Griffin's First Cider: The Recipe, The Plan

So the majority of my inspiration and plan came from this website as a starting point:

Make your own Hard Apple Cider

It was nice to have a step-by-step explanation, since I've never brewed anything before and it is easy to drown in information online.

So, the recipe:
- 3 gallons Whole Foods 365 Organic Apple Juice (in the glass jugs)
- 1 1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
- 12 oz. can Tree Top Frozen Apple Juice Concentrate
- 3 g Red Star Pasteur Champagne Yeast

The process so far:
- Sanitized equipment
- Added all 3 gallons juice to carboy
- Dissolved 1 1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme in about 1/2 cup water, added to carboy
- Added 12 oz. frozen apple juice concentrate to carboy
- Measured OG of cider = 1.054
- Dissolved about 3 g yeast in about 1/2 cup warm water, added to carboy
- Stopped up carboy with stopper and airlock

It is sitting in the corner of our dining/living room, which since we are young and cheap, is only sporadically heated and probably 60-62* most of the time (hey, we are in CA). It has now been 3 days and it is "blooping" every 4-8 seconds, depending on if the heater has clicked on or not.

The plan:
- Rack into secondary (in the three 1-gallon jugs the juice came in) at about 1.02ish, I'm guessing it will be in about a week or 2?
- Try it at about 1.015 or 1.01, see how we like it
- Add back some AJ concentrate to bring SG back up and bottle (22oz bottles)

I'd like to try Papper's stovetop pasteurizing, because it seems like a quicker and more natural method (I know back sweetening with Xylitol or something is "natural", but somehow it just seems less so)

So I have two specific questions:
1) Is stovetop pasteurizing a good idea for a first timer? I read all 40 some odd pages of that thread, and I'm a very careful person (read: scaredycat), so I think I know what to look for an be careful of, but I literally just googled how to use a hydrometer 4 days ago. Also, is it harder using Champagne yeast? Sounds like they are more resilient.
2) As for using a hydrometer, how do you keep checking to see when your SG gets where you want it to be? Do you guys all just know how long it should take? It seems like opening your carboy up frequently is inviting problems. Also, do you siphon it out every time? I haven't really gotten the hang of siphoning, and it seems like a lot of cider will get used up just testing the SG.

So if anyone out there has answers for these questions, tips in general, experience with a similar recipe, or opinions to give, I'd love to hear it! Thanks!

~Griffin

As for sampling I use a sanitized turkey baster after I check the gravity everyone goes back in the pool.

johnnync said:

As for sampling I use a sanitized turkey baster

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You, Sir, are a genius. Thank you.

I poke a racking cane down into the carboy neck a few times putting my thumb over the top hole, then release into my hydrometer tube. I've heard turkey baster's are nice, but in a 6.5 gal carboy, I can't reach down to the must.

Pasteurization? Good luck with that one. I'm a chicken. I'd rather a bottle pop in a cardboard box in my basement than have one pop while I'm pulling it out of a pot with a pair of tongs.

I've done the stovetop pasteurization thing several times now. I lost 2 bottles of sparkling mead that were overfilled, but the results are great. Perfect carbonation every time.

For sampling I just fill my hydrometer tube with the cider after yeast has been pitched. I keep that tube sitting open next to my carboy and test that same fluid every time. It will go bad but who cares since it gets dumped anyways and its a small amount. Not sure if this is a preferred method but it keeps me from having to open the carboy every time and seems to follow the same fermentation that goes on in the carboy.

johnnync said:

As for sampling I use a sanitized turkey baster after I check the gravity everyone goes back in the pool.

Click to expand...

Pickled_Pepper said:

I poke a racking cane down into the carboy neck a few times putting my thumb over the top hole, then release into my hydrometer tube. I've heard turkey baster's are nice, but in a 6.5 gal carboy, I can't reach down to the must.

Click to expand...

Am I the only one that uses a Wine Thief?

strongarm said:

For sampling I just fill my hydrometer tube with the cider after yeast has been pitched. I keep that tube sitting open next to my carboy and test that same fluid every time. It will go bad but who cares since it gets dumped anyways and its a small amount. Not sure if this is a preferred method but it keeps me from having to open the carboy every time and seems to follow the same fermentation that goes on in the carboy.

Click to expand...

The dynamics of that open hydrometer tube are really different from those inside a closed carboy.... oxygen exposure, temperature instability of a small amount of liquid, colonization by wild yeasts and bacteria and evaporation of your liquid can all effect the gravity. This is a really really bad way to track the progress of your fermentation. Quit being so lazy, properly sanitize your equipment, and take samples during the process.

I cut a corner in that my primary fermentors are big ass carboys with spigots about an inch from the bottom. When I need to take a hydrometer sample, I spray the spigot with Star San and take the sample from the spigot. No mess, no introduction of foreign equipment into my carboy and a new sample every time.

UpstateMike said:

Am I the only one that uses a Wine Thief?

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I was thinking the same thing. They are 4 bucks at your lhbs. The foot valve on mine lets me pull a 4 oz sample without disturbing the sediment or introducing much oxygen. It also fits my hydrometer perfectly. Highly recommend you guys picking one up. Quick sampling for friends that share the hobby too.

the Wine Thief is AWESOME!

UpstateMike said:

Am I the only one that uses a Wine Thief?

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This photo is pretty much the same thing as what I do with my racking cane, I just have to dip more than once. It's the same principle though.

divi2323 said:

I was thinking the same thing. They are 4 bucks at your lhbs. The foot valve on mine lets me pull a 4 oz sample without disturbing the sediment or introducing much oxygen. It also fits my hydrometer perfectly. Highly recommend you guys picking one up. Quick sampling for friends that share the hobby too.

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Oh cool, I had seen that as an idea, but I assumed they were more expensive (only ever seen em at fancy private wine barrel tasting tours). When we go back to the brew store we'll probably grab one.

On another note, has anyone had issues with iodine sanitization leaving your stuff with a sticky residue? I'm thinking I should just pick up some star san too.

Griffin10 said:

Oh cool, I had seen that as an idea, but I assumed they were more expensive (only ever seen em at fancy private wine barrel tasting tours). When we go back to the brew store we'll probably grab one.

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The fancy glass ones probably do cost a lot more. My cheep 3 piece plastic one (like the one in the pic) was about $5.

Hi All,

So my cider went into secondary today, after two weeks in primary. I used my racking cane to take samples for the hydrometer (thanks to everyone's advice about this), and the SG was 1.002. I tried some and it was a bit harsh and definitely strong, but also appley and delightfully surprising. I'm just relieved its not spoiled or something to be honest.

We siphoned it into 3 one-gallon jugs for secondary. Since the SG is so low, I don't think I'll leave it in secondary for too long, plus I'm impatient to try my first cider.

I think I'm gonna be brave and try stovetop pasteurizing. Any thoughts on how much frozen AJ concentrate and/or brown sugar I would need to add before bottling to bring it back up to be a sweet and carbed cider? What SG do I have to bring it back up to since it's already so low?

Thanks for any advice and reading along!

~Griffin