I just couldn't help it

Well, all the talk of ciders, cysers, and apfelwein around here lead me to believe that I would be a fool to not give it a try. Here's the breakdown:

5 Gallons of local fresh apple juice (pasteurized with no additives)
2lbs corn sugar
.25lbs Light DME
2tsp yeast nutrient
Nottingham dry yeast
fermenting at 68degrees F

OG= 1.066

This "juice" had a ton of sediment in it so I used a couple of knee high stockings to filter it on it's way into the carboy. Also, the sugars were disolved in heated distilled water first. Lastly, look out for non-clear juice!! I checked it after 6 hours of fermentation and the carboy was covered in foam!! I racked it to a bigger carboy to keep the airlock from getting gummed up.

I'm planning on the following spicing in the secondary in a hop bag when I rack to secondary tomorrow. What do ya'll think of the spicing?

.5 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinamon
1 tsp allspice

Here's some pics just for fun:

I think the spices sound good. I added spice when I went through the primary fermentation, and tasted it when I racked. I didn't taste much spice, so I added a little more when I racked. (see my recipe on page 3 of the Panty Dropper Cider thread). I hope what I added wasn't overkill...

And now you can use those glass jugs as 1 gallon carboys...perfect for small batches of wine or mead!

talleymonster said:

And now you can use those glass jugs as 1 gallon carboys...perfect for small batches of wine or mead!

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That's exactly what I was thinkin

par383 said:

I think the spices sound good. I added spice when I went through the primary fermentation, and tasted it when I racked. I didn't taste much spice, so I added a little more when I racked. (see my recipe on page 3 of the Panty Dropper Cider thread). I hope what I added wasn't overkill...

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Do you think boiling the spices in a little water would help bring out the flavour?

That's actually what I did when I added the second spices. I'm bottling one of my batches of beer tonight, and I'm going to taste it to see how it's improved.

let us know how it worked, I can put off the secondary racking for a few days while I decide what to do

so I just tried the cider. The taste has really improved over the past week. I think it's more of an apfelwein than an apple cider...my fault for adding too much powdered sugar. But it tastes great. I could see the cinnamon getting a little strong if I let it sit in the carboy much longer. So I actually re-racked it to remove the cinnamon sticks. I'll probably let it sit for another 2-3 weeks before bottling. I can't wait!