Caramel Apple Hard Cider

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I've kegged this and several other heavily backsweetened ciders without any issue. I've only counterflow bottled grunts and growlers for immediate consumption, but can't imagine there would be much of an issue, with the one ubiquitous exception of continued fermentation in the bottles. Unless you know they'll be consumed immediately, or the people receiving the bottles are fully up to speed on the situation, I'd pasteurize the bottles just to help me sleep better at night.

awesome thanks soo much...man, here I was thinking of only mixing the caramel sauce/syrup in to the keg and its clogging the keg...completely forgetting about bottle bombs for my friends... :(...man, thanks for saving my bacon.
:mug::tank:

I will look into bottle pasteurizing as well for sure...thanks again.

and, any issues at all that you can think of with adding the syrup directly into the keg, and then filling and mixing and then force carbing? clogging the dip tube with the syrup if it doesn't mix all the way thru is all I can really think of right?

thanks again for your reply...greatly appreciated.
 
and, any issues at all that you can think of with adding the syrup directly into the keg, and then filling and mixing and then force carbing? clogging the dip tube with the syrup if it doesn't mix all the way thru is all I can really think of right?

thanks again for your reply...greatly appreciated.

I have always used the recipe for the "caramel syrup" as noted in the main recipe. BUT, if you look at post #420 of this thread, you'll see where the author has made some additions/changes/suggestions to the recipe. For example, he mentions the use of cinnamon extract instead of real cinnamon, eases up on the backsweetening with FAJC, and it also mentions NOT boiling down the brown sugar mixture for the very reason you mention.
 
I have always used the recipe for the "caramel syrup" as noted in the main recipe. BUT, if you look at post #420 of this thread, you'll see where the author has made some additions/changes/suggestions to the recipe. For example, he mentions the use of cinnamon extract instead of real cinnamon, eases up on the backsweetening with FAJC, and it also mentions NOT boiling down the brown sugar mixture for the very reason you mention.

yuppers, I noted that...so I should be ok for kegging then if I follow post #420...it was mentioned for bottling, which was why I was wondering if kegging was different but I think it should still be the same. thanks again for bringing to my attention potential bottle bombs withe syrup and FAJC perhaps kicking off a re-ferment...:ban:
 
Just started my own slightly different version of this recipe. Here is how I did it.

In a 6 gallon carboy, pour in gallons 1 and 2 of apple juice.

Open gallons 3 and 4 of apple juice. Pour half of each bottle into carboy. Add 1 pound dextrose (I used plain white table sugar) per bottle to the remaining amount of apple juice in bottles 3 and 4. Shake bottles to mix sugar and apple juice. Pour bottles 3 and 4 into carboy.

Pour an unnecessarily prepared (since dry yeast has no need for a starter at all) 1 liter, 18 hour old S-04 yeast starter into carboy. Used 7 grams of S-04, since this is what I had left from a recently opened pack. Might as well....I am starting with less than a full pack and it had been opened. So 2 strikes against me already with the S-04. Starter can't hurt any more than it might help. Ohh, I added yeast nutrient to the starter and shook it like hell right before I pitched it.

Pour gallon 5 of apple juice into carboy.

I got a crazy stratification right away. I think my liter yeast starter did not mix as well with the rest of the juice as I thought it did... :D

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yuppers, I noted that...so I should be ok for kegging then if I follow post #420...it was mentioned for bottling, which was why I was wondering if kegging was different but I think it should still be the same. thanks again for bringing to my attention potential bottle bombs withe syrup and FAJC perhaps kicking off a re-ferment...:ban:



I only had the problem when I first made this. The most likely cculprit is that the syrups was too thick and didn't mix properly. Shat the **** out of that keg.
 
I oopsed.

I made this with Aldi juice.
have done it before and used champane yeast.
But i made 2 1/2 gallons and threw in a bottle of caramel flavoring for coffee and some caramel syrup for apples for good measure and too strong a caramel flavor.
over powering.

i was mixing to taste and could barely taste the caramel at keg time....

thinking of brewing up another gallon or two of cider then adding that to the keg to mute the strong flavor.
 
