Spiced Cider, a little piece of Home.

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WilliamSlayer

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I love Cider, and having asked a lot of fellow cider lovers on the forum for opinions on spices and ammounts, I came up with this recepie for a Spiced Cider. Hope it's as tasty for you as it is for me!

From my notes:

Cinnamon cider - 12/27/12

2 tsp Bentonite
5 gal cider (1.050 gravity)
1 1/2 tsp pectic
1 1/2 tsp fermax

2 lbs cane suger
2 lbs lt. Brn sugar
Sugar boiled for 5min in 4 cups water.
PH tested 3.8 so...
Added 46 grams malic acid

Pitched Lalvin K1-1116 (one package)

Ferment @ 68-73 degrees

Soaking in a seperate container-
7 oz of vodka
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
1/2 Tbs ground nutmeg
1/2 oz Bitter Orange Peel

1/14/13
Racked onto the spices
Gravity @ .098

1/16/13
Added 1/3 tsp Potassium Metabisulfite
Added 1 and 1/4 tsp Potassium Sorbate
Stirred to mix. Got a fair ammount of gas out.

1/20/13
Racked to a fermenter bucket.
Added 2 gallons of cider.
Added 1 tsp pectic enzyme.

1/28/13
Racked to a 1 gallon jug, and a 6 gallon carboy.
Added 1/4 tsp Potasium Metabisulfite.
Gravity now @ 1.010
Cider was crystal clear, only got cloudy from a bit of sediment that got disturbed during racking.

2/4/13
Bottled in 22oz bottles.
Got 38 bottles from this 7 gallon batch.


Tasting Day:
Noticable cinnamon aroma.
Good mouthfeel. Small ammount of carbination from not degassing.
Apple/cinnamon mix up front, with a hint of the nutmeg spicyness on the back end. Can't find any of the orange peel in the taste. Maybe it's hidden behind the cinnamon. Fellow tasters tell me it's there.
 
Soaking in a seperate container-
7 oz of vodka
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
1/2 Tbs ground nutmeg
1/2 oz Bitter Orange Peel

How long did you let this mix soak for before racking onto it? Also, could I substitute the 1/2 oz Bitter Orange Peel for fresh orange zest from 1 or 2 oranges?
 
How long did you let this mix soak for before racking onto it? Also, could I substitute the 1/2 oz Bitter Orange Peel for fresh orange zest from 1 or 2 oranges?

I started the spices soaking the same day I listed it on (12/27), and they sat in there till the day I dumped them into the secondary and racked onto them.

That sounds good. I would bet the orange zest would be much stronger, so keep that in mind.
 
William -
I'm new to this cider brewing...
What's the purpose of day 1/16/2013?

1/16/13
Added 1/3 tsp Potassium Metabisulfite
Added 1 and 1/4 tsp Potassium Sorbate
Stirred to mix. Got a fair ammount of gas out.

Also, what is the purpose of some of the other additives such as the Bentonite, Pectic, Fermax, malic acid and Potassium Metabisulfite?
 
William -
I'm new to this cider brewing...
What's the purpose of day 1/16/2013?

Also, what is the purpose of some of the other additives such as the Bentonite, Pectic, Fermax, malic acid and Potassium Metabisulfite?

The things I added that day:
Potassium Metabisulfite- used to create an environment hostile to yeasts, and lethal to many bacteria.
Potassium Sorbate- used to halt yeast reproduction. Yeast cannot create more of themselves in it's presence.

So, I added these things to kill off/ prevent fermentation by the yeast in my cider. Their job was done, so I removed them from the equation.


As for the other stuff, its all things used in wine production. As you look at many of the wine/mead/cider threads, you will see them used over and over. Quick rundown of items:

Bentonite- used as a clarifyer
Pectic enzyme- breaks up the cellular walls of fruit, and destroys pectin, which causes haziness.
Fermax- a namebrand of of a yeast nutrient. Yeast food so they don't become stressed and create off flavors.
Malic acid- the most common acid found in apples. Used to create extra 'zing' or tartness.

Hope this helps! :)
 
Seriously thinking of doing this, but starting with 4 gallons instead of 5, and cutting back on the sugars and malic acid to 80% to compensate for less apple juice to start with. Reason is i would like this all in one carboy at the end, and my largest is a 6.5 gallon. That, or i could get a brewing bucket, but i just prefer carboys.
 
Seriously thinking of doing this, but starting with 4 gallons instead of 5, and cutting back on the sugars and malic acid to 80% to compensate for less apple juice to start with. Reason is i would like this all in one carboy at the end, and my largest is a 6.5 gallon. That, or i could get a brewing bucket, but i just prefer carboys.

I hear ya. I didn't take final volume for the carboys into consideration when I was in the planning stages. I knew I could fit it into my 7.8 gallon fermentor buckets!

Fyi, I popped one of these yesterday and was suprised to get a hiss. Carbonation! Light, but it was there. I felt I had left it in secondary after my k-meta/sorbate additions (I saw no activity that whole week in secondary), so I figured I was good to bottle. I'm going to pop a few more to check them this week, and see if it was a fluke.

It was nice lightly carbonated though...
 
A few pics I took. Great cinnamon aroma, and still sweet/apple flavor behind it.



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I'll make this again.
 
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