Caramel Apple Hard Cider

Yakima 728
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TexasWine said:
Add priming sugar next time. It will not carbonate properly without it.
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I realized my error after searching some threads specific to bench capping, since my test bottle was fully carbonated I knew it wasn't due to lack of priming sugar..

I'd been capping with relatively no clearance between the bell and the crown. It wasn't able to do a full travel before crimping. After I adjusted it higher I capped an empty bottle and did a water test, absolutely no air bubbles.

Hopefully I'll be all set for the next batch.
 
Hi guys, I must not be doing something right. I've tried this twice and mind won't win 5th place nevermind 1st. It's drinkable but not something I would recommend. And after reading all the posts on how great this is, I figured I must be doing something wrong. I followed the instructions. 2 differences that I can think of is the fact that I live in Canada I have to use juices that we have up here and that also goes for the apple juice concentrate. 2nd thing which is also what I think the problem is.... that Carmel syrup mixture I made as stated but even after it reduced overt half it was still watered sugar. It never thickened up into a syrup. I know online saying to user white sugar but online also talks about 1/3 the water to sugar ratio. Anyone have any thoughts?

Booker
 
Booker, you will want to tweak to match what you have available by you.
1. Find an apple juice you like to drink. If you don't like the starting juice, then you wont like it after it ferments. I actually use apple cider.
2. All the dextrose up front is to boost the ABV. It adds no flavor nor sweetness to it. Try leaving it out.
3. Frozen apple juice concentrate tastes like frozen apple juice concentrate. Go figure! I have taken to adding a couple of pounds of dextrose to a gallon of apple cider and boiling that down by at least 1/2 to concentrate the flavor and sweetness. You can do the same thing by freezing it, but that way works better for me in winter! I add that to taste at the time of bottling.
4. The "caramel" sauce. I agree, the recipe makes brown sugar water. I make a true caramel, but cut it with water so it will mix in easier.
 
Caramel sauce:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/caramel-sauce/2d4284f9-821a-4013-99e4-689008ceb836

The key is to dissolve the sugar at a low temperate first before cranking the heat, otherwise you'll have crystalized sugar in your brew and you're right, it won't taste very good, and it'll be nearly impossible for the yeast to break it down.

Obviously don't add the cream from that recipe.

You can mix the sugars, or try different sugars, whatever you prefer. The best way to see if it will work is to make a few different caramels, mix it with a cup or so of cider and see what the taste balance is. Try to get your volumes correct so that you know to make more or mix less.
 
Drewed said:
I wonder what would happen?
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Spoilage. If you want to play around with it you can add a little lactose as it won't spoil and won't ferment so it can be a backsweetener. Beware, it doesn't taste great at quantity so maybe a tiny bit in the caramel and adjust to flavor over several batches.
 
I made this a few years back and everyone loved it. I'm thinking of making a small batch this time. Anyone have any luck with one gallon batches. If so what was your method
 
This was an experiment for me, hence the somewhat rambling notes. I repitched yeast previously harvested. Next time I do a 1G of this I'll pitch 1/2 pkg of hydrated notty.

I did not add extra sugar or prime, I assumed I had enough sugar but if you read my previous posts.. I didn't. I'm blaming it on my inexperience with a bench capper; it was probably a combination of both.

Anyway, I hope this helps!

Edit: disregard the note about priming sugar & water.. I didn't add water or sugar whatsoever.

View attachment 1500140311061.jpg
 
ThatITGuy said:
This was an experiment for me, hence the somewhat rambling notes. I repitched yeast previously harvested. Next time I do a 1G of this I'll pitch 1/2 pkg of hydrated notty.

I did not add extra sugar or prime, I assumed I had enough sugar but if you read my previous posts.. I didn't. I'm blaming it on my inexperience with a bench capper; it was probably a combination of both.

Anyway, I hope this helps!

Edit: disregard the note about priming sugar & water.. I didn't add water or sugar whatsoever.
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Looks good, were you going for a still cider?
 
TrustyOlJohnson said:
There is more than enough sugar between the 2 cups of brown sugar and the 2 cans of FAJC to make bottle bombs.. not for sure if you just used the brown sugar though
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Your right, I think it was an error in capping. Now that I think of it.. My test bottle of it was carbonated. Forgot to mention that
 
Thinking about trying this recipe for a party in Sept. I have some old Nottingham (expired in 2011) and some Champagne yeast. What does everyone recommend? What would happen if I used both?
 
For those of you that are kegging... would a couple of days of cold crashing before racking to the keg remove enough yeast, without having to use sulfites? Not too concerned about over-carbing, but more so about yeast slowly drying out the backsweetening.

Also, if cold crashing, does anyone have trouble then adding the caramel sauce to a cold cider? Was wondering if I should let it come back up to room temp after transferring to keg, for better mixing. I saw that most of the "snot" problems were alleviated by using cinnamon extract. Thanks for any help!
 