I did a gallon batch of this! And I will certainly be making more.

1 Gallon Whole Foods Organic Apple Juice
6.1oz Dextrose
2g Nottingham Yeast

1/3 can FAJC
1/3 cup H2O
1/3 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/3 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Mixed sugar and cider, hydrated yeast per instructions and fermented 2 weeks
OG 1.060 FG 0.998 @8.14%abv

Made caramel per instructions, then added FAJC to caramel on stove and mixed well with whisk - then added cinnamon and continued mixing until well incorporated. Cooled in ice bath to room temp then added to bottling container. Racked fermented juice on top and it mixed well. This brought SG back to @1.004.

Bottled in 12oz bottles and one test plastic bottle. Allowed to carb for 4 days, got nervous about bottle bombs and pasteurized - test bottle seemed hard enough. Chilled the test bottle for a few days and upon opening, was disappointed at lack of carb - very slight - almost 0. Once I tasted, it was a different story - sweet, caramel apple pie! I don't like sweet cider and this was more than enough for me. A bit of a sharp alcohol bite on the end but not overpowering. Maybe could use a touch more apple flavor.

This will make a nice winter drink for the holidays and I'll be starting a few more gallons soon. I'm not sure if I want to make any adjustments. I'll let it carb up more next time. I'm considering stopping the ferment @ 1.005 to try to save more apple flavor and cut back the ABV a bit without adding more FAJC. I still have a few bottles to drink and share and will see what my taste testers think.
 
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Didn't clear but I like it this way for the caramel appeal. Testing the new site with a pic.....

Weird, my other post is still awaiting mod approval.o_O
 
After having family taste test the above batch, success!!! Everyone seemed to like this, even with almost zero carb. I found a commercial brand, Embark Apple Pie to put it up against. This recipe won hands down. I'm going to be making this again as my next batches for the holiday. Shooting for a medium carb and this will be awesome.

Excited as my pressure gauge and thermometer will be arriving this week so the carb/pasteurize process should be easy to get dialed in.
 
Made this to raving reviews. Great recipe Mike! Making another batch but going to backsweeten with 3 cans of Cranberry Apple frozen concentrate.
 

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Wall of text incoming.....this is basically my "brew" log from this batch.

Caramel Apple Hard Cider - Started afternoon of 11/8/17
Ended at 1.002 before sweetening, 1.021 after sweetening.

5 gallons Costco Apple Juice

2 pounds white sugar

1 liter, 18 hour old S-04 yeast starter into carboy. Used 7 grams of S-04, since this is what I had left from a recently opened pack. Not a ton of activity seen in yeast starter, but a little bit of head was seen.

3 teaspoons yeast nutrient to the starter and shook it before I pitched it.

I “think” I did 3 teaspoons of pectic enzyme? That would make sense for a ratio of around .5 teaspoons per gallon. Can’t recall for sure. I did not dispense it very well into the juice jug and I saw it clumped up in the bottom. I shook it a lot but it did not seem to completely dissolve. Hope it got more dissolved when it hit the much larger volume of juice in the carboy. Ohh well. Better than nothing.

Foamy head right when created. Most likely from the massive shaking of the juice I did and the nutrients. Crazy half milky and half super dark stratification even though I mixed pretty well and added almost a gallon of juice on top of the yeast starter.

11/9/17 - Morning. Slow champagne like bubbles up the sides. Not any additional head seen. Same head as when started. Slow dispersion of the half and half stratification. There is about an inch of in between milky and dark now. So light on top, small band of mix, then dark on bottom. I assume it will continue to “drop” lower into the dark as time goes on.

11/11/17 - Evening. Lots of bubbles up the sides. Greasy head came up and went back down a bit over the last few days. Layer of CO2 bubbles trapped under head. Strong bubble in blow off tube. Somewhere between 1 and 2 bubbles per second. The stratification went away completely a day or so ago. It only lasted maybe 24 hours? Maybe a little longer.

11/15/17 - Evening. Swirled the jug to break up the krausen. A lot of it sunk and now there is a clean white foam like seen on day 1.

