Great Dry Sparkling Cider

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I made a batch of this cider back in October, and I let it sit in secondary for a little over 4 months. It's been in the bottle now for just over two weeks. I got excited and opened one a little too early. It wasn't fully carbonated yet, but tasted good. I'm going to give it another week or so before trying again.

The waiting is always the hardest part..........
 
HAHA at least I can wait a month or so :) This is great timing, I made a double batch in November and have been procrastinating bottling it for too long. It's in a cool, usually dark room so I'm not too concerned about being late, I have waited 3 months int he past for the malolactic conversion to go all they way. Something strange happened though. One carboy is a nice light caramel color which is what I had been getting with previous batches. The other, however, is a hazy straw color. I briefly pulled the airlocks and took a whiff, and they don't smell spoiled, but the straw colored one definitely smelled different, but not particularly nasty. I wonder if it was contaminated at some point? My son moved them from inside the house at Christmas time and at the time they were both a light blonde color, kind of like cream ale that I have brewed. By the time I had another look maybe 3 weeks later one had turned the hazy straw color. I thought the haze might clear up and it did to some extent, but it hasn't cleared up all the way.

The only thing I can think of would be that the airlock came loose or the cider was splashed up into the water in the airlock when it was moved. I suppose there's no harm in bottling both but I would like to know if the light colored carboy might be contaminated to the point that it would be dangerous to drink, even if it is primed (probably with a little corn sugar and champagne yeast) and carbonated in the bottle.
 
Hi there,
I am just starting secondary and everything seems to be going great!
This is my very first batch of cider , so as a novice , I thought I should ask your advice on a few things:

How much priming sugar did you use for your five gallons?
Did you age the cider in the bottles in the refrigerator , out, or both?

:mug:
 
Not sure what you are after, I was asking about two carboys from the same batch having different colors, one being amber and the other being a straw color. After bottling both and sampling over the summer, there is a very slight difference in the color and taste of the batches. However it doesn't seem to effect the quality one little bit, I did a "blind taste test" with some (admittedly tipsy) friends and no one could tell the difference. They are pretty low alcohol, under 6%, as I expected, not using anything other than cider and other low sugar apples and not letting them "ripen" (i.e., practically rot like the English do). That might make a difference in the taste but I have nothing to compare it to that is commercially available around here (Oregon). Anyway I used 3/4 c. corn sugar for each carboy, made them pretty bubbly. 1/2 c. might be more appropriate. I don't know how you would age bottles in a fridge, seems to me to defeat the purpose to have them so cold. Mine are in the garage until they are read to be emptied; I have been cheating but a year is probably best ;)

Now off to attend to my just picked (well, in July anyway) blueberry melomel! Two years to drink though :(
 
I just put a 1-gallon batch of this together, except I used Safale S-04 English ale yeast. I didn't take the SG of the juice, but adding 6.4 ounces of honey to 1 gallon of juice -> 1.070. If this ferments dry it'll be pushing 10% ABV. We will see what the S-04 makes of this.
 
Started a 5 gallon batch of this back in October, after 3 months in bottles one of them exploded. The FG was .998. I added an ounce of priming sugar per gallon just like you would in beer. Any thoughts on reasons for the bottle bomb?

I just had 1 gusher out of 24 bottles after a year with 1/2 c. corn sugar @ bottling. Let them carbonate really slow, I do mine in the garage which is in the 50s all winter. I used 3/4 c. in 2011 which was also a bad idea, no bombs but lots of gushers.I started putting them in the freezer until they were on the verge of freezing which helped a little. I used 1/4 c. in 2012, didn't work so I had to try again with champagne yeast & those carbonation tablets. It helped but not very much. So 1/2 c. is about right on the money. My FG is always betw. .994 and .998 (WLP755 dry english cider, it's amazing stuff).
 
