cider ideas.

I made 2 batch of sweet country cider and they turned out great. But now i would like to add some additional flavor and ferment it a little bit drier.

How can i incorporate frozen strawberries into my cider? also i don't have any good cider so i will be using apple juice. Should i place the frozen strawberries in my secondary in a bag and rack on top of it for a week before bottling? would a primary 5 gallon bucket be a better option over my better bottle when using the strawberries? Any ideas or direction would be greatly appreciated. i'm going to try using Red Star Cote Des Blanc yeast. I previously used notthingham ale yeast for my other batches.

When using whole/sliced fruit, I primary in a bucket fermenter. You can put your fruit in either primary or secondary; or both. Primary is easiest, but you'll lose the most amount of fruit flavour & aromatics that way. Fruit in the primary will give a more "wine-ish" sort of flavour profile to the fruit.

Adding fruit to secondary will give you more fruit flavour & aromatics, but if you secondary in a carbouy like I do, you can't contain the fruit in a bag & you have to be able to fit the fruit through the carbouy neck. It eventually ends up as sludge on the bottom.

Adding fruit to both will give you more depth of flavour, but makes things a bit more involved, though still relatively easy to do. I suppose you COULD secondary in a bucket fermenter, but I don't due to headspace/surface area & possible oxidation issues.

All depends on how much strawberry flavour you want in your cider. More berries = more flavour. The longer you leave the fruit in (to an extent) the more flavour will be extracted. Either way, I'd put those berries through a freeze/thaw, freeze/thaw cycle. It will help to soften it up & break down cell walls so more juice/flavour can be extracted. You could also use a dose of pectic enzyme.

Hope this info helps. Regards, GF.

i think i could find a way to secondary with berries in a bag in a better bottle but should i dose my brew before or after secondary with pectin ?

how many pounds would you suggest for a 5 gallon batch? 3lbs?

I freeze then thaw the fruit. I push the fruit thru a funnel into my carboy squishing it some. I use the primary although I have used the secondary in the past. Strawberry makes a great end product.

should i put pectin before pitching or after the primary? could i use these to to fill with the strawberries and soak in my secondary? should i masht he fruit at all and any insight in to how much for a 5gallon batch? 1lb per gallon?

Before, in my opinion.