My first cider :)

so after spending years brewing in the 80's and 90's and a little about 7/8 yrs ago I decided it was time to brew again!
Have a buddy of mine get into ciders so I did a little research and dusted off the the brew pot and Carboy.
I really was just interested in getting something rolling so don't murder me with all the Papazian Proverbs

here she goes:
10 apples I picked in NE last visit ( live in denver) mashed in the Ninja
tossed in the propane kettle w/
2 cups organic sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup malt dextrose
1/2 gallon Britta H2o
1/4 tspoon of Pumpkin, Allspice and Nutmeg
light boil for 30 min.........

Then lowered heat & added 4 gal of Sprouts pure apple juice
stirred and heated for 45 min to 100F
finished with Australian Galaxy aroma hops
cooled to 75 and pitched wyeast liquid mead, cider and ale yeast .
($7.95) pricey but the brew guy said it was Great.

Fermentation noticed at approx 15 hrs. Not sure of what I/m looking for in a fermentation as i'v always done full grain. I have a good burp a little faster than every second and have a nice swirling going on in the 6 gallon CB.
Any thoughts ? Comments ? Even if they will Make Charlie Proud ........
Thanks! Stoked I'm back at it!!!!!!!

Welcome back... One thing to note, Cider is simpler compared to beers. Also some like Wine yeasts, while others like beer yeasts... try them both.

Welcome back! Just as a first note unlike beer, cider does not typically need to be boiled. Boiling your cider will change the flavor to one of a more "cooked apples which for some folks is a good thing. I prefer not to cook my ciders first as the flavors are more tasty to me that way.

As was stated previously, both wine and beer yeast can be used for cider. I love both! Have fun!

ok thanks! I have been watching it closely for any change in fermentation. bubbles on the slow but just a hair ( about 1 every second plus ) also still have a nice swirling going on and holding at 67F........... any thoughts on the fermentation? I'm use to seeing high krausen but do cinders just stay fairly mellow?

Doctor-Ale said:

ok thanks! I have been watching it closely for any change in fermentation. bubbles on the slow but just a hair ( about 1 every second plus ) also still have a nice swirling going on and holding at 67F........... any thoughts on the fermentation? I'm use to seeing high krausen but do cinders just stay fairly mellow?

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Yes, for the most part you will get hardly any krausen. I like fermenting in the low 60's if possible, but you take what you can. Sounds like a good ferment to me!

Here are pics of mine at day 3 and day 4. Day 3 I had a little krausen and on day 4 it was gone but fermentation was really going strong!

Looking good. Also most ciders can go from the primary to the bottle without an between.

Well, I stand corrected! after what I thought was slowing down period after a nice takeoff is now (it seems) just getting rolling! day 3.5 pics......

My cider rages on at 14 days in the primary,,,,,pretty much still looks like pic 2 with a slower burp and less swirling going on in the jug. Thinking about racking to a secondary in the next few days and backsweeting w/ a fresh gallon of the same juice and a small quantity of fresh pear juice for an added twist. I'm wondering if I will have enough fermentation/sugars left over to bottle without adding PRIMING sugars or not?? Will 2nd for 10 days so What say you? Any comments appreciated! No sorry, I did not take ( rookie-tool maneuver I know) original SG as I could not find my meter. Will take secondary and final ; will post.......

Doctor-Ale said:

My cider rages on at 14 days in the primary,,,,,pretty much still looks like pic 2 with a slower burp and less swirling going on in the jug. Thinking about racking to a secondary in the next few days and backsweeting w/ a fresh gallon of the same juice and a small quantity of fresh pear juice for an added twist. I'm wondering if I will have enough fermentation/sugars left over to bottle without adding PRIMING sugars or not?? Will 2nd for 10 days so What say you? Any comments appreciated! No sorry, I did not take ( rookie-tool maneuver I know) original SG as I could not find my meter. Will take secondary and final ; will post.......

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Its tough, but I would wait to do anytjing till you know how your fermentation finished up. I have been waiting for two more weeks than I expected on a ciderfor it to finish. I plan to add raspberries in secondary... but its decided its n ot ready for secondary yet. :-( They just do their own thing sometimes.

Let it finish. Taste it. Then make an informed decision as to what to tweak it with (if anything! ).

In the meantime... relax, wait, andhave a homebrew!

Ok in the words of the Great Papazian "I will wait, relax but can not have a homebrew " .....been out of the game for years but this is the start of a whole new regime !
Thanks for the reply !

Doctor-Ale said:

Ok in the words of the Great Papazian "I will wait, relax but can not have a homebrew " .....been out of the game for years but this is the start of a whole new regime !
Thanks for the reply !

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Lol (thumbs up)

That's right, this is the start of the pipeline. ;-)

Update after 3 weeks in the primary........Moved the batch into a secondary Glass Vessel last night as the first fermentation had finally stopped.
Back-sweetened with a gallon of fresh cider and a quart of fresh pear juice! Initial tastes (prior to adding anything) were extremely positive. No funky smells or oddball flavors. The cider does however have a nice puckery grapefruit/passionfruit characteristic from the the Australian Galaxy hops! Almost a citrus hue buried deep in the mild apple flavor......very pleased at this point considering how drinkable it was for just coming off the sediment in the primary.....will continue to post results.

I had forgotten thst you hopped this! Nice. Galaxy is a great hop, and its nice to hear it pairs well with your cider.

Now on to the next batch. ....

;-)

update 12/26.
After further reading I did not follow through w/the back-sweetening plan and decided to just do a straight two week secondary. So to re-cap: 3 weeks primary then 2 weeks secondary. FG was 1.011. Bottled 12/23. Yield 484 oz. or about 3.8 gallons of Bombers. Conditioned with 1/4 cup ( 2 oz.) organic sugar and half can quality apple juice concentrate. Tasted at 24 hrs due to a nice Xmas buzzzzzzzz and babbling w/fellow HB'ers who have been out of the game. Already a carbonation building as a slight carb-pop was heard. Citrus, passion-fruit and nectar flavors with a nice bitter hop finish along w/apple and floral bouquets.
Very please so far as was my company.......Did a carb test plastic bottle ( did not have a soda bottle so I had to use a thicker Gatorade bottle - too thick for accuracy ? ) so I don't end up with Cider Bombs in case I have the priming sugars a little too high? Did another test this morn w/a half bottle that was capped and put into a vial to test for clarity and carb inspection....it was fizzing away nicely.
Looks like all might be well in cider land for my first batch! At what point do you put them in a colder environment ( now at 64/65 ) to age and not blow? I'm use to ale brewing and just leaving at cooler ( basement) temps for years........
Now on to another! All input welcome!

Thumbs up!

Chill them if you want, but they should be fine with only two ounces of priming sugar. No bottle bombs if you used beer bottles.

Very Nice......22 oz. dark ale bottles of course! I never use shorties if I have enough Biggens about....
Will be doing an "Emphere" clone next batch ..........thanks for all your input!