My experiment

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pintocb

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So I'm over big, rocket-fuel type beer/cider....for the moment. I have a 2.5 gallon better bottle carboy, which is great for trying out stuff.

2 Gallons Apple Juice
1/2 Gallon Water
Lalvin EC-1118 (it was on hand, I would rather have used an ale yeast, but didn't wanna wait til I was next near my LHBS.....)

OG is 1.040, which may still yield a 5 to 5.5% cider. I may eventually try to get a cider that is down around 3.5% and still have drinkability. Great for lawnmowing and such.

Thoughts? Has anyone got experience with this?

Cb
 
Yeah, it may have the abv you want, but I imagine you will have lost too much flavor in this. But let us know if we are wrong.
 
I remember years ago trying to do a 3.5% cider by bringing the OG down with water - it turned out worse than vinegar. I think the lack of ethanol and/or low initial sugar was an invite for spoilage organisms.
BTW my ciders have been much more to my taste (not so dry) since I switched to using low attenuating yeasts - my favorite is currently Wyeast 1968.
 
Its bubbling away right now. If the EC1118 does its usual job it'll still be around 5.3ish %, so I don't think its going to be too low. Might be just about right for what I want. Just in case I've started my regular batch of apfelwein. I didn't add much in the way of extra fermentables though. Just one can of frozen concentrate to five gallons of juice. Should end up around 6.75%. Hopefully both will be great.
 
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