anyone made ken schramms apple cyser??

Hi,

I made a 3 gallon batch of ken schramms "Falls Bounty Cyser" It fermented super fast and I moved it to Secondary at around the 9 day mark. I stopped the yeast at 1.000 cause I don't like overly dry. Today I took a tiny sip to see if I could taste anything.

Its been just over 2 weeks and it tastes awful!! like pure alcohol and I can barely barely taste apple. Is this normal?? When I went to smell it and pulled the bung I got a huge whiff of nastiness..maybe like fart..eek! I know that it needs months and months of aging. I guess I'm just wondering if this is normal.

Two weeks is too quick to judge anything.

Apple can often give off a sulfur aroma, so don't worry much about that.

How did you stop the fermentation? That can be tough to do.

ErinRae said:

Hi,

I made a 3 gallon batch of ken schramms "Falls Bounty Cyser" It fermented super fast and I moved it to Secondary at around the 9 day mark. I stopped the yeast at 1.000 cause I don't like overly dry. Today I took a tiny sip to see if I could taste anything.

Its been just over 2 weeks and it tastes awful!! like pure alcohol and I can barely barely taste apple. Is this normal?? When I went to smell it and pulled the bung I got a huge whiff of nastiness..maybe like fart..eek! I know that it needs months and months of aging. I guess I'm just wondering if this is normal.

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I've made the Fall's Bounty Cyser recipe; it takes a while to get good, but it DOES get good, VERY good. I let it bulk age 2 years before bottling (6 gallon batch) and it was very tasty! I think the only way I could improve on it would be to use a blend instead of pure MacIntosh juice & use 71-B yeast. Mead/melomel/cyser/etc... Takes time.
Regards, GF.

GF did you add any spices to your cyser?? like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg or vanilla? I've been reading that I should add spices to the secondary if I want...and let them sit in there till it tastes about right to me.

If I'm going to add spices I guess I should do this closer to bottling so I can actually gauge a proper taste??

My cyser bulk aged for 6 months prior to bottling and has been in bottle for almost a year.

It is just now starting to taste really good.

If I had to make a decision to keep it or pitch it based on a two week old sample, I would have ditched it and never known that I could make a delicious cyser with just cider, honey, yeast, and time. It taught me to be patient and that good things come to those who wait.

If you are getting a fart/sulfur smell you might try aerating or splash racking to off gas it.

ErinRae said:

GF did you add any spices to your cyser?? like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg or vanilla? I've been reading that I should add spices to the secondary if I want...and let them sit in there till it tastes about right to me.

If I'm going to add spices I guess I should do this closer to bottling so I can actually gauge a proper taste??

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My 1st cyser (Fall's Bounty) had no spices in it, but I did use some spices (cinnamon stick) when serving it hot. I also added a teaspoon of brown sugar per mug when serving hot.

My 2nd cyser wasn't the Fall's Bounty recipe, but I did use spices: cinnamon stick whole clove, sliced nutmeg. The clove dominated that batch, it wasn't bad, just not what I was shooting for.

If you're wanting to add spices, use whole, sliced or cracked spices. Put them in a hop sack with a couple of sanitized marbles to weigh it down & tie a sanitized thread or string to it so you can easily fish it out when your desired flavour profile has been reached. The bung will hold the thread & maintain a seal at the same time. Clove can easily dominate, 1 or 2 whole cloves in a 3 gallon batch would be plenty IMHO. You can add all the spice at once, or you can ad them one at a time, your choice.

When I do use spices, I mostly use them in secondary, but when I make graff (malt cider), sometimes I'll add them to primary, sometimes to both primary and secondary; it just depends on the recipe.

As for the cyser, Next time I make it, I'll use the 71-B yeast & a blend of mac juice & store bought juice, and I'll ferment it on the cool side. I can see where a vanilla bean might be really good in a cyser; it would add a sense of sweetness to it without actually changing the FG & would help to mellow the cinnamon.

Hope this info helps.
Regards, GF.

Thanks GF!

I'll have to think about spices over the next month or so..I guess I have lots of time since the cyser will take quite a while to mellow out. I like the idea of cinnamon and/or vanilla. I def think I'll backsweeten though.
I stopped the fermentation with a wine stablizer..but I haven't checked the gravity yet to make sure it's stopped. It was at 1.00 last time I checked. But if I'm going to backsweeten it..it needs to be stopped 100% right?
What do you think about backsweetening with a lb or two of caramized honey? Does caramlized honey work well? Sounds like it would be great!

I wouldn't want this mead to sweeten over 1.015..so maybe it was a mistake to stop it at 1.00 to begin with

I keep using 1118 for mead. When I go to the wine store they say thats all I need. But I dont really want 18% alcohol and I like mead a little sweeter so far....having to stop the yeast is kind of a nusiance.
Oh the joys of learning!!!

Taking it off the yeast at 9 days pretty much ensures you won't have enough yeast to clean up any off flavors produced in primary.

ErinRae said:

I keep using 1118 for mead.

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Next time try D47 or 71B-1122.

I find that 1118 drives away too much aroma, and that D47 or 71B produce a more overall pleasant mead.

Re racked my cyser today because of the large amount of dropped yeast at the bottom. Had a much better scent and the taste had improved somewhat. Not sure if my attempt at stopping the yeast worked. When I stopped it the sg was 1.00 and now it's 0.98. Which is fine...think I'll leave it for awhile and back sweeten later.

As a bit of a newbie I don't know if this is the best place to post this, but here goes. I have a 5 gallon batch of Ken Schramm's Fall Bounty going. I used pressed cider from an orchard. I followed the recipe pretty closely. Starting S.G. was 1115 after 12 hours or so. After week or so I racked from the crock into a 5 gal. carboy. S.G. was around 1.000 so I added 1 pound of honey.

At some point I was concerned about the clearing so I added a product called Super-Kleer which is a two step process using Kieselsol and Chitosan. It's been four months and the top 3 gallons or so are very clear, but the bottom two gallons or so have a very distinct dividing line form the top 3 and are fairly cloudy.

I don't know if anyone has experienced this but I am guessing the bottom two gallons are hay because of pectin that is still in there ( I did use the suggested amount of pectic enzyme). SO I am going to rack a second time and was wondering if I should try to use separate one gallon containers and keep the two suspensions separate, or try and make them all homogenous with a little up and down of the siphon tube. Any input appreciated!

Every cyser I've made has fermented faster than all my other meads and been loaded with fussels. Age it for a year, and maybe backsweeten a tad and you'll be golden.