11/16/17 - Morning. Thin brownish layer krausen is back. 100% sure it is just a layer of floaties from the original krausen. Bigger bubbles and craters from the CO2 pushing thru are seen. Still bubbling pretty frequently.

11/18/17 - Krausen fell. Still bubbling. Took a reading and it is still 1.03? Geez. Thought it was a lot further along. Tastes ok. Put some ice in a glass of it and yeast sank out. Hahaha. I think I might let it go another few days and then crash it.

11/23/17 - Thanksgiving Day. Bubbly. Reading of 1.02. Tastes pretty good. Think I might cold crash it tomorrow or this weekend. Not a lot of yeast in the bottom of my glass after icing the sample. Still really cloudy though.

11/26/17 - It is still bubbling a lot. Surprisingly the surface gained a thin layer of white foam/bubbles in the days after I took my sample and measurement. Not sure why/how, but it seems to be slowly dissipating now.

11/28/17 - Still thin bubble layer. Still bubbling slowly as seen on sides of fermenter and in blow off jug. Seems to be bubbling about once per second, maybe a tiny bit slower. I am guessing it is probably close to 1.01 at this point. I was going to crash it, but now I think I might just let it ride and then crash it when it seems to be completely done.

12/4/17 - If anything seems to be more active visually than before, lots of tiny bubbles rising. But the large bubble rate is still around once per second or two. They sort of come out as small groups of bubbles since the blowoff tube is on the bottom of the blowoff container. I have said it before, but “I might cold crash this soon”. I think if I get a free chunk of time this week or weekend then I will. It has got to be close to done. 12/8/17 would be 4 weeks from start.

12/9/17 - Built my ferment/keezer and stuck this in there at what should be 63 degrees. The laser is telling me the jug is about 63-65, so this should finish the ferment soon….I hope…

12/15/17 - Cold crashed and sucked back some sanitizer. Planning to rack it tonight if I get a chance. For now I added gelatin to see if that will help clear it at all.

12/16/17 - It is finished! I don’t think I let the gelatin sit long enough, or I should have mixed it again this morning and then let it sit to settle out more. When I racked it to the bottling bucket, there were lots of little hazy bits all thru the carboy that actually seemed to be sinking slowly as I watched. I think if I had mixed it a bit and then let it sit for an hour or so, more would have settled out. But I am not going to worry too much about it. It will settle out eventually. Kegged it into two 2.5 gallon kegs and stuck them in the fridge, with one on 20 PSI gas. Going to see how it tastes between the carbed version and the still version.


Recipe for how I made the syrup and racked/bottled/kegged it:



2 cups water and 2 cups dark brown sugar boiled quite a bit. Not to the point where it was super thick, but it had evaporated some of the water for sure. Added 2 “cans” (they are little plastic jugs with a cap) apple juice concentrate to the hot mix to cool it down and to dilute it a bit. Put this in the bottom of my bucket and racked the cider onto it while using a giant whisk to keep things mixed. I did not see any issues with it mixing.

Cinnamon Base/tincture was about 12 ounces of light rum with about 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon in it. Shook the jar daily since I started this cider. I tried to filter the mix in 2 layers of paper coffee filter, but it would not go thru on its own at all. Just sat there. So I dumped it in one of those “gold mesh” coffee filters that you are able to use with no paper. It seemed to work a little better, but I still had to scrape the sides of the filter a few times when they “clogged” with the cinnamon gunk. Still ended up with a fine layer of cinnamon at the bottom of my filtered container, so it is never going to be totally “liquid” it seems. Always going to have some amount of cinnamon powder in the mix. But it will work a lot better and have a lot less sediment issues than if I just dumped powder into my cider. When it came time to add to the cider, I added it on top of the already racked and mixed cider in my bucket. Then used the giant whisk to mix it in well. Started with 2 tablespoons of the liquid, sampled, could barely taste a hint of cinnamon, then added 2 more to get a better taste of cinnamon. It is still not strong at all. Might add more after it settles for a bit if the flavor goes away.
 
