A great simple recipe

wmubronco03 said:

3/4 cup of corn sugar is the standard way to bottle 5 gallons of Homebrew. It really isn't much when you spread it out over 5 gallons. It's only 4oz.

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4oz by weight, not volume.

wmubronco03 said:

4oz by weight, not volume.

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Ok I was figuring 6 oz = 3/4 of a cup. But I guess with a cider more carbonation is desired.

I like this recipe but what yeast can I use to keep it closer to the sweeter side and not as dry?

Ostomo517 said:

Im doing this recipe this week with Red Star Côte de Blanc because I want it a little on the sweeter side.

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^^^^ This

Thank you. I am putting this on my list to make

No temp control required for this recipe, during fermentation?

somemofo said:

No temp control required for this recipe, during fermentation?

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I keep it at ale temps for primary ferment (65-72) them ambient basement temps for secondary (50's).

wmubronco03 said:

I keep it at ale temps for primary ferment (65-72) them ambient basement temps for secondary (50's).

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Cant wait till mines done!

So, it's been a week since I made my batch using S-04 ale yeast. Gravity today shows it's still way up there at 1.015. Is that normal after 1 week? I'll give it one more week and check it, but I'm a little concerned that it may not dry out... the yeast has mostly dropped and it's starting to look somewhat clear.

Robin0782 said:

So, it's been a week since I made my batch using S-04 ale yeast. Gravity today shows it's still way up there at 1.015. Is that normal after 1 week? I'll give it one more week and check it, but I'm a little concerned that it may not dry out... the yeast has mostly dropped and it's starting to look somewhat clear.

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I've never used an ale yeast when making this. It's my understanding that it ale yeast won't dry it out as much as a cider yeast but I have no first hand knowledge of it.

Total newb question. What is the purpose/advantage to doing secondary fermentation at a lower temp? I am not yet setup with temp control. Is there a way to complete this with constant temps from 68-72?

somemofo said:

Total newb question. What is the purpose/advantage to doing secondary fermentation at a lower temp? I am not yet setup with temp control. Is there a way to complete this with constant temps from 68-72?

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The lower temps will drive the remaining yeast dormant. They will settle out and help to clear the cider. Also it helps to mellow the flavors. I would make sure it is fully fermented out in primary then age it for at least a month in your secondary at whatever temp you can get. It probably wont clear as much but it should still be okay. I've got 5 gallons at a cold basement temp (50) that I plan on letting sit until April.

Got it, though it raises another concern. If all the yeast goes dormant (from low temps) and I'm bottling, how will I accomplish carbonation?

Again, I recognize these are newb questions. I've brewed a few ales, but never cider or even lagers, so cold fermentation is new to me.

somemofo said:

Got it, though it raises another concern. If all the yeast goes dormant (from low temps) and I'm bottling, how will I accomplish carbonation?

Again, I recognize these are newb questions. I've brewed a few ales, but never cider or even lagers, so cold fermentation is new to me.

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I think I missed your original point. My bad. The point of a secondary fermentation is to get it off the yeast bed. The yeast will start to cannibalize themselves and your cider can pick up off flavors. This is also a step that could be done with your ales. Secondary ferment allows the brew (whatever it is) to age for a while. It allows the the still active yeast to go about their business without all the old grungy yeast mucking up the works. It allows the flavors associated with ferment to clear up. Your cider or beer probably won't completely clear in the secondary if its just kept at room temp and its only for a couple weeks or a month. Even if it looks relatively clear it should be fine to bottle. There will be enough yeast in it to carb. It should clear in the bottle once its carbed and chilled (unless you get chill haze, another story...) I'm kegging my cider so I don't need to worry about yeast to carb. I can cold secondary ferment and wait until it clears. Secondary fermenting is a great way to improve the flavor of your beer or cider.

Ok just I'm clear.

5 gal juice
2 cans concentrate
24 oz lt brown sugar
Cinnamon sticks

Red star cote de blanc for the sweeter side

Primary 2 weeks
Secondary 2 months with cinnamon

Prime and bottle

This sound good? Its what I'm goin to go with. My last batch was Apfelwein and it was great but a lil on the dry side. Looking forward to this soon

Ok just I'm clear.

5 gal juice
2 cans concentrate
24 oz lt brown sugar
Cinnamon sticks

Red star cote de blanc for the sweeter side

Primary 2 weeks
Secondary 2 months with cinnamon

Prime and bottle

This sound good? Its what I'm goin to go with. My last batch was Apfelwein and it was great but a lil on the dry side. Looking forward to this soon

Make sure there's no preservatives or pottasium sorbate in the bottled cider. Also, I wouldn't put the cinnamon in at the beginning of the secondary. Put it in about a week before you bottle/keg. I used 5 sticks and, to me, it had a nice cinnamon flavor.

Sweet

Bottled today and it tastes delicious even still and room temp!

Ostomo517 said:

Bottled today and it tastes delicious even still and room temp!

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Did you follow same recipe/steps and just change the yeast?

What did you do to bottle? Add any sugar to bottling bucket?

ameliabrewery said:

Did you follow same recipe/steps and just change the yeast?

What did you do to bottle? Add any sugar to bottling bucket?

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Same recipe/steps diff yeast yes, used Red Star Côte des Blanc.
I let it ferment all the way down then backsweetened to taste with concentrate. Waiting to pasturize.

Heres how it turned out, never ended up pasturizing because it didnt really carb up. I only used one can of concentrate to backsweeten so possibly not enough sugar? Possibly could have used a little corn sugar as well, AH no matter its absolutely yummy. The fiancee is demanding this always be in the pipeline.

