Agave Cider

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LandoAllen

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Does anyone have a good recipe or experience using agave in cider? I love my ciders that I make and I do like me some tequila from time to time so I'm thinking of doing a very high alcoholic cider/ceyser/wine (whatever you prefer to call it) using lots of agave to boost the SG.

Just a side note: I like using ale yeasts in my ciders so would this not be appropriate for this type of drink?

I'd be grateful for any ideas or suggestions.
 
Is there much sugar or starch in it?
I know they make tequila out of it but I have no idea of the process involved.
 
I use a locally pressed cider (6 gallons) with 4 lbs brown sugar and 2 cups maple syrup. I first put the cider in a carboy with camden tablets and let it settle for a couple days, then siphon to new carboy and add redstar chamagne yeast. It is delicious. Lots of champange like bubbles and a semi brut sweetness (not too sweet) and 2 glasses will knock your socks off. Many non homebrew and non beer people have tried and loved this to the point where it is hard to keep in stock. It starts and 1.090 or so and I haven't measured the final. Agave is sweeter than syrup so it should work if you like the taste of agave (I find it too sweet but who knows after fermentation).
 
Yea I've read of people using agave to backsweeten with but I haven't read about somone using it to boost SG. I'd be really interested in any info someone could give.
 
I haven't gotten any experience with brewing with agave, but I'd say just try it out on a small batch and let us know how it turns out...good, bad, or otherwise!
 
I posted pics a few months back of a pineapple agave cider that turned out very interesting....agave nectar is very sweet in general but can have different flavors depending on what kind you get and how dark or light it is..
 
I just started a Mango Agave Cider last weekend. The OG is pretty high at 1.126 but it is bubbling like crazy with the US-05 and CBC-1 yeasts. I did make a pretty good starter and added plenty of nutrients. Right now I have about a half gallon going but I will add more juice to it every few days to keep the yeast from stalling out. By the end, I hope to have about a gallon finish at 1.000
 
I didn't have any problem fermenting the Agave Nectar. I used US-05 in one with a SG at 1.110 and Danstar CBC-1 (cask and bottling yeast because I didn't have anything else) with a SG of 1.126 in another. Both fermented fine with making a very good starter, enough nutrient, and step feeding.
 
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