Looks like this thread has been dead since last time I posted. Ohh well. I just started batch #2 of this. Changes this time include adding pectic enzyme about 18 hours before making the cider (instead of adding right when adding all the other ingredients), using 5 teaspoons nutrient (1 per gallon) and using WLP002 for my yeast. WLP002 was the winner of the AHA Cider Yeast Comparison, so maybe it will be my new standard. S-04 worked well for me in batch 1, but my 1 gallon test jug of WLP002 tasted pretty good right when it hit terminal gravity, so I am hoping it treats this recipe well.

1.068 OG, 5.5 gallons, temp of room kept at 67 degrees via probe in gallon of water. So the liquid should be at 67 at minimum, but I know it will self heat quite a bit.

I used the yeast slurry from my 1 gallon test batch that just finished fermenting. Tossed it in half a gallon of fresh juice about 18 hours ago on the stir plate. It made a huge krausen and almost overflowed my flask. So it is active! I pitched the entire half gallon starter into the 5 gallons of juice since I did not feel like cold crashing or decanting off the starter juice. So I am actually working with 5.5 gallons here. Shook the hell out of each gallon of juice, some because I was trying to dissolve the sugar, some because I was trying to dissolve the yeast nutrient, and the rest because I wanted this as oxygenated as I could get it. The foam was more than I expected! Haha. I hope it settles down before the yeast kicks off and blows out. I am not seeing the crazy stratification like I did last time, but that may be because I have not let this settle yet. Will let you all know how it goes!
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Looks like this thread has been dead since last time I posted. Ohh well. I just started batch #2 of this. Changes this time include adding pectic enzyme about 18 hours before making the cider (instead of adding right when adding all the other ingredients), using 5 teaspoons nutrient (1 per gallon) and using WLP002 for my yeast. WLP002 was the winner of the AHA Cider Yeast Comparison, so maybe it will be my new standard. S-04 worked well for me in batch 1, but my 1 gallon test jug of WLP002 tasted pretty good right when it hit terminal gravity, so I am hoping it treats this recipe well.

I used the yeast slurry from my 1 gallon test batch that just finished fermenting. Tossed it in half a gallon of fresh juice about 18 hours ago on the stir plate. It made a huge krausen and almost overflowed my flask. So it is active! I pitched the entire half gallon starter into the 5 gallons of juice since I did not feel like cold crashing or decanting off the starter juice. So I am actually working with 5.5 gallons here. Shook the hell out of each gallon of juice, some because I was trying to dissolve the sugar, some because I was trying to dissolve the yeast nutrient, and the rest because I wanted this as oxygenated as I could get it. The foam was more than I expected! Haha. I hope it settles down before the yeast kicks off and blows out. I am not seeing the crazy stratification like I did last time, but that may be because I have not let this settle yet. Will let you all know how it goes!
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Looks awesome man, I need to get another batch of this in the pipeline.. such a great recipe! That's some serious foam. I have an American Pale Wheat fermenting right now, and I may wash the yeast for my next batch of this. I had really good results using a repitch of notty last time.
 
Looks awesome man, I need to get another batch of this in the pipeline.. such a great recipe! That's some serious foam. I have an American Pale Wheat fermenting right now, and I may wash the yeast for my next batch of this. I had really good results using a repitch of notty last time.

I feel like I should be banned from posting since I have never used Nottingham...on this or anything. Haha. The foam is a little nuts. Keep in mind all that foam is 100% from me shaking the juice. I am afraid to see what happens when the yeast makes a krausen! I have about half a gallon of space in my blowoff jug, so I am hoping I will be ok. I know one other thing I am going to do this time around is to boil down the brown sugar more than last time. My first batch tasted good, but nobody ever thought it tasted like caramel.
 
I feel like I should be banned from posting since I have never used Nottingham...on this or anything. Haha. The foam is a little nuts. Keep in mind all that foam is 100% from me shaking the juice. I am afraid to see what happens when the yeast makes a krausen! I have about half a gallon of space in my blowoff jug, so I am hoping I will be ok. I know one other thing I am going to do this time around is to boil down the brown sugar more than last time. My first batch tasted good, but nobody ever thought it tasted like caramel.
I agree, most of the feedback I received was that it tasted more like apple pie, so I went with it! I've never had more than a couple inches of krausen
with my batches of cider
 
Well for my first time brewing anything I decided on this. Exact method from the second recipe. I used loc apple cider and had an OG of 1.072 and FG of 1.007. currently bottle carbing in 64°F and it's carbing slow in the bottles but the soda bottle is getting tight. Definitely unsure what to do there but I'm sure I'll figure that out.
 
