Am I on the right track?

Hey everyone,

I am new at brewing and I attempting a hard cider for my first brew. I have been told to use champagne yeasts for making my cider, but I have also found that champagne yeasts tend to produce more of an apple wine. I have been looking into ale yeasts for my first 5 gallon batch. I think I may use Safale US-05 for my yeast. I desire a cider that retains its apple flavor but still has some kick to it. What are your opinions?

Also, I had a question about the cider I will be using. I have yet to come across any unpasteurized ciders to use. So, I will be using pasteurized cider; however, I was wondering whether I should use a UV pasteurized cider or a Flash-pasteurized cider. What are your opinions?

Thank you for helping the brewing cause my brothers!

I just made one and used champagne yeast. ABV is fairly high at like a 13 but it is dry as hell. For my next one I am going to use the tried and true Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast. Unpasteurized cider typically only shows up in the fall for me and I have used pasteurized with Absorbic acid which I believe is vitamin C. As far as all that UV stuff I have seen it posted on the Cider Forum so I would suggest simply searching there. EDwort's Apfelwein is a great start.

Neutral ale yeast works well... SA-05 and Nottingham are both winners in that respect.... Just remember that every yeast will ferment apple juice totally bone dry unless you stabilize it or you pasteurize it at your target finished gravity....

You are kinda on the wrong end of the apple season for fresh cider - The apple season in most places was finished up around November... but there's no reason you can't make yourself a batch of cider right now out of store bought components.... Then, you will be able to decide whether you like it or not when next season's apple harvest comes along.

Your other option is to look at fresh frozen apple juice - it is available in many year-round fruit stands....

Now.... The thing to do is to use what you can get that doesn't have preservatives in it.... Frozen, store bought, pasteurized, whatever... Give it a swing and see how it comes out.

Thanks

Yeah, I am just anxious about getting a batch started. Thanks for all the responses to my questions. I know that a lot of brewing is based on trial and error and simply tuning your product to your liking. I am excited to start experimenting. I may try the Nottingham yeast variant as well. Hopefully by next fall I will have some experience under my belt to try making different ciders. Thanks again guys. I really appreciate your comments. I have such respect for the brewing trade.

My first brew ever was an attempt at a cider using Nottingham, only I decided to wing it and added honey, sugar, and brown sugar. Had enough fermentables to reach 11% before I cold crashed it. Turned out really good.