So here is a potentially dumb question. Being diabetic I am always looking for ways to skimp on sugars. What if I used fake light brown sugar for this recipe?
 
Getting ready to bottle this for my first real cider. I gave it a taste minus the caramel sauce and so far so good, 5.75% according to sg readings. I added 5 campden tabs but also added sorbate per bottle instructions. For still, it didn't specify any sorbate on this recipe. Is there a reason I shouldn't have done that?
 
Dave1216 said:
Getting ready to bottle this for my first real cider. I gave it a taste minus the caramel sauce and so far so good, 5.75% according to sg readings. I added 5 campden tabs but also added sorbate per bottle instructions. For still, it didn't specify any sorbate on this recipe. Is there a reason I shouldn't have done that?
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I've never used sorbate in my cider and never had bombs when I was bottling. Here's why. The amount if sugar I add to my cider prior to fermenting is sufficient to halt the yeast action when the ABV reached about 10%. As a precaution, when I was bottling I would use the dish washer method to kill the yeast. Now I just ferment, add the caramel syrup, pour it into the keg and force carb.
 
william_shakes_beer said:
I've never used sorbate in my cider and never had bombs when I was bottling. Here's why. The amount if sugar I add to my cider prior to fermenting is sufficient to halt the yeast action when the ABV reached about 10%. As a precaution, when I was bottling I would use the dish washer method to kill the yeast. Now I just ferment, add the caramel syrup, pour it into the keg and force carb.
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That makes sense. I am bottling at quite a bit lower abv and keeping it still. I am starting to see I really need to get the capability to force carb, just haven't gone down that path yet. Sorbate seems to be a back and forth topic everywhere I read! I did not sorbate when I did the apfelwein, although that turned out almost too hot for my household (except for me).
 
Dave1216 said:
That makes sense. I am bottling at quite a bit lower abv and keeping it still. I am starting to see I really need to get the capability to force carb, just haven't gone down that path yet. Sorbate seems to be a back and forth topic everywhere I read! I did not sorbate when I did the apfelwein, although that turned out almost too hot for my household (except for me).
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Does sorbate contribute anything to the product taste?
 
Made a 5 gallon batch of this and kegged it recently for a party. Had some trouble getting the syrup to dissolve but once I figured that out it was sooooo good. One of the first things we kicked and I don't typically like really sweet cider.
 
william_shakes_beer said:
Does sorbate contribute anything to the product taste?
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I've heard that over doing it can cause a metallic taste but I tasted mine using the .5 tsp per gallon amount and notice no change. Someone more experienced may have better input on the effects of the sorbate. So far, the airlock has quit bubbling since the addition so it looks like a success.
 
fermentinginpa said:
Made a 5 gallon batch of this and kegged it recently for a party. Had some trouble getting the syrup to dissolve but once I figured that out it was sooooo good. One of the first things we kicked and I don't typically like really sweet cider.
Click to expand...

How did you end up getting the syrup to dissolve? Was wondering if it is excessive to cold crash, transfer to keg, and then let keg come to room temp before adding the syrup? Or if syrup can be added to cold cider?
 
chunkychicken said:
Caramel sauce:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/caramel-sauce/2d4284f9-821a-4013-99e4-689008ceb836

The key is to dissolve the sugar at a low temperate first before cranking the heat, otherwise you'll have crystalized sugar in your brew and you're right, it won't taste very good, and it'll be nearly impossible for the yeast to break it down.

Obviously don't add the cream from that recipe.

You can mix the sugars, or try different sugars, whatever you prefer. The best way to see if it will work is to make a few different caramels, mix it with a cup or so of cider and see what the taste balance is. Try to get your volumes correct so that you know to make more or mix less.
Click to expand...



Outstanding mixture. I crossed this recipe with Upstate Mikes by keeping two cups of water in the caramel sauce. This negated the issue with dissolving. I added about half the mixture right before bottling directly into the Carboy with the concentrate.

I am happy to say I bottled 20 before caramel sauce and the rest after. Both are delicious and I couldn't be happier. Thanks so much for this recipe mike. I used s04 instead and maybe we will try your yeast next and go with carbonation that time too.
 
Ok I have a question and I am not too sure if this has already been answered or not but I've tried reading thru it all and I seem to be getting confused.

I have started making a 5 gallon batch of this recipe from page 1. This is my first time making cider. I plan on making a still cider. After about 2 weeks of fermentation I was going to rack onto 5 campden tablets for 24hrs and than rack into my bottling bucket onto the syrup and FCAJ to bottle.

1) Now...will I have to pasteurize the bottles even tho I added the campden tablets or will i be ok without doing it?
2) If I want a still cider should I also add potassium sorbate with the campden tablets? If this is required...again, do I need to pasteurize the bottles or should I be ok?

