Holy sweet mother of all that is alcohol. Woodchuck Fall Seasonal?

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Crazytwoknobs

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Has anyone else had this? I've got to make some. It's similar to JK Scrumpy's Organic cider, but spicier and sweeter. Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if it's just which spices you think they use.
 
That sounds so good :( I can't even get Woodchuck around here. The ONLY ciders that I can find are Strongbow and Bulmers/Magners.
 
That sounds so good :( I can't even get Woodchuck around here. The ONLY ciders that I can find are Strongbow and Bulmers/Magners.

You don't need to worry about finding anything other than Strongbow! It is rather expensive here, 8.99 for a 6-pack. It is really good stuff.
 
I had the summer seasonal a few weeks ago..it was good, but not great. I'd like to try the fall stuff!
 
According to the website. "There are few things as spectacular as fall in the Green Mountains that surround our cidery. When you add cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of American white oak, you either have yourself some mighty fine cider or your standard Vermont tourism cliche." I want to try to brew this. I am not sure on the quanities of oak, Cinnamon, and nutmeg..but I am going to try to work something out
 
big country..if you work up a good recipe..be sure and post it...I am in need of whipping up a batch of some fall hard cider, for Oktoberfest is coming up and i gotta get the kegs filled..this one sounds like it would fit the bill.

DAN
 
Can't overstate how awesome this is. It's obviously sweetened after fermentation, but damn, this stuff is good. Get it while you can!

I'm gonna go surf the cider forums for a while.
 
Ok I have formulated a basic recipe for this and want to know what everyone thinks.

5 g of store bought apple juice
5 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp of nutmeg
Some amount of oak cubes - house toasted
1/2 g of bottled H20 to boil cinnamon sticks
Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast @ the suggestion of LHBS


I am going to boil the sticks in a similar fashion as in the post below.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/spiced-winter-cider-150705/

As an alternative, I am thinking of using 1/2g of apple juice instead, not boiled, but simmered, to extract the flavor from the sticks. I am also not sure how much oak cubes and what toasting to use. I do not want the oak to overpower the cider. I know I want to use them in the primary.

The plan is to boil/simmer stick adding the nutmeg at flameout. I will then cool that down add it to the primary with apple juice and oak cubes. I will pitch yeast and ferment between 68-75. When SG gets down around 1.014 – 1.010, I will bottle and pasteurize using the stove-top bottling method below.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/


That is the plan so far.
Any Suggestions/changes?
This is not final yet so any input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Big Country
 
Ok I have formulated a basic recipe for this and want to know what everyone thinks.

5 g of store bought apple juice
5 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp of nutmeg
Some amount of oak cubes - house toasted
1/2 g of bottled H20 to boil cinnamon sticks
Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast @ the suggestion of LHBS


I am going to boil the sticks in a similar fashion as in the post below.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/spiced-winter-cider-150705/

As an alternative, I am thinking of using 1/2g of apple juice instead, not boiled, but simmered, to extract the flavor from the sticks. I am also not sure how much oak cubes and what toasting to use. I do not want the oak to overpower the cider. I know I want to use them in the primary.

The plan is to boil/simmer stick adding the nutmeg at flameout. I will then cool that down add it to the primary with apple juice and oak cubes. I will pitch yeast and ferment between 68-75. When SG gets down around 1.014 – 1.010, I will bottle and pasteurize using the stove-top bottling method below.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/


That is the plan so far.
Any Suggestions/changes?
This is not final yet so any input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Big Country


I have refined the recipe a bit after some sugesstions from other HBT members.

5.5 g of store bought apple juice
5 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp of nutmeg
Some amount of oak cubes - house toasted
Dry Nottingham yest

I think I am going to use apple juice to extract Cinnamon from sticks. The only thing I am worried about is setting the Pectins. Does anyone know if this is an issue with store bought juice?
 
if you want to simplify this just a bit and NOT boil any water or AJ....you can get McCormick's Cinnamon extract/flavor....I've used it in 3 of my ciders now at kegging time and you can really control the amount of cinnamon flavor goes into your Cider....I have found that 1 tsp works well in a 5 gal corny.
 
Just try to avoid the artificial extracts...I tried on that was imitation vanilla extract and it tasted very not real
 
Ok so I thought i would post back with some feedback

Here is what I did.

