My first real batch of hard cider hopefully...

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dr_al

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Hi there, i have lurked and in Feb. I started a batch of Apflelwein, then in March some JOAM. After reading a few books about wine making I have figured out Apfelwein is not quite what i'm trying to make so this went in the bucket last night

1.5 gallons of Sam's club AJ
1 packet of nottingham
1 tsp acid blend
1/4 tsp tannin
1 tsp of nutrient
1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme
corn sugar to bring it up to 1.060 OG

Its bubbling away like mad and making my cool closet smell very very apply and good. My bucket most likely does not seal well as the airlock has no movement or even a pressure change but as much as its bubbling away I wont worry.

at 66 to 68 degrees most of the time should i wait a week to start checking readings or just a few days? Then transfer to multiple secondaries for a few weeks then prime and bottle.

My goal is a carbed cider around 7% or 8% sweetened with a bit of splenda if needed and possibly primed with a good apple juice to bring back a hint of apples if that will make any difference at all.

Still very new but I try to read allot and be well informed before I start talking lol :mug:
 
Thank you Pappers, i had read that once but quite a while ago and forgot about the site, its a great resource and i bookmarked it this time.
 
That Is the next on the list, I need to hit the LHBS and get a 5 gal Carboy and the rest of the ingredients.
 
1.007 or 1.009 right around there, the bubbles make it a bit squirrely.

i figured i may as well taste it since i have it out of course, its just a bit tart not bad at all mild apply flavor and a bit of yeasty flavor at the end but not a bad flavor.

its still bubbling just a bit in the bucket would it be safe to leave it there for another week? its only been 6 days but i had free time and some one to pay attention to the kids so i dipped in and checked it out :mug
 
ok, 1.007 again when i checked, transfered to a 1 gallon jug and a wine bottle and airlocked. i had enough to fill a pint glass and a bit more so i drank the remains, the yeasty taste is gone or much lessened at least, the budweiser after taste has gone away. it has a bit of a wine flavor and some hints of apple but i will let it sit in the secondary for a few weeks to let the rest of what i stirred up settle out, i found out i needed to shorten up my siphon big time, it worked but i had it so long it stopped a few times.

i picked up some brewers best apple flavoring, i will add just a bit to my bottling bucket after the priming sugar and siphon on top of them both to mix it all together. its much drier than i would like, but i will sweeten just a bit with splenda.

Does the apple flavoring have ferment-able sugars in it? If so i will adjust my priming solution but I don't imagine it will have to be by much.
 
From one Doctor to another, there is really one thing that seems to help ciders tremendously (as you have no doubt read) and that is ol' Father Time. I just taste tested (it really the hardest part of the job;)) some Apfelwein that I started 1.5 months ago, and it has potential, but I wouldn't want to drink it right now - not very much apple flavor and a bit tart. I think in 2 or 3 months it's going to be great.

Your recipe looks good and the acids and tannin will add to the "mouth feel" of your cider. The notty yeast will leave some residual sweetness. In fact at 1.007 it's probably done fermenting. I don't see anything wrong with adding apple flavoring, but you may want to leave a bottle or two natural and let them age to have something to compare down the road.

Sorry I can't answer your question about apple flavoring (never used it personally), I did some research and couldn't find any info, but my guess being that it's specifically for beer and wine, would be that it's a non fermentable.

Also, I just wanted to add my very good experience with Brandon O's Graff. This one I fermented for 3 weeks and its been one week bottle conditioning (so far) and it is SO much better tasting right now. I started a new batch last night, because I fear for my mental safety if I run out.

Welcome to Cidertown, and HBT! Let me know how you like the apple flavoring...I have thought about it before, but now that I have a supply of the good stuff, I am going to let my others age!

Cheers,
The Doctor
 
ahh yes I would bet that is correct it is for beer and wine so no fermentable sugars. My Apfelwein has been in the secondary for almost a month now, started it 1/28 so i bet the flavor is improving greatly and its finally clearing up
 
Well 13 bottles and a bit of frustration later it's done. The Budweiser after taste is almost unnoticeable now, my y siphon is going away. Auto-siphon here I come.

I added 10 tsp of splenda and 1 oz of apple concentrate. Honestly I don't notice much difference yet maybe a bit more apple in the end but I'm no tasting expert.

I used coopers carb tabs. My friend got them with his kit and had a bunch left over so I gave it a shot.

