Dave's Carmel Apple Cider

If you are just going to keg this, do you need to add the campden? I was thinking of following the recipe, but just racking to a keg with the concentrate and syrup, and letting it carb naturally.

When carbing beer in a keg naturally, you use 1/2 the sugar. I would think that you will severly over carb this cider if you try to do it naturally in a keg.

Sounds dangerous to me!

D_Nyholm said:

I have found that 1-2 cans is really all you need when you keg. I would recommend to put one in first, shake it up, then taste it. You may be surprised how sweet it already is. I would say about as sweet as a woodchuck cider, maybe just a little less sweet. Though i do have to say this is my experience when i am kegging and start with a 1.010 cider. If you ferment down lower than that with a different yeast (i've used Nottingham and S-05 to get to 1.010) you will need more concentrate.

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I racked to secondary just now. Gravity is at 1.004 with dry Nottingham yeast for about 2 weeks.

I will keg it tonight or tomorrow, and sweeten/spice it. I am rushing it a tad, but want to serve it on Thanksgiving. Yay for CO2!!!

fifthcircle said:

I racked to secondary just now. Gravity is at 1.004 with dry Nottingham yeast for about 2 weeks.

I will keg it tonight or tomorrow, and sweeten/spice it. I am rushing it a tad, but want to serve it on Thanksgiving. Yay for CO2!!!

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The thing I noticed with this is that if it isn't clear, no one really notices since apple juice (the natural cider as the store calls it) is typically cloudy so people sometimes expect it. If you went to 1.004 I bet 2 cans will be enough as it seems each can is about .006, though I have not calculated it.

I've also added a can of apple cranberry to it for one batch. Added just a little cranberry flavor and gave it is nice color. Though the cranberry does not add the same perceived sweetness so I still needed the standard concentrate to bring it up to my liking.

Oh, and this stuff is great even if you over carb it slightly. So if you throw it in the fridge on high co2 before thanksgiving and forget about it, you will probably still be fine!

So I know that several people have posted in here about having bottle bombs. I thought I followed this recipe exactly, but I think I messed up somewhere because on Sunday night when we went to open a bottle we definately had a gusher. Then last night we had a bottle bomb. Luckily it was only one bottle, in a closet in a box so there wasn't much of a mess.

But now I am concerned about my other 49 bottles or so. As far as I can tell the majority of people's advice is to (carefully) open the bottles and let it finish fermenting? This is my first cider so how will I know if it needs to finish fermenting? Can I just open the bottles and recap? I'm just really nervous about a.) having more bottle bombs and b.) loosing an entire batch- I'd like to salvage it if there's any way. Any and all advice welcomed!

I just bottled 5 gallons of this tonight. I plan to check carbonation every 3 days or so, and then when it's carbed to about 2-2.1 vol.(more or less) I plan to pasteurize it to stop chances of bottle bombs...

I just threw this together last night with the following:

Half Musselmans Apple Cider
Half Motts Apple Juice
1lb Brown Sugar
1lb Dextrose
Dry Notty Yeast

My question is this: What has this fermentation looked like for you all? This morning, it's giving off CO2, but no kreusen yet. My past experience with Notty is pretty violent fermentations.

I had mine in a bucket, but from what I could tell, it was pretty tame. Also bubbled steadily for two weeks.

KCBigDog said:

I just threw this together last night with the following:

Half Musselmans Apple Cider
Half Motts Apple Juice
1lb Brown Sugar
1lb Dextrose
Dry Notty Yeast

My question is this: What has this fermentation looked like for you all? This morning, it's giving off CO2, but no kreusen yet. My past experience with Notty is pretty violent fermentations.

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Little to no krausen with this stuff. It's more like a very thin layer of foam in my experience...

I should mention, though, I used S 04 instead of Notty. It attenuated all the way down to .998 (OG was only 1.049 though, so not surprised).

I'm glad most of you enjoy the recipe. The idea for this recipe came from a drink from Starbucks, their Carmel Apple Spice that the SWMBO always drinks cause she doesn't do coffee. I tried it once and decided to try my hand at making it alcoholic, all the new collaborations and variations will make this a hit!

Cheers,

Dave

Dave, that's that's the exact flavor I was thinking of as I tasted and sweetened my batch! I did stay very much on the dry side, but I see where you were going.

My final sweetening:
5gal keg of Motts on Nottingham yeast..etc.

