First Cider!

Made my first cider, and it was a great success. Used 100% apple juice with added vitamin C, yeast nutrient, and Lalvin EC-1118. Tastes apple-y with a somewhat alcohol taste, with a bit of sourness possibly from the ascorbic acid.

I've been brewing mead and other beverages on a very small scale prior to this, but this is by far the best.

meryre said:

Made my first cider, and it was a great success. Used 100% apple juice with added vitamin C, yeast nutrient, and Lalvin EC-1118. Tastes apple-y with a somewhat alcohol taste, with a bit of sourness possibly from the ascorbic acid.

I've been brewing mead and other beverages on a very small scale prior to this, but this is by far the best.

Click to expand...

How long did you ferment for before tasting? Did you take FG reading? I've read good things about EC-1118, but have yet to try it (except for a white wine I made, which finished @.996 and tastes sweet to me).
Here is a site that compared and judged different yeast in cider and 1118 was rated 2nd in flavor.
http://hbd.org/brewery/library/CidYeast091595.html

meryre -

Congrats on your success!

If we had your recipe and all of the gritty details, we could try this out for ourselves, and confirm your analysis!

So...give it up!!!

Pogo

Yea, come on - you post that this batch beats other meads. You got to give up the details.

I just made my first 5 gal basic cider, still in primary. I'll rack and taste test it tomorrow to see if I need to add spices (10 days primary).

Any recommendations. Note: I usually brew bitter beers, but need something light for the summer.

2 Gal Organic Apple juice - * expensive on sale $12
6 cans frozen apple juice from concentrate. 25 grams sugar each.
4 lbs honey.
OG: 1.062
FG: ??
WLP001 California Ale Yeast Yeast cake.

Estimate:
Size: 5 gallons
OG: 1.061 FG: 1.005? Alcohol: 7.2% v/v (5.6% w/w)
SG 1.061 5 gallons
4 lb. Honey
4.5 lb. Apple Juice.

I just e-mailed him to come back to the thread for details. He only has one post so he probably hasn't be on since he posted and unless he set up e-mail notification, he doesn't even know we replied.

When I said small scale, I meant small scale. Maybe less than a litre, I didn't even measure. I don't have a hydrometer, either. I'm much more akin to the ancient haphazard method, if a little more controlled.

Anyway, it was pretty dry, I even had to sweeten it a little once I sulphited. I used about 1 part apple juice to 0.5 parts table sugar, with a pinch of nutrient and of course the re-hydrated yeast. Record lag time of about 15 minutes, then it bubbled like a hot tub. Maybe a couple weeks or less ferment time.

P.S. Do any meads that you might have made get weird smells and flavors? One of mine smells like pineapple, but not in a pleasant way. It's been aging for a few weeks, no sign of abating.

I am new to brewing and Ive made the batches before of hard cider and they have turned out great, with a nice alchoholic kick to them. (some more than others). How can i tell where I'm sitting at in alchohol content so that I can take readings as it is fermenting to get the desired amount i need.

Thank You
Adam

gabsiu said:

I am new to brewing and Ive made the batches before of hard cider and they have turned out great, with a nice alchoholic kick to them. (some more than others). How can i tell where I'm sitting at in alchohol content so that I can take readings as it is fermenting to get the desired amount i need.

Thank You
Adam

Click to expand...

You will need a hydrometer, a flux capacitor, and a valid state ID

it's usually best to design a recipe for your desired alcohol content, and not add stuff once fermentation has started.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but alcohol content is calculated by og-fg x 131.
I cant offer any advice about the pineapple smell but your gonna want to age your mead for slot longer than a few weeks. I'm gonna bet Itl go away with age.