Not sure what you are after, I was asking about two carboys from the same batch having different colors, one being amber and the other being a straw color. After bottling both and sampling over the summer, there is a very slight difference in the color and taste of the batches. However it doesn't seem to effect the quality one little bit, I did a "blind taste test" with some (admittedly tipsy) friends and no one could tell the difference. They are pretty low alcohol, under 6%, as I expected, not using anything other than cider and other low sugar apples and not letting them "ripen" (i.e., practically rot like the English do). That might make a difference in the taste but I have nothing to compare it to that is commercially available around here (Oregon). Anyway I used 3/4 c. corn sugar for each carboy, made them pretty bubbly. 1/2 c. might be more appropriate. I don't know how you would age bottles in a fridge, seems to me to defeat the purpose to have them so cold. Mine are in the garage until they are read to be emptied; I have been cheating but a year is probably best ;)

Now off to attend to my just picked (well, in July anyway) blueberry melomel! Two years to drink though :(

Thought I'd update in case anyone is still following this thread. The 2013 batch that I said had 2 completely different colors in 2 carboys finished out amazing. The only difference I can detect is the straw colored carboy did come out very light in color, while the darker came out the classic "golden" color. Other than that the apple taste is definitely more subtle in the lighter stuff, absolutely stunning in the darker. By which I mean dry as a popcorn fart, I seriously dislike US commercial ciders, even the dry ones are sweet compared to the seriously dry English ciders. We had a couple outstanding craft ciders in London a couple years ago, but almost all of their commercial bottles are the sweet type, which surprised me a little. Just about done drinking it, but waiting has its rewards. Gone is the very slightly skunky smell which I am pretty sure is a residual of the sulfites.

So here's what I did in 2013 and just did a couple weeks ago (I procrastinated big time this year).

2013: 2 5 gal. batches, 8 5 gal. buckets = 165 lbs. = 12.5 gal. = 13.2 lbs./gal. Granny Smiths (a lot), Gravenstein (both from my trees), leftover Graeburn, Cox, Ashmead, Pippin, Crispin, Spitzenberg from a buddy's U-pick orchard. In other words anything I could reach :) Used a rental grinder that more or less pulps the & press. I've seen that pulping them is worse but the old fashioned crank grinder is just too labor intensive for me. I've done it this way for 4 years now and I don't see any drawbacks. If you do this with fresh apples it really helps to use a nylon bag they use for wine inside the press, it keeps virtually all the bigger solids out of the juice. Too much solids like skin, stems and seeds results in a decidedly more bitter finished cider.

2014 (Jan 2015): 1 6 gal. batch (I've always been disappointed at the 1/2 - 3/4 gal. loss at bottling). 110 lbs. apples = 7 gal. = 15.7 lbs/gal. Granny Smith 40 lbs, Pippin 60 lbs., Rome 10 lbs. (a little sweeter). These were commercial apples grown in a very much drier climate than ours so I assume they had a much lower water content. Also they'd been in bins since picking in the fall so that might have dried them out somewhat.

2013: 5 Gal. juice directly into the primary, no boiling or heating. It's really unnecessary as you'll be killing off the wild yeast anyway. I had never done this but the results were unpredictable. One year it soured so bad and smelled so nasty I got PO'ed and left it in the carboy which I didn't need for 7 years without an airlock in a dark corner of my workroom (yes that's right). At some point it got a thick mat of moldy gunk on top so I let it go just to see what happened. A couple years ago I siphoned off the liquid because I need the carboy. It is now the most wonderful and intense cider vinegar I have ever tasted. I should sell it, I have 4 gallons or so. I since have found out that the mat is called the "mother of vinegar" and is basically bacteria/mold that really never dies. It can be saved indefinitely and used to inoculate ciders to make vinegar.

Anyway in 2013 5 gals. juice directly into the bucket & 2 lbs. Costco clover honey directly into the primary to kick it up a notch. In 2011 I hadn't used anything and got a "light beer" cider that wasn't alcoholic enough to give me a buzz. Heated the honey with a couple cups of the juice to just under boiling. I've read on the mead forums that Costco is actually quite nice honey for cider/mead.

