.

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In theory, the CO2 that was released by the yeast eating sugar will protect the batch from air since CO2 is heavier than air.

Some people do check daily, and others, such as myself, check it when activity on the airlock slows and you need to know if it is really done or if it is stuck.

So it's been a few weeks and I rechecked the SG on this brew. It's currently sitting at about 1.030, which brings me to a ABV of about 10% (a little under, but close enough). Fermentation appears to be slowing, and I'm considering racking to secondary soon.

wow those yeast did a good job so far.........

So after racking into secondary my SG was 1.020. That was Feb 19th. I just racked again and used sorbate to stabilize. After racking I just used some apple juice to top off. Maybe I should have used water. Anyways I tasted it and it's coming along quite nicely. It's about ~11% ABV, but sweet. Did have a bit of an after bite, but not enough to burn. I can't imagine what this will taste like after some aging!!

Quick question about aging. I know it's supposed to be kept in a dark cool place. What are typical temps that are good for aging? While fermenting it was kept at about 66. Is that cool enough? Will it be dark enough to just put a pillow case over it? Thanks!!

So I have racked a few more times since then and I've decided that it's clear enough to bottle. I have been using apple juice to top off and put in one frozen concentrate before bottling. For being my first cider, I am pleasantly suprised! This tastes pretty good and it's still pretty young!!

Things I'll do differently next time, instead of sugar I'll just use more concentrate. That'll probably leave me with a more apple flavor. I'll probably use a higher quality honey. I'll also probably aim for a lower OG. I had to cold crash to stop the yeast and I'd like it to ferment out dry next time.

Before that I plan on probably doing Edwort's Apfelwein. My dad is brewing that for his first brew and it's coming along nicely.

So I realize that I haven't given this my final grade. So I started this back in Feb. Once aged for the 6 mos this has turned out fantastic!! Very smooth!! One thing I did differently than the original recipe is that I added one apple juice concentrate at bottling. But the small bit of honey and brown sugar really give this a smooth flavor. One thing I'd do differently is remove the regular sugar. I'd maybe bump my OG back up with some concentrate or more honey/brown sugar. Or I suppose I could leave it as is. Either way this drink has moderate apple flavor with a good mix or the brown sugar and honey giving a drink that is smooth from front to finish. My first brew turned out surprisingly well!!

CandleWineProject said:

That's no cider - it's a wine at that point!

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That's no moon -- It's a space station.

Cheers,
OWK