6 g of SAM's club Apple Juice
5 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 oz oak cubes - medium toasted
Pectin Enzyme per instructions on bottle. (3 tsps I think)
White Labs WLP005 British Ale yeast - No starter

I boiled the cinnamon sticks in 1/2 gallon of Apple Juice, for 10 mins. I added the nutmeg and Oak Cubes at flame out. I cooled that down in an ice bath and added it to the primary with the other 5.5g of Apple Juice and Pectin Enzymes and let that sit for 24 hours under airlock. OG was 1.045. After 24 hours I pitched the vial of yeast. It took 36 hours for the yeast to start fermenting. I kept the temps at 70F. This seemed to be a pretty slow ferment, taking about two weeks for the SG to drop to 1.010. After two weeks, I bottled using 4.7 oz of corn sugar. I bottle conditioned for 6 days, and then pasteurized the batch.

I am very pleased with the results. Extracting the cinnamon flavor from the sticks, worked perfectly, and made the whole house smell like cinnamon. It is not a Fall Clone, more of an amber clone with a nice cinnamon taste. I cannot detect the nutmeg or oak as of yet. It cleared nicely after six days in the bottle.


Things I will change for the next go around:

I will be making a starter with juice and yeast nutrients, as the lag time made me nervous.

I would also stop it a bit earlier maybe to retain a bit more sweetness, say at 1.014 or 1.012. However, abv would have dropped from 4.5% to 4.06 - 4.32%

I was very happy with the taste, however to get a fall blend clone, one would need to add more nutmeg, or get more nutmeg flavor by adding extracts. I might add more oak or a darker toast, to get more flavor from them as well.

This is the first time I have pasteurized, but it was pretty easy and seemed to work. I have not had any bottle bombs as of yet.

Not bad for something that went from "grain" to glass in three weeks :mug:
 
I boiled the cinnamon sticks in 1/2 gallon of Apple Juice, for 10 mins. I added the nutmeg and Oak Cubes at flame out. I cooled that down in an ice bath and added it to the primary with the other 5.5g of Apple Juice and Pectin Enzymes and let that sit for 24 hours under airlock.

Just for clarity, did you take the cubes, and sticks out before you poured the apple "wort" in the primary?

Do you think that chips might work better than the cubes? I have been doing a little reading on them and it sounded that if you are going to do a short time that chips may be better than cubes since they will generally "react" quicker. Other people with more knowledge than me will hopefully chime in.
 
Anyone have thoughts on trying this with

WLP013 London Ale Yeast
Dry, malty ale yeast. Provides a complex, oakey ester character to your beer.

I have not used this yeast to know just how much or little oak flavor the yeast would impart but would be interested to find out!
 
Just for clarity, did you take the cubes, and sticks out before you poured the apple "wort" in the primary?

Do you think that chips might work better than the cubes? I have been doing a little reading on them and it sounded that if you are going to do a short time that chips may be better than cubes since they will generally "react" quicker. Other people with more knowledge than me will hopefully chime in.


I did remove the sticks out of the wort, using sanitized tongs. I left the cubes in the primary for the whole two week primary fermentation. If chips react quicker and give off more flavor than cubes, I would try that. I did not want the oak to be dominating; I wanted it to be in the background. However, I do think it could use some more "oakiness". I was hoping to get a hint of vanilla off of them, but could not detect any as of yet, This is still very green as I just pasteurized on Monday. I only used 1oz out of the 3oz package too.
 
Anyone have thoughts on trying this with

WLP013 London Ale Yeast
Dry, malty ale yeast. Provides a complex, oakey ester character to your beer.

I have not used this yeast to know just how much or little oak flavor the yeast would impart but would be interested to find out!

I would be very interested to see the result of this..
 
I would be very interested to see the result of this..

As luck would have it I am about to wash some of this yeast tomorrow so I will let you know how it turns out.

I plan to use your recipe and scale it down to 1gal. I am wondering about the fermenting temp and how much/little ooak may be imparted while avoiding other off flavors that may be generated.... I have looked for other peoples experience on this but I guess I will just wing it :)

I think i am going to aim a little on the high end for the fermentation temp and hope for the best. (about 70F)
 
1g of Motts Apple Juice
1 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp yeast nutrient
WASHED White Labs WLP013 London Ale Yeast (approx 1/4 oz yeast with 1/2 oz wash on top, some yeast still in suspension) I had just racked to a keg so I feel confident the yeast was pretty fresh.