In 2014 (6 gal. batch), again right into the bucket, I added 1600 gm Costco honey for 4% more alcohol (theoretically 400 gm sugar per 1% alcohol increase in another thread). So shooting for a 4% bump in ABV.

2013/2014 1 tube White Labs #WLP775 Dry English Cider yeast
Did starter both years, used briefly heated cider/honey, went crazy immediately both times so prob. didn’t need it. As per this thread I think that making a starter is totally unnecessary.

5 tsp Fermax yeast nutrient in the starter (added to the primary aft. 18 hrs. in 2014)

25 gm DAP in primary for faster ferm (2013 & 2014 (added aft. abt. 18 hrs.)

Campden tablets 1/gal. 24 hrs (2013 - 5, 2014 - 6).

2013: OG 1.044 adjusted for temp, FG 0.998 (ABV 6.04%) where ABV = (OG - FG)*131. I was shooting for 7%.
Added malolactic bacteria culture WLP675 right into the carboy after 2nd racking (was planning on doing this @ 4 weeks, but had to wait for the culture). The carboy was already @ 50-55F in my workroom which was prob. too low, so I let it sit for 3 months to make sure it finished out.

2014: OG
SG 0.998 (ABV)
Plan on adding MB WLP675 after 3-4 weeks, malolactic fermentation is supposed to be optimal @ 63-66 F. So I'll keep it around 68 in the house.

2013: ½ c. corn sugar & WLP775 to bottle 2013. I saw not to add Campden tablets (which was recommended) to stop the ferm. if you are priming so I didn't.

2013: First racking off the lees @ a little less that 2 weeks, planning on a week this time.

2013: 2nd racking when I added the MLB @ abt. 5 weeks. Plan on the same this time. I still can't decide between 1 or 2 rackings. Better safe than sorry I guess. Left it in the workroom for 3 months until it started to heat up a little, then bottled. Cracked them in the fall a little under a year later. Your patience will be rewarded. Results as above. BTW the blueberry mead I mentioned is in the bottle after 6 months and 2 rackings. It already tastes wonderful to me but I plan on waiting at least a month to sample. I think the standard procedure for mead applies to cider, the longer you wait the better, but supposedly it will go south if left too long in the bottle. I can't seem wait more than 2-3 months to start drinking.

So any thoughts would be appreciated. I'll update in 6 months or so when I crack the 2014.
 
This recipe turned out well for me. I'll use this as my base recipe for my next batch, I'll try another yeast strain though. any suggestions?? cheers.
 
This recipe turned out well for me. I'll use this as my base recipe for my next batch, I'll try another yeast strain though. any suggestions?? cheers.

I've done it 2 more times, once with the WLP and then 2 6-gal. batches with Mangrove Jack's MO2 6 weeks ago. The MO2 batch is still going through the MLB conversion but two things are clearly different. It was a very fast & vigorous ferm., then it got very cloudy after the first racking and is just now starting to settle after 7 weeks & 2 more rackings at 4 and 6 weeks (MLB in the first and Super Kleer added to the second after it refused to settle). I pulled off 2 gallons at the 2nd racking and put them in jugs just to see what if anything was different without another racking and the Super Kleer. They're still just a little clouded, so I guess it did something. Dunno if it was due to the yeast or something else, but I'm used to the nice steady pace of the WLP and perfectly clear cider after a couple weeks. After a few batches I do question the ability of the WLP to reliably carbonate, I've jacked up the CS to 1/2 c. with little change (the first batch last winter was closer to flat than I'd like). I'm hoping the more vigorous MO2 will do a better job. MLB should be done soon so I'll bottle if/when they clear up enough. BTW the 2014 in my last post was insane, the first 2015 was great but poor carbonation. I'm liking this batch too but it's tiny bit sweeter, MO2 is supposed to ferment out a little less dry than the WLP but it finished at 0.997 compared to 0.996 for the WLP so not that much sweeter. Then again I don't use any dessert (sweet) apples.
 