Well for my first time brewing anything I decided on this. Exact method from the second recipe. I used loc apple cider and had an OG of 1.072 and FG of 1.007. currently bottle carbing in 64°F and it's carbing slow in the bottles but the soda bottle is getting tight. Definitely unsure what to do there but I'm sure I'll figure that out.

Pretty good SG for cider, it will have some kick. Put it in a fridge to slow fermentation as it was bottled a little early.

You could also crack open the bottles to relieve some pressure.
 
Pretty good SG for cider, it will have some kick. Put it in a fridge to slow fermentation as it was bottled a little early.

You could also crack open the bottles to relieve some pressure.

Or bottle pasteurize, per the recipe ;)
 
:off:
RPh... U sir are a prolific brewer! Dig ur list [emoji111]
Thanks!
I'm brewing a "winter wheat" (2-row/wheat/rye with voss kveik at 95F and maybe some nutmeg and/or vanilla or something) immediately after the gingerbread comes off temperature control.
People are getting variety 6-packs for Christmas!
 
It's says 2pds of yeast is that right?


Caramel Apple Hard Cider

Ingredients, Part 1:
7 x 96 ounce bottles (5.25 gallons) Wegmans 100% Apple Juice, pasteurized, only vitamin C added
2 lbs. Dextrose
Nottingham Yeast

Ingredients, Part 2
5 campden tablets (Optional, see notes)
5 – 12 oz. cans of Frozen Apple Juice Concentrate, thawed to room temperature
12 oz. Caramel Syrup

Recipe for Caramel Syrup:
2 cups of water
2 cups of light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Combine in a saucepan and bring to a boil. At boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes (until volume is reduced to half). Let cool & bottle for future use.

Part 1 (Started 1/7/12):
Opened 1 bottle of apple juice, got a gravity reading of 1.050. Temp is 64 degrees.

In a 6 gallon carboy, pour in bottles 1 and 2 of apple juice.

Open bottles 3 and 4 of apple juice. Pour half of each bottle into carboy. Add 1 pound dextrose per bottle to the remaining amount of apple juice in bottles 3 and 4. Shake bottles to mix sugar and apple juice. Pour bottles 3 and 4 into carboy.

Pour bottles 4, 5, and 6 of apple juice into carboy. Take another sample for OG, got a reading of 1.064. Open Nottingham yeast, pour into carboy. Agitate carboy to mix in yeast. Pour bottle 7 of apple juice into carboy.


Part 2 (In about 14 days):
Check for target FG of 1.010 to 1.015

Rack cider into a 5 gallon carboy.
OPTION: If you want a still cider, add 5 crushed Campden tablets to the cider at this time. If you want a carbonated cider, skip this optional step.
Make the Caramel Syrup and wait 24 hours before proceeding.

After 24 hours, siphon cider into your bottling bucket. Add the Caramel Syrup and the 5 cans of apple juice concentrate while siphoning to aid in mixing. Bottle the cider and enjoy.

If you are carbing in the bottle, be aware that this will carb up fast (4 - 5 days) due to all the sugar. I highly recommend that you fill and cap a plastic pop or beer bottle first, and use that as a guide to tell you when it will be time to Stovetop Pasteurize the batch.

Picture is Caramel Apple Hard Cider in the foreground, after adding yeast. The Apfelwein is ageing in the background.


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No! It says 2 lbs of dextrose which is a sugar.
The yeast is probably 1 package which will do 5-6 gallons, especially if you make a starter.
 
Ok been a while haven't brewed in a while.
So here is another question could this be ready in 3 weeks?
 
Define ready. You might be able to drink it but it probably won't be good. My ciders sit for 3-4 months, others here consume them much sooner.

