CollegeCider
Well-Known Member
1.03-1.02 is waaaaaaaaay to sweet for me 1.01-1.015 is considered sweet
CollegeCider said:1.03-1.02 is waaaaaaaaay to sweet for me 1.01-1.015 is considered sweet
a) Nice label.
b) I've been searching for cider for about 3 weeks now. Finally found some at Whole Foods. Pasteurized but all natural. Bought half of what they had.
Followed the recipe exactly and it's sitting on noddy now. OG was 1.064ish at 68*. This is my first try at cider so I hope it turns out well!
dudius said:I'm following the structure of the recipe using what I had available. I bought 1 gallon cider from Meijer (regional Walmart Clone) and one half-gallon bottle of Mott's pressed apple juice (fancy name for cider, tastes nearly identical to the 1 gallon cider). Poured out half a glass from each, added (roughly) 1/4 lb light brown sugar to each jug (I'm using the containers they came in because I don't any free carboys) and shook them well to mix the sugar. Added Red Star Champagne Yeast. One packet yeast makes 5 gallons, I just split it up between the two because two much yeast isn't a concern. Replaced caps and swirled to mix. Sticking with the minimalist theme (and because I don't have extra fermentation locks) I placed balloons atop the jugs and added rubber bands to the outside at bottle mouths for good measure. Placed them in my closet and we'll see how big those balloons get overnight!
Apple_Jacker said:How DARE you compare Meijer to Walmart! You might as well compare a good beer to a bottle of piss! ;-) I moved from Michigan 2 years ago and I definitely miss doing my grocery shopping there. Bi-Lo, Publix, and Pruett's just don't compare. There are some high-end style whole food grocery stores, but I cent afford doing all my grocery shopping there. And I refuse to be a Walmart shopper... never going to happen. But, I digress...
Sounds like your plan will work. I've been doing a lot of 1 gallon cider batches lately, but didn't carb up anything. I just started a new gallon last week, so maybe ill stop putting it off and bottle it and try to pasteurize it using the dishwasher pasteurization method.
My biggest problem is bottle pasteurizing... I can't come up with a really good way to get the bottles out of the hot water. Using my jar lifter that I use for canning didn't work -- the bottles slip through until I'm gripping the cap, which then pops off spectacularly, gushing hot cider everywhere. I tried a silcone oven mitt, and actually got a pretty nice first-degree burn when some water poured into the top of the mitt. Anyone have any good tips?
There's a stickied thread somewhere about pasteurization where the person mentions using tongs to remove the bottles and transferring them to their other hand wearing an oven mitt.
PattyM said:...or use the type of tongs used when canning food. They are non-slip rubber coated and hi-temp safe (pressure canned mason jars get much hotter than the bottles do).
ong said:Hmm, I just had an interesting idea I'm going to test out. It occurred to me that assuming one could kill the yeast effectively with campden/sorbate, it might be possible to measure a small amount of those ingredients into a gelcap, and pop one into each bottle. I've been finding this recipe is carbed to my liking within 4 hours or so... I'm going to test out gelcaps in room temperature water, and see how long they take to release their contents.
I'm following the structure of the recipe using what I had available. I bought 1 gallon cider from Meijer (regional Walmart Clone) and one half-gallon bottle of Mott's pressed apple juice (fancy name for cider, tastes nearly identical to the 1 gallon cider). Poured out half a glass from each, added (roughly) 1/4 lb light brown sugar to each jug (I'm using the containers they came in because I don't any free carboys) and shook them well to mix the sugar. Added Red Star Champagne Yeast. One packet yeast makes 5 gallons, I just split it up between the two because two much yeast isn't a concern. Replaced caps and swirled to mix. Sticking with the minimalist theme (and because I don't have extra fermentation locks) I placed balloons atop the jugs and added rubber bands to the outside at bottle mouths for good measure. Placed them in my closet and we'll see how big those balloons get overnight!
Kdenaultrdg said:Also, (noob question) do I cold crash by just putting the gallon jugs in the frig? How long do I cold crash for? How do I now when it's been long enough in the frig?
Do I bottle immed after cold crashing or let the gallon jugs come back to room temp?
For testing carbing....a regular plastic soda can be used (16oz?) can be used? And the bottles are all left out at room temp for carbing, correct?
Kathleen
you don't have to sanitize or boil your cinnamon sticks. They are naturally antiseptic, it's basically dried-up tree bark that lasts years without decay (although loses flavor to evaporation of oils). In apfelwein, the alcohol content should be high enough to inhibit anything that may be on the sticks.
sanitize the outside of the bean, then splay it, then add it to the beer. The inside of the bean, assuming the case was intact, is probably sterile.
To sanitize, you could use star san or high-ABV ethyl alcohol. Vodka is common, and bourbon would work too.
merkadoe said:I'm really new to this so bare with me please. Is there any way I could make this a still cider? I will be bottling into mason jars (all I have on hand) and I know they aren't meant for holding pressure. Could I just wait for fermentation to fully finish or would that affect the final taste?
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