20 oz cinnamon dolce (4c water, 3c brown sugar, 5 cinnamon sticks, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 1tsp apple pie spice)
2 cans frozen concentrated apple juice.

Was a big hit today with everyone at thanksgiving dinner. I am going to start another batch ASAP for Christmas!!!
Cheers,
Kurt

Mine is bubbling away, but still no Kreusen or anything. I've done apfelwein a few times with wine yeast, and this fermentation with the Notty looks like those did.

With all the rave reviews, I can't wait for this to be done. Should be just right for Christmas.

KCBigDog said:

Mine is bubbling away, but still no Kreusen or anything. I've done apfelwein a few times with wine yeast, and this fermentation with the Notty looks like those did.

With all the rave reviews, I can't wait for this to be done. Should be just right for Christmas.

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I made this for the first time for last Christmas. Bottled up a case and brought it to a party. It was gone very quickly with people asking for more. It is a great Christmas cider!

I'm checking carbonation every few days to make sure I don't over carbonate, so I can pasteurize. I tried my first sample last saturday, and this stuff is amazing. I didn't use the same recipe as the OP, since I made my own cider from homegrown apples. I did use the same method of carbonating/sweetening, though. I'm really looking forward to enjoying this stuff over the holidays. I figure it should be ready to pasteurize in about 5-7 days....

After a month, my batch is still bubbling a little and hasn't completely cleared up. I was hoping it would be ready for Christmas, but I'm really not in a hurry so will error on the side of patience.

KCBigDog said:

After a month, my batch is still bubbling a little and hasn't completely cleared up. I was hoping it would be ready for Christmas, but I'm really not in a hurry so will error on the side of patience.

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After a 5 week primary I racked mine to secondary. 4 weeks later it still wasn't clearing up, so I put some pectic enzyme in it. Within a week everything dropped out, and it got crystal clear!

Just popped on the cap to the Primary. This is my second ever brew and Im curious about the use of campden tablets; ive read rather mixed things. My last cider, I bottled, waited a day or so, and stove-top pasturized. That brew had a nice carb. If I use campden tablets before I bottle this batch, what will the end results be? I want it to be carbed, but dont want bottle rockets and would like to avoid the stove top process.

I dont want an overly sweet cider, and would like advice about how many concentrates I should use (definately adding the syrup). Will this play into the carbing?

Cheers,
Duke

I made this beginning of October. It's coming into its stride right now. I made a few adjustments to the recipe. First I started with 2 gal of fresh pressed cider, then 2 gal of store cider. Instead of adding dextrose with the concentrate cans, I used 1/2 of a 2 lb batch of a 270 deg syrup and 1/2 of a 2lb batch of 290 deg syrup. Both made from instructions on this site on making caramel/candy syrup from scratch. After fermenting out with wyeast cider yeast I let sit for about a month, then filtered with a sterile plate filter, I was hoping to avoid campden and sulfites since I'm sensitive to them. Instead of the cinnamon syrup, I used the other 1/2 batch of the 290 deg syrup, and added cinnamon extract made by putting 6 cinnamon sticks in a large baby food jar covered in rum and let infuse for 4 weeks. I used 3 cans of concentrate and kegged 2 weeks before Christmas. At this point it is pretty awesome. I'll see how it ages, but right now it is a little strong on the cinnamon to me. I would cut the 5 oz of cinnamon extract down to 2. But my friend likes it. I'm sending it to a local competition soon. I'll let you know how it does.

Duke,

The Cambden only prevent wild yeast. You can omit if you want but it will have no affect on the end carbonation. If less sweet start with 2 concentrates and take a sip, adjust to your liking.
Also, let it carb for about 4 days then pasteurize or yes they very well could become bombs.

I just relized that I added Dextrin instead of Dextrose. So am I totally screwed or can I salvage it in anyway?

if you didn't add the campden tablets, and then added the cinnamon and sugar syrup, that should carbonate, right? how long would you let that sit before putting it in the fridge, and cold crashing? how cold does it need to be to cold crash?

Is everyone else's syrup black like molasses?

Clifton said:

Is everyone else's syrup black like molasses?

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Mine was more of a caramel color. Maybe it burnt slightly when you were cooking it? How does it smell and taste?

Smells and tastes good. The wife agrees.

Double post.

Clifton said:

Smells and tastes good. The wife agrees.

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Then go with it!

