5 Day Sweet Country Cider

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So this is my first brew! Wanted to do something for a long, long time but have been overwhelmed by all the steps. This seems like a nice starter, so thanks for the recipe! 2 1/2 gallons, OG 1.060, currently (2 1/4 days later) 1.032, I'll wait until tomorrow morning to bottle. I'm a canner and will be using strong 1L flip-tops so not too worried about the pasteurization; just checking in to give future readers my experience with this.
 
I would be very hesitant to ignore pasteurization at that fg unless you can keep them refrigerated.
 
AdamJDuncan said:
So this is my first brew! Wanted to do something for a long, long time but have been overwhelmed by all the steps. This seems like a nice starter, so thanks for the recipe! 2 1/2 gallons, OG 1.060, currently (2 1/4 days later) 1.032, I'll wait until tomorrow morning to bottle. I'm a canner and will be using strong 1L flip-tops so not too worried about the pasteurization; just checking in to give future readers my experience with this.
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+100-- bottle pasteurization is not just because the bottles can't handle the pressure. A couple things will happen, even if the bottle doesn't explode 1) the introduction of oxygen will make the co2 shoot the liquid out of the bottle, leaving at least half of your cider as foam or on the floor (I have the stains on the ceiling of my garage to prove it!) 2) it's going to be incredibly dry. Like un-drink-ably so.
 
Hey there... bottled this at 1.027. Pasteurized about 12 hours later. 1 litre bottles definitely need a lot of headspace as the boiling expands the liquid. I guess it's a bit undercarbonated, but hey what can ya do. My friend thought it was a commercial cider, and I agree that it's a very nice recipe. Will do this again, with twice the cinnamon. I put a drop of vanilla extract in a glass of this and it doesn't work.
 
Got a block party in 3 weeks, looking for something else quick to make that's light and summery people will enjoy...already got a Saison, Blackberry Blonde and Ginger Beer, i like the idea of this...with the ability to keg to put the yeast to sleep i should be able to get it just as sweet as i want.
 
I just did a 1 gallon batch using soft Belgian candy sugar in lieu of the brown sugar. It's been in the primary for about a day and so far it's looking pretty good. I'm going to cold crash this in another day then bottle her up. Well see how it turns out after I pasteurize it.
 
NashamBrewer said:
I just did a 1 gallon batch using soft Belgian candy sugar in lieu of the brown sugar. It's been in the primary for about a day and so far it's looking pretty good. I'm going to cold crash this in another day then bottle her up. Well see how it turns out after I pasteurize it.
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Are you going to check the ABV before you bottle it? I've had some in primary for four days now and am going to leave it until tomorrow. It's still pretty sweet and the ABV is still under 5%. Just a thought
 
I've not pulled a sample for a gravity reading. As long as it tastes good then I'm happy. Your comment did sway my decision to leave it in the primary for a little longer though. Once it's bottled and carbed up, I'll post some tasting notes.
 
I'm wondering since cold crashing makes the yeast go dormant, if I were to bottle at a time where I wouldn't be around to monitor the bottles and pasteurize at the right time could I just put it in the fridge until I had some time, then let it warm to room temp and then pasteurize? Seems logical enough but I've never cold crashed before.
 
Mine sat for about 18 hours before I pasteurized and had no gushers but the carbonation wasn't consistent. Some are fully carbed but others are almost still. Not sure why
 
Ok first batch of cider and I havent gotten my scale yet... anyone know how many cups of brown sugar you would add per gallon of cider?
 
I don't have a scale yet either so I just eye ball it. The boxes of brown sugar I buy are a pound each so I just estimate. Half a pound, half a box etc. no it's not exact but it always comes out good and someone else's recipe won't be an exact match to your taste buds anyway.
 
well, I put in just shy of 2 cups of brown sugar to get the cider I am using up to 1.072. we shall see how it goes!
 
This recipe possible to make without fresh pressed apples? I live in northwest florida and can't find any fresh cider. Plenty of store bought stuff though. Would it be possible to use store bought?
 
I did my first batch this spring with store bought one gallon jugs of apple cider. It came out great. Just try to get some that doesn't have any preservatives.
 
I am hoping to make apple cider this fall. I've got wine corks and bottles. I really don't want to commit to more bottling equipment. Can I bottle bubbly cider in wine cork
 
from what i've read you cant make a carbonated cider with wine bottles, it will push out the cork or break the bottles with very little carbonation.


ok... I'm 3.5 days after I started my cider. I used pasteurized cider from a farm that had a SG of 1.045 and was fairly tart. I added enough brown sugar to bring it up to a sg of 1.072. used 1/4 package of nottingham yeast in a gallon batch. I started it tuesday night and checked it on saturday morning.. it measured at 1.025. I tasted it and it was SUPER tart. smelled very yeasty. very hard to get beyond the smell..

did I do something wrong?? I know it went longer than it should have but figured it would be better... I have it carbing up in bottles then will store in the fridge... if it doesn't taste better I think I will throw them back in the jug to ferment out fully.....
 
In the bottle now. One plastic. Started on Sunday 9/22. Down to just below 1030. Going to continually monitor pressure of plastic bottle, but probably pasteurize tomorrow.

One question: the whole point of this is quick turnaround and convenience. Because there is no long term aging involved. Oxidation shouldn't be a huge issue, so I just bottled out of the one gal. bottle I fermented in using a funnel. Got 8 bottles or so out of 1 gal. Does anyone think this is going to be a problem if I drink it up pretty quick? 2-3 weeks.
 
revkev6 said:
Ok first batch of cider and I havent gotten my scale yet... anyone know how many cups of brown sugar you would add per gallon of cider?
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Original recipe calls for 1.25 lb that's 20 oz (16+4) for 5 gal, so for 1 gal that would be 5 oz or about 1/3 cup.
 