Where you are, what yeast you use, your juice and other ingredients, your methods, all of this will change how your brew behaves.
Honestly, I haven't been doing this long enough to say that it won't be ready, I just know I haven't been able to get one ready that fast.
 
Thank you for your response I was just wondering not in a hurry or anything. But after reading so many different things I had no clue.

Define ready. You might be able to drink it but it probably won't be good. My ciders sit for 3-4 months, others here consume them much sooner.

Where you are, what yeast you use, your juice and other ingredients, your methods, all of this will change how your brew behaves.
Honestly, I haven't been doing this long enough to say that it won't be ready, I just know I haven't been able to get one ready that fast.
 
I'm going camping in 3 weeks and refound this late. I'm still thinking of grabbing everything and throwing it into a fermenter this weekend. Then, give it 2 weeks to ferment, no more than 4 or 5 days to carbonate, pasteurize, and the throw at least a 12 pack in for camping.

I likely won't add any extra sugar or concentrate to the juice before fermenting to keep the ABV a little lower which should make it "ready" sooner.

I tend to have pretty consistent carbonation withy béers after 4 or 5 days, I would think this will behave about the same. As the previous poster said, it might not be at its best without a little more time on it but it should be drinkable in 3 weeks.
 
Picked everything up and threw the juice and sugar into a bucket this AM. Only difference from post 420 is that I used 5 x 128oz jugs of juice, my Wegmans didn't have 96oz, so that got me to about 5.25 gal. I used 1.5lbs of table sugar, thought I had more in the cupboard but didn't so I ran with it. Only had 1tsp of yeast nutrient left so I put that in and half a jelly jar of washed S05 yeast, that's over pitching but I'm hoping that by using some extra yeast it will help with not getting the "rhino fart" effect.

I ended up at 1.069 for an OG reading, so if it gets down to 1.005-1.010 it puts it between just under 8%-8.5%.

Store also didn't have cinnamon extract, I will check Wally World and some others stores if I need to, but I have a couple weeks before I need it.

In the end I'm hoping this turns out close to 1911's Cider Donut, probably my favorite hard cider, and it's not available very long.
 
I did a quick check on how the fermentation is going and 5 days in it's down to 1.038, about 30 points. It's still pretty murky/milky so the yeast is still working. Judging by the krausen ring I only got maybe 1/2in, but right now it sounded similar to the fizz of an open soda bottle, kind of odd.

The hydro sample tasted like apple juice and cider mixed, pretty good actually. I'm thinking of raising the temp a little to encourage the yeast to finish a little quicker. I don't want to rush it but really looking forward to having some bottles of this on my camping trip!!!
 
Well even though mine still had some really,really, fluffy krausen on top I checked the gravity again and it hasn't moved. Given that the recipe says the expected FG is 1.010 - 1.015 and I'm back sweetening and the pasteurizing it really didn't matter if I bottled it now, so I went ahead and do that.

For the syrup I weighed the brown sugar, so it's easier to get the same result in the future, 2 cups lightly packed got me to 9oz of sugar.
I added 1/2tsp of homemade cinnamon extract, tasted the sauce and didn't quite get the level of cinnamon I thought I would, so I added another 1/4tsp and it was more what I expected.

I racked to the bottling bucket and tasted about half way through and it was delicious. I put maybe a 4oz sample in the fridge and tasted it once it cooled, and the cinnamon is a little.more prominent when it's cold. Given a little time it should settle pretty close to where I want it. I also checked the gravity after adding the sugar, I don't recall seeing anybody else post where there's was after mixing everything together, mine was at 1.025. might be a touch sweet for some, in that case I think dropping one of the cans of concentrate would help.

Thanks for the recipe, pretty sure this one will get used again.
 
Anyone have any advice for a replacement for the cans of frozen apple juice concentrate? Im at a location that I currently cant get those but I can get the juice and mail order the other stuff.... I thought about straight juice but im worried that would dilute the whole thing down too much. Thanks!
 
Ok it’s been about 8 years since I’ve made this, it’s time. Now if I can just find those pesky notes I made. Luckily mikes revised recipe on post 420 is close enough to what I did on my last patch. I believe I just added vanilla extract to the syrup.
 
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