getting ready to try cider!

Hey everyone, I am getting ready to brew a batch of cider. I want to do something really simple. Is it possible to just get juice and add yeast? Also, what kind of yeast will give me a "dry cider." I am a fan of Wyders Cider, if anyone has ever tried it. Could someone please point me in the right direction, possibly throw me a recepie or two. THanks!

I haven't made any yet myself, but it's my next project, and this is the recipe I found and want to try. I don't remember who wrote it, but I think it is in these forums. It's called "cheatin' Cider"

- 6 gallons of pure apple juice, NO Preservatives.
- 1 Packet of Ale Yeast


Mix together in carboy and install airlock. It will give off a pungent sulphur smell during fermentation...this is normal. Let it ferment until fermentation stops or gets to a SG of 1.010 . Rack the cider and allow it to clear. When cleared, for dry cider just bottle it. For carbonated, mix 5.5oz of corn sugar to a pint of apple juice. Boil it, then mix it with the cider. Mix well, then bottle the cider. The cider should carbonate in a few weeks.

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It's really that simple, except most of my ciders ferment down to 0.995 or so using ale yeasts. I've tried using a sweet mead yeast, the cider dried out anyway. There are cider yeasts, I haven't tried one.

Should you or shouldn't you boil the apple juice first?

If it's the non-preservative/pasteurized variety, you really don't need to boil it right off the bat. If you're pressing your own cider from your own selection of apples, it might be a good idea if you don't want any bad bugs in your juice.

So...would you say that it wouldn't hurt to boil it anyways as a precaution? Pasteurized pure apple juice I mean. It isn't as if getting spoiled food that shouldn't be spoiled from the store is entirely unheard of.

Or does boiling have an effect on the taste? Then again, I guess you would lose some water from the juice in the process of boiling it...

I would think that boiling it would cause a loss in some flavors. also, pasturization doesnt necessarily require boiling, something to keep in mind. If it came from the store pasturized and isnt past its due date I would use it as is. But I havent really done this before, this is mearly what I am planning to do.

You could just pasteurize it again, though. No need for boiling, just bring it up to 72˚C (161.5˚F). Boiling will most probably affect the taste.

I tried a cider much like this one -- apple juice, ale yeast and some added sugar. It turned out too sweet after fermentation was done, so I added some wine yeast to munch on the remaining sugar. I now have several bottles of bone-dry apple wine which may or may not be drinkable within a year or two...

My best cider has come from fresh pressed cider (no preservatives, not pasturized).
I used no yeast (the cider has its own) and wait 2 weeks for primary, 2 months for secondary, and 6 months conditioning.

Many people stray away from this due to it being 'risky'.

2 batches and no problems.

david_42 said:

It's really that simple, except most of my ciders ferment down to 0.995 or so using ale yeasts. I've tried using a sweet mead yeast, the cider dried out anyway. There are cider yeasts, I haven't tried one.

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Cider yeasts are even worse. It's really hard to get a cider that is sweet and carbonated. I've been thinking about using artificial (non-fermentable) sweeteners. It's just I hate to use something so unnatural in my home made alcohol.

I've used just plain apple juice from the store and some brown sugar to make a bone dry, very strong cider. It doesn't have to be non-pastuerized.

My first homebrew attempt was with cider (3 gal) because it takes one less peice of equipment--a pot, which I didn't have at the time. I used Pasteur Champagne yeast so it is dry, dry cider. I've had friends comment that it is good, but I personally don't like it very much being so dry. I'm sure it needs to age alot as its only about 2 months old now, but it was my first "brew" and I'm not that patient in general.

I'm looking at Northern Brewer's catalog and they have a section on Wyeast wine yeast. They give a Residual Min. in their table, which I'm guessing is a minimum residual sugar percentage. Wyeast Assmannhausen and Rudesheimer have 0.25% Residual Min. Wyeast Sauternes has 0.50% Residual Min, and the Sweet Mead has 2.00% Residual Min. So if you decide to go with more sweetness those are some choices. Otherwise any white wine type of yeast or cider yeast will probably get you dry cider.

Also, you might want to think about purchasing some yeast nutrient (I used diammonium phosphate) if you're going with store bought apple juice. There isn't a whole lot in the way of N and P compounds in apple juice for yeast nutrition.

EDIT: I did a lot of things wrong with that first cider though... First off I added about 2 lbs of sugar (by eye) on top of the apple juice I got from the store, then I pitched a packet of dry yeast into what was definately a high OG environment without even so much as rehydrating it. Then when I went to bottle I'm pretty sure I didn't add corn sugar to water and boil to sanitize. Finally I fined with bentonite and did actually boil the water for the bentonite but added it too fast into the water and made big clumps of clay which I then added to the secondary carboy. Those things said I'm pretty lucky that it has gotten favorable reviews from friends, and its the clearest brew I'll probably ever have.

Keln said:

Should you or shouldn't you boil the apple juice first?

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NOOOO!!! Don't boil (or even heat) your cider!!

Use Campden tablets to kill the bad bugs. Stir in 1 crushed tablet per gallon, wait 24 hours, stir to degas, and pitch your yeast. ...or don't pitch yeast at all. The "good" yeast will still be there and will ferment the cider.

I have a book, Homebrewing for Dummies....

It has three AHA recipes for cider; each require boiling of the juice. I haven't tried any. I would be inclined to try #1 with the sugar & tannin used in #2.

1st one - Traditional or Still (AHA Style 28a & b)
- 5 gal apple juice
- Nottingham dry ale yeast
- 2 oz of yeast nutrient.
Boil, cool & pitch
Primary @ 65'f - 8 days
2ndary @65'f - 21 days
Prime as normal or leave still

2nd - Natural Fermentation @ 65'F (AHA Style 28c - New England Style)
- 5 gal apple juice
Boil, cool & add remaining ingredients
- 5 cups of sugar
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1.5 tsp grape tannin
Let ferment naturally....
add 10 oz raisins wait 10 days
add boiled oak chips wait 1-2 weeks
Bottle wait for 3 months

3rd - Big Apple Punch (AHA Style 28d )
4.5 gal apple juice.
Pasteur dry champagne yeast
1 lbs of honey
Boil, Cool and pitch
Primary @ 65'F - 14 days
Rack to secondary on top of 750ml of raspberry liqueur
2ndary @ 65'F - 30 days
Bottle - still or sparkling