Can't wait to try it and hope nothing goes boom.
 
Success!!!! It's dry with a hint of sweet from the splenda, crisp when cold and the apples really come out as it warms. It has a sour taste. I don't know if it's an infection my friend that likes sour's isn't sure but he said get it all cold just in case.

I couldn't hold out any longer I cooled a bottle for a few hours tonight and cracked it open to a perfect amount of carbonation.

Just a day short of 2 weeks since it was bottled.

I'm going to take a bottle to a friend that teaches a judging class and get his opinion and ideas if it does have a sour infection this time it added to the flavor and is quite enjoyable. I will now ferment right in a Carboy skip the bucket and pickup an auto siphon. If I picked up a bug it was all my siphoning problems.

image-129161576.jpg
 
Well it gets even better and better, another week brought the carbonation up a step to a nice level, the taste has mellowed out and it's more of a fresh apple and less sour.

I started a 2 gallon batch tonight using cote des blancs this time.

In 2 weeks I will bottle my mead and start up another batch using montrachet or nottingham not sure yet.

Pipeline here I come lol. Now I need to make up some hang tags.
 
I will heartily agree with you. Once you start and realize how good it tastes even at a young age, it's hard to stop making batch after batch.

Step up to Brandon O's Graff. It's also very good and ages faster and tastes better than many ciders. I have made 2 5 gallon batches so far, and will get another going as soon as I get a free bucket...
 
The first image is roughly 3 hours after adding dry yeast.

The second is 24 hours in. Lots of air lock activity my son giggles every time it bubbles.

I read in another thread cote des blancs leaves a buttery after taste, bummer if it does I'll still drink it though.

image-3269779767.jpg


image-2339561300.jpg
 
Well my first batch has aged for a few months now and I found out a friend of a friend is a judge so I sent a bottle to his house and he scored it and gave me some notes.

He gave it a 27, not bad for my very first try and he explained the flavors I was picking out and suggested I back sweeten a different way, he could really pick out the aspartame flavor and with the apple concentrate made it almost cloyingly apply. I agreed with what he wrote out for me and my second batch I will skip back sweetening and see how my different choice of yeast turns out. I will keep using Nottingham though as I do like the bready flavor it left behind lol
 
Last night, a friend and I split a bottle of 3 month aged Apfelwein that was nothing more than juice, brown sugar (didn't have dextrose) and Montrachet yeast fermented to completion and then bottle conditioned. We both were very impressed.

It was only lightly carbonated, about half of what I am used to (didn't use enough priming sugar I guess,) but dang if it didn't taste amazing. And that's only at 3 months. At 1 month, it wasn't very good at all - tart, dry and hot. Wow has it changed, especially the dry part...I know it hasn't gotten any sweeter but it's such a nice mellow flavor that you don't mind the dryness.

I know if you have the time you can skip back sweetening all together.
 
I know it hasn't gotten any sweeter but it's such a nice mellow flavor that you don't mind the dryness.

That's been my experience with ciders as well--I have been making cider for a couple of years but had never tried a commercial one. So today I tried a Woodchuck just to see what commercial cider drinkers were expecting. It was OK, but I MUCH prefer my still dry cider. Dry cider is a much different experience than wine; smoother and easy drinking. When it's good and aged well you really don't notice the dryness the way you do with wine. I've pretty well decided that I'm going to stick with still dry ciders and not worry about carbing and back sweetening. But to each his own; that's the great thing about homebrewing.
 
The aging is defiantly a huge part, it sucks to wait but after setting some aside I will make sure it ages out longer now, I'll get my pipeline going in a few months but for now I will experiment a bit to see what I like the most. The less sugar the better for me anyways lol.

I used to like things very sweet but my tastes are changing as I get older and it will be even simpler to make if I don't back sweeten. I may try some honey instead of sugar if I remember correctly it has a bit of unfermentable sugar in it? Or something along those lines. Still reading and learning something new almost daily.
 
after 5 months the 2nd batch is coming into its own, i tried one a month to see how the flavors and smells changed it has been interesting, i tried to take notes each time but that didn't always happen.

last month i decided i wasn't going to use a wine yeast again but this month i completely changed my mind.

i get allot of banana but that has finally mellowed out and it's quite drinkable now, the apple flavor is there finally.

i must learn to wait... i think bulk ageing will help me do that and solve some of my other problems with yeasty smells and flavors that i get when i bottle after 2 months.
 
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