That Crisp/ahhh(sigh of contentment) feeling

I have recently bottled a big batch of cider and am quite happy with it, it is sitting in conditioning... i waas drinking alot of Woodchucks recently because of the size of the batch and the time it took, and i noticed that WoodChucks had a nice crisp taste and feeling to them... i was just wondering was it would take to get my cider like that?... mine tends to be dry, and i like that but not that lipton ice tea crisp... or that ice cracking on a lake crisp... you know that ahhhh feeling... any thoughts guys?

Cheers

I think I saw some Woodchuck-like recipes (clones?) in the database. Which Chuck are you drinking? I like the Granny Smith a lot.

When i was running low on my home brew i got 2 sixers of 402 dark and dry and two sixers of the limited eddition of the oak aged... i was drinking the oak aged... it is an amazing cider, i just whish they would pick it up as a regular product... I like all the wood chuck products, although my favorite is the 402 dark and dry

Thanks for the tip joe i will look at that later

Cheers

I shall look for the Oak Aged at the local grocers. I hope I can get the knack of this, as I'd rather make a couple of gallons for $10 than buy it (probably for about the same price, but where's the joy in that?).

I think EdWorts apple cider with the name i cant consistantly spell(or say for that matter), somthing like aphelwine... i think thats only about 12 dallors ofr 5 gallons and that beats any store price you can think of, and its decent... and i just bought 5 gallons of juice today and am gonna ferment with Windsor or Notingham before i go to bed... and thats normally turns out well and between 6-9% abv and that was just twelve dallors and thats cheaper then a sixer of oak aged where i get mine... it will work out, brewing is a fun and rewarding hobby, and i can atest that its not that tought because i can do it... and thats saying something.... because all my ex-girlfirend will consistantly tell you im an idiot...:rockin:

Cheers

BrewinJack said:

i think thats only about 12 dallors ofr 5 gallons and that beats any store price you can think of, and its decent...
Cheers

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Where is everyone finding apple juice so cheap. It was over 20 bucks just for the 5 gallons of juice when i made my first batch.

yeah...I get my juice at Wal-Mart and usually pay around $21. on the upside; I have most of a bottle left over after making a batch and drink apple juice at breakfast for about a week.

I won't pay more than $3/gal for apple juice. Buy it in the big jugs at a "bulk" store like sams or costco. Target has good prices in a lot of places too.

Kilgore_Trout said:

I won't pay more than $3/gal for apple juice. Buy it in the big jugs at a "bulk" store like sams or costco. Target has good prices in a lot of places too.

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Cheap is good, sure, but I've found that sometimes It's worth it, as the quality of the juice reflects on the quality of the finished product. The best one I've made came from juice straight from the press. the worst was the "store brand" from smart & final, for $1.50 a gallon you can't beat the price, but the finished product wasn't very good.

Freezeblade said:

Cheap is good, sure, but I've found that sometimes It's worth it, as the quality of the juice reflects on the quality of the finished product. The best one I've made came from juice straight from the press. the worst was the "store brand" from smart & final, for $1.50 a gallon you can't beat the price, but the finished product wasn't very good.

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1.50 a gallon??? i would think it was suspect... i buy at walmart and wait for sales on juice and tend to get it about 2.00 a gallon... You have a point about quality and price however. If i really want a top notch brew i will pay 8 dallors a gallon at the local orgainc food store for real 100% michigan apple juice filtered and unprocessed, UV pastureized, right here in central michigan. That stuff is the best apple juice i have ever had, it is not from concentrate and makes wonderful cider with just two pounds of brown sugar and some decent yeast (would use Windsor, or Muttons)... Also i will go to the local apple orchard and get fresh pressed cider right off the tree for about 2.10 a gallon at the begining of the season when the first blends are comming out... I have gotten fresh cider for as little as .50cents a gallon which was cider which was improperly blended and was so tart you could prefer a lemon to drinking it... I was really sad that i only had one fermenter with me that day because i paid 2.50 for a full 5 gallons of cider... These screw ups happen at least once a year at the local press and i now have an arrangment for a phone call when it does happen.... but so do sevral other brewers... Also i have a good strong hand crank juicer and my folks have half a dozen aging apple trees of two varities, I juice about 6-10 bushells a year with a 2-1 ratio of one kind to another with a rather mild out come... totatal cost was 60 dallors for the juicer and 10$ for the mess filter setup i made to filter most of it and all the calories you can burn cranking the handle... so last year i got an avrage of 2.8 gallons of juice per bushel and i juiced 8 bushels and that gave me 22.5 gallons of juice over a 2-3 month periode... so the cost per gallon the fist year i used it was $3.11 per gallon of fresh apple juice michigan grown... the cider it made was very good and steady but mroe expensive... I figure it will have paid for itself by the end of next year...

Cheers

Kilgore_Trout said:

I won't pay more than $3/gal for apple juice. Buy it in the big jugs at a "bulk" store like sams or costco. Target has good prices in a lot of places too.

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Neither Costco nor Target have it for anything less than about $3.50 around here (Chicago). I have looked high and low for cheaper juice, and that's as low as I've found so far. $4-$6/gallon is a more typical range. Luckily, I have a friend in Iowa with a big apple tree and lots of extra apples.