I've tried to find the answers but I am getting confused with all the back and forth.
 
Gergamaholic said:
Ok I have a question and I am not too sure if this has already been answered or not but I've tried reading thru it all and I seem to be getting confused.

I have started making a 5 gallon batch of this recipe from page 1. This is my first time making cider. I plan on making a still cider. After about 2 weeks of fermentation I was going to rack onto 5 campden tablets for 24hrs and than rack into my bottling bucket onto the syrup and FCAJ to bottle.

1) Now...will I have to pasteurize the bottles even tho I added the campden tablets or will i be ok without doing it?
2) If I want a still cider should I also add potassium sorbate with the campden tablets? If this is required...again, do I need to pasteurize the bottles or should I be ok?

I've tried to find the answers but I am getting confused with all the back and forth.
Click to expand...



I was unable to find a good answer on this either. It seems some do some don't. I plan to let mine sit awhile so I added campden and sorbate for my still cider. No change in taste and I don't have to worry about it. I think the best answer is that it depends on if your yeast is done or not. I considered pasteurizing so I could carbonate using priming sugar but decided against it. The recipe doesn't say anything about sorbate and it doesn't seem to be a rule necessarily.

Campden stops further activation of yeast, but doesn't stop active fermentation like sorbate does (most of the time). That's my understanding.
 
Potassium sorbate prevents yeast from reproducing. If you want a still sweet cider you use that after fermentation is done and the cider is clear (bottling time). Adding campden tabs at the same time acts as an antioxidant and helps the sorbate do its job. If you do this, you do not need to pasteurize but you can't bottle condition (carbonate) because the yeast won't be viable any more.
 
Maylar said:
Potassium sorbate prevents yeast from reproducing. If you want a still sweet cider you use that after fermentation is done and the cider is clear (bottling time). Adding campden tabs at the same time acts as an antioxidant and helps the sorbate do its job. If you do this, you do not need to pasteurize but you can't bottle condition (carbonate) because the yeast won't be viable any more.
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Ok so for the still cider I am wanting, I add the campden tablets AND the Sorbate 24hrs before bottling and than I don't have to worry about pasteurizing. perfect..thanks for the help!
 
Thanks for all the help and thanks for the amazing recipe USMike! Bottled my first batch and it tastes amazing! Only issue is the flavouring varies from bottle to bottle. The first few bottles are sweeter than the last ones bottled. I tried to stir it every so often throughout bottling but I guess next time I will have to do a better job of it. Starting the second batch tonight as everyone is asking to try it out and I think I will be out of bottles quickly!

20171009_212052.jpg
 
I did a batch of this recipe recently and it turned out good. But this afternoon I was about to open a bottle for my in-laws and explained to them that it is a "still" cider, b/c I used the campden tablets to make "still" cider. Seconds later I opened a bottle for them and it was the biggest gusher I have ever had with any cider or home brew. So just be careful! There are some bottles that had little to no carbonation based on the back sweetening with the campden tablets and now this one that was a gusher.

But either way the cider was excellent! Thank you for sharing OP!
 
Campden ALONE will not necessarily stop your yeast from continuing to eat your residual sugars and create bottle bombs..you MUST use Pot. Sorbate along with it to truly stop it.
 
hello all, just wondering about making this in a keg, and then carbing in the keg, then filling bottles from the keg for an advent exchange...and then drinking the rest from the keg myself...to #1 limit the # of bottles I would need to fill ( I don't bottle any more, LOL) & #2 allow me to serve from my keezer/kegerator for home consumption.

would I still follow the same instructions in the updated recipe in post #420, of adding the caramel syrup to the keg...basically just replacing the bottling bucket in the instructions with keg and continue that way, to force carb as normal...and then filling bottles & capping.

thanks for any help.
 
A50SNAKE said:
hello all, just wondering about making this in a keg, and then carbing in the keg, then filling bottles from the keg for an advent exchange...and then drinking the rest from the keg myself...to #1 limit the # of bottles I would need to fill ( I don't bottle any more, LOL) & #2 allow me to serve from my keezer/kegerator for home consumption.

would I still follow the same instructions in the updated recipe in post #420, of adding the caramel syrup to the keg...basically just replacing the bottling bucket in the instructions with keg and continue that way, to force carb as normal...and then filling bottles & capping.

thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

anyone who has kegged this recipe able to help me out?

thanks :mug:
 
A50SNAKE said:
anyone who has kegged this recipe able to help me out?

thanks :mug:
Click to expand...

I've kegged this and several other heavily backsweetened ciders without any issue. I've only counterflow bottled grunts and growlers for immediate consumption, but can't imagine there would be much of an issue, with the one ubiquitous exception of continued fermentation in the bottles. Unless you know they'll be consumed immediately, or the people receiving the bottles are fully up to speed on the situation, I'd pasteurize the bottles just to help me sleep better at night.
 

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