Hard Cider from Pre-Made?

Hey There Brew Crew! :rockin:

Ok so here goes...

I'm an experienced beer brewer in central New Jersey. I dropped by Battleview Orchards for their AMAZING Apple Cider Donut and got an Idea! Why not buy 2 gallons of their PRE-MADE cider (About $4.50 a Gallon) and ferment it? This cider has no preservatives and no added sugars so I should be good. http://www.battlevieworchards.com/

My intention is to drop the two gallons into my brewpot; pasturize @ approximately 130F for 20 minutes to kill any bacteria that may be lingering but not cause the pectins to activate.

Then I intend to put this into one of my 6 gallon fermenting buckets, take the OG, pitch coopers ale yeast and let the magic happen.

My fermenting area stays between 60 and 70F.

I intend to do single fermentation and check it in two weeks with the hydrometer to be sure fermentation is done and then prime and bottle the way I would with any of my beer batches.

ANYONE HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH THIS? Any Suggestions? Any Ideas? Please let me know if you have thoughts!

I will keep all you posted on how this turns out!

If you are really worried about the pasteurization, add campden. Even if you don't set the pectins in the cider by heating, you will lose volatile flavors. But really, you would probably be fine just pitching a good starter and letting it go.

Also, let it age longer (Several months) before bottling.

I agree. I wouldn't heat it. It will change the flavor

A lot of people do this, so yes, it will work. The juice is normally already blended from a selection of apples from the orchard, so you don't have to worry about mixing...unless you don't like what the've done The biggest reason people do this, is because they can't crush the apples on their own.

Boiling your cider is ok, and because you're a brewer you should have a pot large enough to do it. I would advise 5.5-6.0 gallons though. In my experience using pressed apples over apple juice, is that you get a lot more sediment when you're done fermenting because the apple particles sink and bind to the lees, and also form a ring on top, around the fermenting bucket. Granted, it's not half a gallon's worth but when making cider...you just have to drink some now and then. When using cider pressed from an orchard, I would also recommend using a secondary.

Boiling is definitely harder than adding campden though.

Thank you to anyone who posted help!

I am now 3 weeks into the process.
I placed 5.5 gallons of Battleview cider into a fermenter with the appropriate amounts of Campden (Used powdered Version) and a yeast invigorator recommended at my LHBS Corrado's in Clifton NJ. I pitched the yeast starter (Dry Champagne Yeast - recommended at LHBS) @ 60 deg. F on 10/10/09.

On 10/24/09 I transferred to the secondary (NOTICIBLY LIGHTER COLOR!!)

I have been fermenting around 70 deg. F

How long would you all recommend Fermenting before bottling?

Also, would one use the same measurements of priming sugar that I would use for beer?

CHEERS!