New to Cider

I recently aquired a pack of Wyeast 4766 Cider Activator from a friend. I was looking around the net for a simple recipes and found the following:

5 gallons of fresh pressed sweet apple juice (Cider)
5 cups of sugar (what kind of sugar ?)
1 package of Wyeast liquid lager brewers yeast

Anyone tried this? Does this make a good cider?

Thanks

That's pretty much the standard for a hard cider. It's pretty simple. I wouldn't stick with a strict recipe though. You might want to try using a little more apple juice, say anywhere from 5.5-6.0. I ferment in a large bucket then transfer it over to a carboy for bulk aging. When taking hydrometer readings and taste samples it's nice to have an extra 1/2 gallon or so.

Sugar depends on your personal preference. I know people will use anything from pure cane sugar, brown sugar, regular white sugar, DME...etc. Just think about what flavor profile you want. Don't worry about buying the most expensive ingredients, because you can make an awesome cider with just regular old white sugar. One thing to note, is that the primary purpose of sugar is not flavor. It is to increase the gravity of the cider, so that it has a higher alcohol content when it ferments out. That's why you should rely on a hydrometer to tell you how much sugar to add, and not a measuring cup.

All things aside, yes if you threw all of that into a fermenting bucket you could make a cider.

Thanks for the reply, I have made a ton of beer but have not tried a cider yet. I noticed the yeast has a range of 60-75 degrees. I there any benefit of fermenting a cider at cooler temps or is the practice the other end of the scale or does it matter with cider?

Thanks

Colder temperatures will allow for a slower fermentation process. Most people will tell you that a slow fermentation process is better, but really so long as the cider ferments to the point you want...who cares if it's slow or fast? Besides, I'm not sure you'll even notice much difference in fermenting speed with a 15 degree spread.

The main concern, is at what temperature can you sustain a constant ferment? If your house is in the low 70's then it'll be more trouble than it's worth to try and keep it in the 60's. If you have a lagering cellar or a fridge that you brew lagers in, then you might as well use it right? Right!

By the way, I'm sure you will find ciders very rewarding.

Lower ferment temp will reduce the rhino farts greatly.

Im lucky to have a greenhouse built over the stairwell to the basement. With my primary in a big bucket of water the fermenter keeps a nice steady temp of 55 even if it gets down into the 30s outside...