Mine carbed up in about 6 hrs. Pasteurizing now. One bottle just broke. Good thing i had the lid on!!! Drinking the plastic tester over ice. Very good. In fact, I had some Fireball here and added a shot since I didn't brew with cinnamon. VERY GOOD!!!!!
 
Ok guys, good news. I just blew a cap off one bottle, so now I can drink it!!! Well, the two-thirds that are left! The rest are safely chilling in the fridge!
 
I made a batch of this last year and still have a case left, it's better and less tart with age. Just fyi. If you're going to make something to age, though, make some apflwein with cote de blucs yeast and some fresh cider from your local orchard. After 1 year it's amazing
 
Made a 2 gallon batch of this with s-04 yeast.had the OG at 1.072, and bottled last night at 1.018. Just checked a bottle, not a lot of carb but it tastes good ( one bottle and you feel it). by far the quickest easiest way to get a sweet cider. I can't wait to see how it tastes after sitting a week.
 
After having done this method, now I'm rethinking my brewing process concerning stopping early, carbing and pasteurizing. Anyone try this with different recipes? How did it turn out?
 
I loved this stuff so much last year that I’m making many more gallons this fall. I am however having issues trying to figure out how to get it in a keg and stop the fermentation. I can’t get a whole carboy in the fridge, and I just discovered stove top pasteurizing in gallon jugs is a little unreliable. Has anyone had any luck doing this?
 
From what I have read you could add preservatives but I thought when you kegged and carbed and kept it cold it would be fine
 
What about adding campden tablets and potassium together to kill yeast. Does that work?
 
2nd Batch in the bottle. Used Peach-Apple cider this time. Took about a week to get down to 1030. Probably because it's been getting colder. I wanted to get it lower, around 1025, but i'm busy for the next few days so i didn't want it to get too dry!
 
How long should you cold crash this for? I have just started a gallon and I'm going to cold crash it at about 1.030 (my OG was 1.068) and then pasteurise it with some carbonation
 
Skyphoxx said:
Any corn sugar needed at bottling time on this?
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it depends on the amount of sugars still in the cider, if you crashed it at 1.03 then that should be plenty of sugars left to make carbonation; and you probably can still carb with lower gravity, I'd imagine anything over 1.005 would be fine, but I don't have a lot of experience, just info from what I've gathered from these forums.
 
MY OG was 1.065 and I tested it today and it hit 1.024 (1.025 using the conversion based on temp of cider). It wasn't terrible but I did use Trader Joe's spiced apple cider. I am cold crashing it now because it took on the color of yeast at the bottom of a bottle. I'm just curious to see if it clears at all.

It's about 5.38% ABV. I don't think I will give this one away unless it turns out more appealing color wise. Having to keep a gallon jug of cider isn't the worst thing that can happen to me today. :D

It's a great, easy, and fast recipe. Thanks to the OP for posting so many moons ago.
 
Ok, so I am going to give this a try. I am a regular brewer but this is only my second batch of cider. First batch is a dry English cider. Here is my plan, let me know if I am missing anything:

1. 5 gallons of local uv pasteurized cider (3/4 gallon heated up to incorporate 2-3 lbs of brown sugar and a few cinnamon sticks). I am trying to get an OG of about 1.080 (Do I need more sugar here?).
2. Ferment with Nottingham yeast.
3. I am looking to ferment for 3 days to get it to about 1.020 to reach ~6.5% ABV. I'll test to make sure. I don't know if I can cold crash this (the difficulties of apartment living).
4. I plan to bottle this with no additional corn sugar or DME, then monitor with a plastic bottle every 4 hours or so until the bottle is firm, then pasteurize.
5. Pasteurize on a stovetop by immersing the bottles just up to the cap in water heated over 150F for 10 minutes (like the sticky says).
6. Refrigerate, drink, and enjoy.

Does this sound right? Any other pieces of advice to a cider neophyte? Thanks.

-Jeff
 
JKessler147 said:
Ok, so I am going to give this a try. I am a regular brewer but this is only my second batch of cider. First batch is a dry English cider. Here is my plan, let me know if I am missing anything:

1. 5 gallons of local uv pasteurized cider (3/4 gallon heated up to incorporate 2-3 lbs of brown sugar and a few cinnamon sticks). I am trying to get an OG of about 1.080 (Do I need more sugar here?).
2. Ferment with Nottingham yeast.
3. I am looking to ferment for 3 days to get it to about 1.020 to reach ~6.5% ABV. I'll test to make sure. I don't know if I can cold crash this (the difficulties of apartment living).
4. I plan to bottle this with no additional corn sugar or DME, then monitor with a plastic bottle every 4 hours or so until the bottle is firm, then pasteurize.
5. Pasteurize on a stovetop by immersing the bottles just up to the cap in water heated over 150F for 10 minutes (like the sticky says).
6. Refrigerate, drink, and enjoy.

Does this sound right? Any other pieces of advice to a cider neophyte? Thanks.

-Jeff
Click to expand...

Almost exactly how I did mine...came out awesome, just make sure you keep your fermentation temps within reason. Also I'd make sure you go off taste and not just gravity alone, when it tastes good go ahead and bottle and pasteurize once the bottles are carbonated.

Mine took a bit longer than 5 days to reach the gravity but make sure you monitor it. If it goes too long you'll get a tart but relatively tasteless drink. Though if it goes too low just back sweeten with some apple juice concentrate, I've done this and it came out fine.
 
Just tossed this in the bucket the other night and it was rolling away in no time. Only problem is that now on the second day of active bubbles in the airlock, I'm getting a sulfur smell- obviously hoping this is going to go away! Any thoughts? Thanks!
 

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