I just racked my 4 gallon batch of this to a Keg. The FG is 1.000 which makes this over 7% ABV!

I'm adding half the amount of syrup and 3 cans of concentrate and letting it carb in the keg naturally. I don't like campden, so didn't use them. I expect this to be totally awesome based on how the sample just tasted. Very excited!

This has been a big hit with everyone i've given it to. Try it out for sure.

added 3 cans of concentrate, dulce syrup per recipe, and campden and potassium sorbate to keg and carbed it up. 3 cans is enough if you're kegging imo. Also I didn't shake the syrup back into solution, so most of it was taken off the beer with the first pint. I'm seriously thinking about either omitting the syrup next time or just omitting syrup and adding a small amount of cinnamon instead. Seems to me it would be hard to mess this recipe up with any of those changes.

Forgive the probably ignorant question but I'm fairly new to all this. Thus far I have only made a still mead. Considering this recipe will develop some carbonation in the bottle can it be bottled in a wine bottle with a cork or does it require bottles with caps? Thanks in advance.

RJ15092 said:

Forgive the probably ignorant question but I'm fairly new to all this. Thus far I have only made a still mead. Considering this recipe will develop some carbonation in the bottle can it be bottled in a wine bottle with a cork or does it require bottles with caps? Thanks in advance.

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You can use either style you prefer but even with a wine bottle I highly suggest you pasteurize after no more than 1 week of carbing in the bottle.

Clifton said:

Is everyone else's syrup black like molasses?

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Yeah I've had one that got burned but some of mine if boiled out longer can become like molasses. Let it cool and taste it, you will know if it got burned.

chadcossette said:

if you didn't add the campden tablets, and then added the cinnamon and sugar syrup, that should carbonate, right? how long would you let that sit before putting it in the fridge, and cold crashing? how cold does it need to be to cold crash?

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Skip the the cold crashing... This is only the route I followed and it has proven effective... After carbing in the bottle for a week put the bottles in the dishwasher and let it run. If you have a decent one it will get hot enough to kill the yeast.

Well, as most know this recipe was based off a normal hot cider drink from Starbucks including the syrup. I was talking to an old friend who works there and I found out that most stores will even sell their syrup!!!... Their cinnamon syrup is pre-made for you and is like $8/liter. Cheaper to make yourself but thought I'd share this for those who want to save time.

ellicit said:

Well, as most know this recipe was based off a normal hot cider drink from Starbucks including the syrup. I was talking to an old friend who works there and I found out that most stores will even sell their syrup!!!... Their cinnamon syrup is pre-made for you and is like $8/liter. Cheaper to make yourself but thought I'd share this for those who want to save time.

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From the "OP" recipe methinks? Sometimes credit should be given where credit is due! That is all

Manco, I've read your post twice and I'm not following. Please explain.

There is another thread, with the same recipe in it, and recently a large fight occurred about giving credit to the original poster of the recipe. What our buddy Manco here isn't realizing is that ellicit is the OP. He IS Dave. And fights brought from one thread to another are bad form.

This has turned out interesting. Yes I am Dave and I have explained how this recipe came to be, I'm not personally a fan of cloned beverages namely commercial brews and they are that "clones". This was an experiment that took a normal concoction and made it into an alcoholic drink. I find it the best flattery when others take a basic idea and run with it to make it their own, however copy and paste including format and altering 2 words to me personally is plagarism even on a public forum. Don't take for example Ed Worst Apfelwein copy the recipe, post it on a forum and claim it was your creation. Take this recipe improve it and make it better and please share for all to enjoy but don't plagarize. At a minimum please show where you got the recipe from. My apologies for any misunderstandings but please review the dates of the original posts before you blast anyone on this forum. Ignorance is your own worst enemy.

Clifton said:

Manco, I've read your post twice and I'm not following. Please explain.

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that post was a little hard to understand, I was referring to this as the "original" recipe.

Just put this together last night, around 930 pm. Excited to see how it turns out. The Carmel Apple Spice is my favorite drink from Starbucks.

Used 5 g - Old Orchard Apple Juice - 2 lbs Dextrose - Safale 05 yeast

OG of 1.062

I do have a quick question. Would Mr. Beer PET bottles be better to bottle with? I have a few of those bottles and i thought since this recipe is know for bottle bombs, if storing in the PET would be safer and less likely to explode. Thanks

You can't pasteurize pet bottles. Use one for your carb tester and glass for the rest.