Had been wanting to do a nice dry cider, with noticeable apple notes to it, but not too much sweetness. This was a very simple recipe to put together, the key is to give this time to age, it can be less than pleasant the first month in the bottles. If you give it time, and wait 3 to 4 months, you will have an absolute stunner.







5 Gallons unfiltered Organic Apple Cider (from grocery store)

2 lbs local wildflower honey



1 tube White Labs #WLP775 Dry English Cider yeast

5 tsp Fermax yeast nutrient



OG 1.050

FG.996

ABV 7.04%



Beersmith put the SRM at 6.0, but I really feel that it is closer to a 3 or 4.



After sanitizing, I put the Cider right into the primary fermenter, no heating or boiling at all.



Warm the honey in about 2 cups of hot (150F) water to liquefy it, and add the Fermax to the honey / water mix. Don't boil the honey!



Let the honey mix cool a bit, and then add it to the primary. Pitch your yeast on top. When I did this, I did not use a starter, so it took several days for fermentation to kick off. Next time I will make a 1000mL starter. Shake the baby like mad to aerate!



Let sit on primary for 2 weeks. Rack into secondary for 1 week to clarify and let things settle out. I then racked into a bottling bucket, added in priming sugar and then into flip top bottles.



After 4 months, this is probably the best cider I have ever had. Beats Woodchuck and Ace all to hell. I was trying to copy the Samuel Smith Organic Cider and I would have to say that I am more than happy with what I have here.



Samuel Smith uses a wine yeast in the cider they make, but the White Labs I used worked wonderfully. Same crisp light flavor, dry, but not overly so.



I am going to get another batch of this going this week, after getting into several bottles this weekend, and having some friends and in-laws over, my stock is dwindling.


Great recipe, Straight forward directions. Thanks @Echo2112 for sharing. This is my go to cider recipe. Bottled 10 gallons yesterday.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1472820694.967809.jpg
 
Had been wanting to do a nice dry cider, with noticeable apple notes to it, but not too much sweetness. This was a very simple recipe to put together, the key is to give this time to age, it can be less than pleasant the first month in the bottles. If you give it time, and wait 3 to 4 months, you will have an absolute stunner.







5 Gallons unfiltered Organic Apple Cider (from grocery store)

2 lbs local wildflower honey



1 tube White Labs #WLP775 Dry English Cider yeast

5 tsp Fermax yeast nutrient



OG 1.050

FG.996

ABV 7.04%



Beersmith put the SRM at 6.0, but I really feel that it is closer to a 3 or 4.



After sanitizing, I put the Cider right into the primary fermenter, no heating or boiling at all.



Warm the honey in about 2 cups of hot (150F) water to liquefy it, and add the Fermax to the honey / water mix. Don't boil the honey!



Let the honey mix cool a bit, and then add it to the primary. Pitch your yeast on top. When I did this, I did not use a starter, so it took several days for fermentation to kick off. Next time I will make a 1000mL starter. Shake the baby like mad to aerate!



Let sit on primary for 2 weeks. Rack into secondary for 1 week to clarify and let things settle out. I then racked into a bottling bucket, added in priming sugar and then into flip top bottles.



After 4 months, this is probably the best cider I have ever had. Beats Woodchuck and Ace all to hell. I was trying to copy the Samuel Smith Organic Cider and I would have to say that I am more than happy with what I have here.



Samuel Smith uses a wine yeast in the cider they make, but the White Labs I used worked wonderfully. Same crisp light flavor, dry, but not overly so.



I am going to get another batch of this going this week, after getting into several bottles this weekend, and having some friends and in-laws over, my stock is dwindling.




Great recipe, Straight forward directions. Thanks @Echo2112 for sharing. This is my go to cider recipe. Bottled 10 gallons yesterday.

View attachment 368659
 
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