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I wouldn't say that the Handbook is useless, since he provides targets for acid, ph, sugar, tannins, etc for a "typical" traditional cider, that are relevant no matter what apples you're using. Obviously these levels are different for the sweet cider juice that most of us use, but it gives a...

Cidermaker's Handbook recommends not adding nutrient, as it helps speed up fermentation. Low and slow is the way to go.

I get apple orchard juice and haven't needed to add sugar yet. Usually looking for 15-17 brix. I like White Labs English Cider Yeast best so far. I have to admit that JK Scumpy Orchard Gate Gold is some of my least favorite cider yet. Had a sour vinegar-like taste. Same with Northern...

I've read that some ciders slowly ferment all winter long, right up til spring.

My two cents: read Cidermaker's Handbook. It's got great information on apple varieties, sugar levels, TA, PH, analysis, etc. I get juice from a local farmer's market, unpasteurized. We ferment it dry, and sometimes add sugar and bottle to get sparkling. It's usually pretty bland so we add...

Just to clarify, I'm looking for those specific hard cider varieties -- bittersweet and bittersharps -- like ashmead, pippin, kingston black, etc. As far as I know, there's only one orchard in western PA and they just planted them last year for their own hard cider.

Wouldn't the sediment/nucleation points make a difference when you take off the cap and release the pressure? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the science. Anyway we've done 3 years of cider, primed with the same amount of sugar, and only this last year have they overflowed after uncapping. The...

Definately try all the ciders you can. If you're east coast, pick them up wherever you find them in VT, NY, VA, PA, etc and takes notes. Some of the flavored ciders are very interesting. Hops, cranberry, things that add bitterness and tannin seem to work best (for my taste at least).

Agree that temperature control helps. I simply put a tall 5g bucket with cider in a wider 5 gallon bucket and fill with ice water. I have a $30 temp controller (for pets) that I use just to watch the temperature of the juice (and I use it connected to heaters for winemaking). I try to keep it...

Hi all -- live in Pittsburgh and been getting your typical apples from a local orchard. Ready to upgrade to cider apples, but not sure where to start looking. Does anyone know of orchards on the East coast selling cider apples to the public? I'm thinking Virginia might be a good source since...

I'm a bit of purist so we have primed with plain sugar syrup so it doesn't add any flavor. We have added 1cup of sugar per gallon. This produces a nice carbonation that doesn't need pasteurized if you use beer bottles. There are some issues with natural carbonation though: 1) The CO2 will...

I add a bit of powdered tannin to get the juice a little closer to that made from true cider apples. I did some tests last year and recommend White Labs English Cider yeast. You can take a look at the discussion here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=503461

I wrote up a post on this last year which you can find here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=503461 I did tests last year with 4 different white labs yeast and unpasteurized fresh cider juice, fermenting to complete dryness. I found that the ale yeasts all tasted about the same...

2.2 is correct if I can believe my PH meter. It tastes tangy but it doesn't feel like my teeth have dissolved... yet.

So I just racked my ciders after doing tests with a bunch of yeasts, using unpasteurized cider juice from a local orchard. My brewstore had these White Lab yeasts from the blind test: English Ale Edinburgh Ale English Cider and I also tried 4 dry yeasts: D47 EC-1118 71B-1112 Nottingham Ale...

Just came across this White Labs yeast taste test done by San Diego QUAFF and sponsored by AHA. You have to be a member to get all the details but White Labs nicely posted the results. The one thing that's interesting is that several beer yeasts were rated better than White Labs Cider yeast...

Just wondering if there is a particular PH to shoot for? Just bottled last year's batch and the PH was 2.2, so it tasted tart, but I kind of liked it. We normally backsweeten a little anyway. And it should be acidic enough to not need to sulfite at bottling.

So I made some wine from Chilean juice with my cousins for the first time on our own last spring. The fermentation didn't quite finish (they are around 1.008 - 1.010). The wines taste slightly sweet. We'll probably throw in some yeast to try to finish them up. I had started a previous thread...

The thing is, they've already aged a year in the gallon jugs, so I guess I should let them age more in the bottle?

Just bottled x5 1-gallon batches of mead from different honey varietals. Used D47 at a high temp without knowing about it and fusel (local brewstore guy had recommended it). The 3 lighter honey batches are almost undrinkable, and the other 2 darker ones are decent but still have that slight...