All the apple juices I've seen thus far have vitamin c added. Will this affect fermentation?

FlavorHound said:

All the apple juices I've seen thus far have vitamin c added. Will this affect fermentation?

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No, your good to go with that added

Awesome, I'll get going on my Blueberry Apple Cider soon. Thanks.

Hi all -
Just wanted to confirm the bottling time for this cider after the 2 wks primary and 1 wk secondary ferments. Thanks!

Thats how I did mine

little help.........
i've been checking the stores for apple cider. i found some all natural, not from concentrate. says no preseratives but the label says contain molic acid (vitamin C) will that throw off the reciepe? other question...i see someone in the post used Mott, and someone else used unfiltered cider from a mill. ones clear and light and one is cloudly and thick. it's ok to use either?

this sounds quite tasty. I might try this with some golden raisins added in .
Are you using 5 gallon cider or juice ?
Do you use any campden tablets ?

Snophox said:

little help.........
i've been checking the stores for apple cider. i found some all natural, not from concentrate. says no preseratives but the label says contain molic acid (vitamin C) will that throw off the reciepe? other question...i see someone in the post used Mott, and someone else used unfiltered cider from a mill. ones clear and light and one is cloudly and thick. it's ok to use either?

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Mott I have not looked at but I think it is filtered apple cider , the ready to drink kind like a bottle of snapple. Unfiltered cider is probably the best choice as wine needs substances that come from the skin and pulp and filtering probably removes these . The reason I toss in ground up oranges and lemons in my dandelion wine , well that and flavor .
At least that is my uneducated guess since I only make dandelion wine .

Ostomo517 said:

Heres how it turned out, never ended up pasturizing because it didnt really carb up. I only used one can of concentrate to backsweeten so possibly not enough sugar? Possibly could have used a little corn sugar as well, AH no matter its absolutely yummy. The fiancee is demanding this always be in the pipeline.

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Personally I was thinking campden tablets and no carbonation or pasteurizing . Carbonated wine ???? not for me . But that looks quite tasty . Nice and clean .

MarcusKillion said:

Personally I was thinking campden tablets and no carbonation or pasteurizing . Carbonated wine ???? not for me . But that looks quite tasty . Nice and clean .

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I actually did end up needing to pasturize a few days later, its not wine its hard cider which was backsweetened so it has to be pasturized to avoid bottle bombs.

Snophox said:

little help.........
i've been checking the stores for apple cider. i found some all natural, not from concentrate. says no preseratives but the label says contain molic acid (vitamin C) will that throw off the reciepe? other question...i see someone in the post used Mott, and someone else used unfiltered cider from a mill. ones clear and light and one is cloudly and thick. it's ok to use either?

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I've used natural apple juice (the cloudy bottled stuff in the store), Motts and cider mill fresh pressed cider (it was UV pasteurized so no need for Camden tabs). All three came out fine although I did find the Motts was a bit sharp from the vitamin C. I back sweetened that batch to counter that and it came out great. Oh and I used a yeast nutrient for the Motts as well. The others always came out great without it (although it wouldn't hurt to give the yeast a little help).

Ostomo517 said:

I actually did end up needing to pasturize a few days later, its not wine its hard cider which was backsweetened so it has to be pasturized to avoid bottle bombs.

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I see .. I will have to look up the difference in hard cider / wine . still sounds tasty to me

MarcusKillion said:

I see .. I will have to look up the difference in hard cider / wine . still sounds tasty to me

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Well if you do want it uncarbed you can just let it totally ferment out bottle and drink as is without backsweetening and it would be fine. I had it before I sweetened and I think you would end up with that wine flavor your after.

MarcusKillion said:

I see .. I will have to look up the difference in hard cider / wine . still sounds tasty to me

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In my experience with this recipe, or at least early versions of it, using champagne yeast imparted the most "wine like" flavor. I would imagine that hold true for most of the wine yeasts. I have since used the commercial cider yeasts and prefer their flavor. The difference, at least to my mind, between apple wine and apple cider is a lower ABV in hard cider and the amount of aging. Is that exact? Not at all. Some ciders need to be aged for a year and have an ABV higher then wine. It's just a simplified definition that is a basic guide.

wmubronco03 said:

In my experience with this recipe, or at least early versions of it, using champagne yeast imparted the most "wine like" flavor. I would imagine that hold true for most of the wine yeasts. I have since used the commercial cider yeasts and prefer their flavor. The difference, at least to my mind, between apple wine and apple cider is a lower ABV in hard cider and the amount of aging. Is that exact? Not at all. Some ciders need to be aged for a year and have an ABV higher then wine. It's just a simplified definition that is a basic guide.

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Oh Im glad you brought this up, I forgot to mention I used Red Star Côte de Blancs white wine yeast so yeah I did have that wine mouthfeel and taste before backsweetening.

Ostomo517 said:

Well if you do want it uncarbed you can just let it totally ferment out bottle and drink as is without backsweetening and it would be fine. I had it before I sweetened and I think you would end up with that wine flavor your after.

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when I make dandelion wine I drink it as soon as it is fermented good . Tastes great for about a month and then starts getting an alcohol taste without the rest.

MarcusKillion said:

when I make dandelion wine I drink it as soon as it is fermented good . Tastes great for about a month and then starts getting an alcohol taste without the rest.

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I definately recommend the same with this, some say age it but I love how it is now without aging. On the brink of having to make another batch soon.

Sticking to the original recipe of 5 gal apple juice, 2 cans apple con, 24 oz lt brn sugar, cinnamon and Cote De Blanc yeast... What's the ABV? Is it at the 8-10% range.