Hard Cider

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homebrewer_99

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8025 – Hard Cider – based upon recipe from Mr. Steve’s HBS in York, PA.

Brew date: 19 Aug 08
Bottle date: 2 Nov 08

Warm up ½ gal Apple Juice (AJ) on stove.

Add: 7 lbs common table sugar, 3 tsp Yeast Nutrient and 4 tsp Acid Blend to pot and dissolve. When cool enough to pour into carboy do so.

Top off with 4.5 gals AJ = 5 gals yield

Temp: 84F
OG: 1.111 + 3 = 1.114 (at 75% estimated attenuation the FG should be 1.028)
FG: 1.016

Sample tastes like a candied apple, thick body.

Add: 1 vial of WLP775 English Cider yeast

2 Sep 08: Temp: 76 / Gravity: 1040 + 2 = 1.042. Still carbing away nicely. Very clear, very sweet. More sweet than appley.

10 Sep 08: Temp: 75 / Gravity: 1.030.

20 Sep 08: Temp: 75 / Gravity: 1.020 + 2 = 1.022. Samples still tasting very sweet, too sweet maybe. Nice flavor, but apple is not coming through…tastes more like a candied apple without the apple.

28 Sep 08: Temp: 75 / Gravity 1.016 + 2 = 1.018.

6 Oct 08: Temp: 70 / Gravity: 1.016. Maybe it’s done?

8 Oct 08: Temp: 68 / Gravity: 1.016. Very clear, nice and sweet. Ready to bottle.

17 Oct 08: Temp: 68 / Gravity: 1.016. Extremely clear. Same notes as above.

25 Oct 08: Gravity: 1.016.

2 Nov 08: Gravity: 1.016. Bottled.

Potential alcohol: 114 – 16 = .098 = 10.290% ABW / 12.863% ABV.

5 Sep 09: This is still one great tasting cider. Make this one again.
 
how did you bottle it? did you add priming sugar, or is it still? Did you leave the yeast behind when you racked to bottles?
 
White labs makes a Sweet mead/wine yeast that is FREEKEN KILLER for cider. The best cider I have EVER had. Good to see people straying away from the dry wine yeast and making good cider.
Good looking Recipe Bill
Cheers
Jay
 
This seems like a really high gravity cider. Why is it considered cider and not apfelwein?
 
Thanks for sharing this Recipe! I'm headed to the LHBS this afternoon to pick up the yeast, nutrient, and acid wash, then costco for the sugar and juice, and then I'm off to brewing. This sounds really exciting.
 
Looks awesome. Going to try this on Saturday. One question: can't use WLP because of gluten, do you recommend a particular safbrew yeast or should I just use a Lalvin or Red Star?
 
I have a batch of hard cider fermenting started from a very similar recipe to this-only my recipe called for only 5 lbs sugar, and it called for a couple more ingredients acid blend, grape tannin, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and champagne yeast.
Ask around about for local cider mills offering unpasteurized cider-I'm thinking its going to be a big improvement over store bought apple juice. I'm starting another batch today but I'm going to LHBS to buy this WL sweet mead yeast; I'll try and report back the difference.
 
I would avoid doctoring too much, but that is me. No problem in tossing in some tannin, etc. But I would leave out the pectin, and acid blend. The cider will clear fairly well on its own and it is more authentic. Don't put in acid blend.... use malic acid. Apples do not have any acid in them except for malic, Acid blend as three types.

be a scientist about your apple hooch - you can't go by 5 lbs sugar, a tsp this a tsp that. You need to measure your sugar values (O.G.) and check your PH if you want to replicate it. As a beginner it is probably better to leave the PH alone until bottle conditioning (unless the PH is 4.0 or above). If you want a wine styling go for 1.010, if you what a cider styling go for 1.067 ish. My advice would be to ferment dry and back sweeten as needed. There are some great books out there, and a lot of science to marry with the art. Let me know if you want some books to check out.

Build your cider from the ground up (press it) and you will see a huge difference.
 
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