I boiled the cinnamon sticks in 1/2 gallon of Apple Juice, for 10 mins with the yeast nutrient. I added the nutmeg . I cooled that down in an ice bath and added it to the primary with the other 0.5g of Apple Juice.

OG was 1.052.


I am hoping that I have enough nutmeg though after reading the previous post I may be a little short. I will taste the cider when I take a sample and make an addition of more juice and nutmeg if I feel it needs more.

One thing to check on is the date of the nutmeg. The "fresher" it is the more flavor it will generally impart. I know that some spices tend to sit in peoples' houses (myself included) for several years and they tend to lose their punch. After checking the date on mine I have the feeling I should have upped the amount I used. Oh well. There is always round 2! I will report back later this week when I have more info.
 
1g of Motts Apple Juice
1 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp yeast nutrient
WASHED White Labs WLP013 London Ale Yeast (approx 1/4 oz yeast with 1/2 oz wash on top, some yeast still in suspension) I had just racked to a keg so I feel confident the yeast was pretty fresh.

I boiled the cinnamon sticks in 1/2 gallon of Apple Juice, for 10 mins with the yeast nutrient. I added the nutmeg . I cooled that down in an ice bath and added it to the primary with the other 0.5g of Apple Juice.

OG was 1.052.


I am hoping that I have enough nutmeg though after reading the previous post I may be a little short. I will taste the cider when I take a sample and make an addition of more juice and nutmeg if I feel it needs more.

One thing to check on is the date of the nutmeg. The "fresher" it is the more flavor it will generally impart. I know that some spices tend to sit in peoples' houses (myself included) for several years and they tend to lose their punch. After checking the date on mine I have the feeling I should have upped the amount I used. Oh well. There is always round 2! I will report back later this week when I have more info.

Very Nice! I was thinking of adding brown sugar too. Looking forward the report on this one.
 
I read this thread and got curious about making a clone of woodchucks fall seasonal. My wife had a 6-pack so I measured the FG. It came out at 1.060! I knew it was a little sweet but I didn't think it would be that much. This is pretty unfortunate because I do not keg and I am not sure I want to pasteurize.
In any case, its an awesome cider and when I get a kegging system this will be at the top of my to-brew list.
 
I read this thread and got curious about making a clone of woodchucks fall seasonal. My wife had a 6-pack so I measured the FG. It came out at 1.060! I knew it was a little sweet but I didn't think it would be that much. This is pretty unfortunate because I do not keg and I am not sure I want to pasteurize.
In any case, its an awesome cider and when I get a kegging system this will be at the top of my to-brew list.


That is kind of odd b/c I dont perceive it as being that sweet (1.06). Is that reading from when it was flat?
 
I have some of these in my fridge right now, although my apple-pear cider/felwein is also in the keg, and it came out tasting a whole lot like high-octane Strongbow, so I'll be working on that for the time being...
 
That is kind of odd b/c I dont perceive it as being that sweet (1.06). Is that reading from when it was flat?
yea I waited till carbonation and head died down. I think it has kind of a tart bite that balances out the sweetness. It would be interesting to test the gravity on a woodchuck granny smith because it seem sweeter to me.
 
anyone else made this yet? I think I am going to through together a batch of this, but add dark brown sugar to the recipe...and then will be skipping the early cinamon stick and nutmeg additions, but using cinnamon and nutmeg flavor extracts at Kegging time to give it just the right "flavor" for that fall/winter hard cider.

Dan
 
The last batch I made was getting a little closer. I added some oak essence (from AHS) and it definitely bumped it in the right direction. let us know how it turns out!
 
Since I have been making my own cider, I've kinda lost my taste for Woodchuck...but I will admit that I really enjoyed the Fall seasonal. It disappeared too quick here in town.
 
LOL, I have a few of these in the fridge right now. I was enjoying them until someone mentioned that it taste like "juicy fruit" gum, it has not been the same since!

It is pretty good though.
 
Back from the DEAD post! I'm going to be brewing this in a few days. I plan on doubling the amount of nutmeg, I really want it to come through. Anyone have an memories of how it came out after time?
 
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