whoa! Thanks for the info, I have a resounding success!!!!!

Well, I read what you guys said, took in the lessons, and got started.

7 days in the fermenter, I ma sitting at 7% alcohol, sweet and bubbly, VERY VERY smooth taste!

Wow!

My recipe:

5 gallons pasterized, 4lbs light brown sugar

I campdened the cider while I put the champagne yeast into a small bottle with 12 oz of juice.

After 2 days, I added the juice ot the fermenter.

1 week later, lots of bubbles, hell loads of flavor.

I have to resist the urge to bottle it and drink it right now!

Predictions: It will be gone within 2 weeks, all intentions of aging will be thrown out the window.

... well that's what I do. Enjoy it!

Oldmate's right; time to start another batch!

After I kegged my latest cider batch, I had six friends over the following Sunday.

Don't do that if you want any for yourself

At this point, I am thinking of bottling now, then bottle pasterizing in a week.

For a test, I did one bottle last night, gonna chill it on Saturday and drink it Sunday.

I am shocked at how much alcohol is in it already, champagne yeast must be really good.

If I were to let it go clear, I would lose this sweet apple goodness, so looks like cloudy cider for me!

Ok, bottle pasterized today.

I ended up with 10% abv cider. It is sweet, and boy oh boy it is good.

Only took 13 days though, which is strange.

I used chamapgne yeast, but after 10 days, it was so dry it was crazy.

I added a gallon of fresh cider, and bottled it, took 9 hours to carb.

I popped some bottles, purely to make sure the taste was up to snuff, and surely 1 bottle can't give an accurate description, so 2 where in order.

I plan on getting 10 gallons this weekend, making 1 in the pastic fermenter, same recipe, and one more with beer yeast, and doing the atomic fireball thing.

If it goes as well as the first batch, I will have more before christmas.

The batch on the glass carboy, I am going to let sit over the winter, unless, of course, it takes off like this first batch does.

What's this atomic fireball thing?

... What is an atomic fireball?

Atomic Fireballs are a hard candy. They are cinamon based and very "hot" on the tongue. Rumor has it that 10 candies / gallon comes out very tasty.

So did it turn out sweet or dry? Did you back sweeten with fresh cider? Will the fresh cider not keep the fermenting going in the bottle? Or did you kill the yeast with some thing. Sorry somany noob questions in one post..

It was dry, and very alcoholic.

I back sweetened it with splenda, primed with 1/2 gallon of cider, with preservatives.

I bottle pasterized it, and have lots of carbonation.

Where can I read more about the atomic fireball method?

i read it here. Just drop some in your fermenter, and let it go.

I too would like to read about the atomic fireball additions. Sounds interesting. And since I love those things, well, you know...

Fletch78 said:

Where can I read more about the atomic fireball method?

Click to expand...

Here's one from the mead section: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/i-bottled-my-atomic-fireball-mead-today-151031/
Regards, GF.