First time making cider

So after two successful beer brews, my wife is looking for me to make some cider for her. Being my first attempt, I am not looking to be too advanced, but I am looking to do something more than just adding the no preservative apple juice and yeast with yeast additives.

My wife really likes the Woodchuck Pear Hard Cider and also likes the Foxbarrel Pear Cider. I was going to try to add something to help with the alcohol content, and I was thinking about Agave Nectar. I'm sure someone has thought of this, so I was wondering how much to use?

I bought the no preservative apple juice from an organic market, and I am thinking that I will need to get some pear juice that also has no preservatives, but I would like to know if anyone knows where to get enough for 2 gallons without spending a fortune.

Thanks in advance for any tips. Here is the process that I am going to try this weekend. If I am missing anything, please let me know.

I am going to put two gallons of apple juice into my 2.5 gallon keg. I am going to add Nottingham Ale Yeast and yeast nutrients to give the yeast something to eat. I am also looking at adding a bit of Agave Nectar to add some alcohol to the mix, but I am unsure on how much to add, so I may not do that.

Again, let me know if you see any flaws in this and thanks.

We bought a couple of bottles of Organic Blue Agave Sweetener a while back for a relative that was staying with us.

As much as I've tried...I loath the taste of it. I can't even imagine what it tastes like fermented out and I don't even know if its complex or simple sugars. (I'm sure there's science on it somewhere) All I will say is that you'd better love the taste of blue agave before you use too much of it. I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm hoping someone will report that it completely transforms to awesomeness when fermented.

Thanks. I will definitely have to think about using the Agave Nectar as an additive for alcohol content. If needed, I guess I can just add table sugar, correct?

Yep. Table sugar will definitely bump alcohol. Dextrose or Brown Sugar works well too.

stu96art said:

Thanks. I will definitely have to think about using the Agave Nectar as an additive for alcohol content. If needed, I guess I can just add table sugar, correct?

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I find agave syrup in the store a lot lately. I was gonn try some over maple syrup or honey.