Damn good cider beer

It was my very first shot at brewing anything, and now at 1.5 months old I am finally getting to taste this, it is my favorite so far. The body/taste is simply amazing. Very deep and complex character. About 1 pint into this stuff super cold, every sip is a pleasure. It just kicks ass to me. -Completely- different taste and style than Apfelwein, etc. Thought I'd relay what I did here.

This is for a 1 gallon batch, do the math for larger batches:

• 1 gallon unfiltered apple juice (this is key). I used Mott's Natural unfiltered.

• 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar.

• 1/5th packet Premier Cuvee yeast pitched

• Bottle at 1.002-1.006, sit at room temp for 1 week. Refrigerate after 1 week. Yes, you are bottling it hot and letting it prime on its own. The carbonation is excellent and very, very bubbly this way. The bubbles just keep on coming even after sitting out in a glass. It lights your mouth up and keeps on going.

• Let sit in the fridge for 1 month, then sample some badass cider beer.

Unfiltered juice with this type of setup is a little different, it has a sour note right off the bat which mellows out eventually. This is not something you want to be caught storing at room temperature, incoming bottle bombs. It has to be refrigerated after a week, and continues to carb in the fridge slightly. It does not clear, and ends up looking more appropriately like beer than anything else. Throw it in some amber bottles and life is good. But it tastes like a full bodied beer that is just enjoyable and you can sip on all day. It is enjoyable out the gate and soon becomes liquid crack when you get into it. I think my OG was around 1.054 with this, and bottling a little hot it ended up 5%.

This rules give it a try :rockin:

So you never added any extra sugar? What is the final gravity on this. I am planning this for a cider and am worried about the attenuation and bottle bombs.

Re-read, I added 1/2 cup brown and 1/2 cup white sugar. Final gravity is what you bottle at, in this case 1.002-1006. For this batch I actually bottled at 1.008. Nothing blew up, just follow what I advise and refrig at 7 days. I was worried too, but used some 22 oz. brewing bottles designed to hold the pressure and they made it a week at room temps no problem. They continued to carb slightly in the fridge in fact. I learned that exploding bottles is more hype than fact, seeing as how I bottled pretty high and had no problems. Priming and force carbonating? Pfft, this blows both of those out of the water. The only flaw is that it relies on a refrigerator. Yes, if you don't refrigerate these, they will eventually go nuclear mess.

The level of carbonation combined with the flavor is just awesome.

There is a serious problem with this recipe though I only made 1 gallon

I'm planning on doing something to this effect for a sweet sparkling ginger beer. get a yeast that poops out early (lowest alcohol tolerance I can find) and bottle a few points before it hits the tolerance, so the yeast works a bit to carbonate, then dies leaving plenty of sugar left over. I might bottle in swing-tops just to be sure they won't explode