3rd cider, hopefully 1st success

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BenjiBat

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I made 2 single gallon batches of cider this summer and spiced them with cinnamon and nutmeg, they both tasted terrible, mostly like nutmeg. So I've gone minimalist and just put 4 gallons of sweet cider in my Carboy with a pack of ec-1118 in there. It seemed like a good choice, anyone used it for cider? Well I'm counting on this batch to redeem my crappy summer ciders.
 
I have to say I have stayed away from cider. I did one from mr. Beer and it tasted like crap. I kind of got turned off by it. I would love to make another one, my wife will not drink beer. Let me know how it turns out.
Good luck
 
I've been told to start out with just juice first. Coincidentally, that's what I did on MY third batch.

The first two batches had added sugars to boost the ABV, but I my third has an ABV of 8.15% from pure cider. My second batch was a pretty big hit with my friends, and the first was okay... more of an apple wine at almost 11% ABV.
 
Yea that's what I want a apple wine taste. I'll have to just play with it more.
 
So far so good, I transferred my cider to a secondary last night, it's at 6.5 % ABV right now and I'm giving it a week or two to clarify. Then I'll bottle it. It's very tasty right now though.
 
I have a successful cider. Bottled it still today, and put a gallon jug in the fridge, it's fairly light, not too dry. Still has some apple flavor. I like it, on my 3rd glass tonight and enjoying it.
 
I made 2 single gallon batches of cider this summer and spiced them with cinnamon and nutmeg, they both tasted terrible, mostly like nutmeg. So I've gone minimalist and just put 4 gallons of sweet cider in my Carboy with a pack of ec-1118 in there. It seemed like a good choice, anyone used it for cider? Well I'm counting on this batch to redeem my crappy summer ciders.

I've used EC-1118 for a handful of ciders. To me, it creates a very clean but bland cider. The only flavors I've been able to detect are a little residual tannin and tartness but no real apple character.

I think ale yeast tend to lend more character to the cider. S-04 and S-05 are both good basic candidates. I've also had good results with D-47 wine yeast, which came across as fruitier than EC-1118. WY-4766 cider yeast is also a good choice. Decent results with a couple other randoms (California Lager WY-2212, London ESB WY-1968, Ardennes WY-3522, etc) too.
 
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