one gallon batch? recipes

gonna give cider a whirl.
my wife is not really into beer, but sounded interested when i mentioned cider as she used to drink some commercial ciders like woodpecker, and woodchuck.

i have a couple free 1 gallon carboys, and i also have a couple gallon jugs of musslemans cider.

how close can i get to the aforementioned commercial ciders with the musslemans, what else do i need for a couple one gallon batches..

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/

take a look at that, seems popular enough. Im probably going to get a batch of this going in a week to ferment while im out of town

Fresh pressed apple juice, yeast, and merman scales. I blame this recipe on a lack of sleep and an abundance of coffee.

In experimenting with some yeasts and juices I've done a few one gallon batches with the recipe in my drop-down, scaled down. Keep in mind that this is a dry cider recipe.

Grahams English Cider (one gallon)
1 gallons Treetop (or equivalent) Apple Juice
1 black teabag (English or Irish Breakfast)
1/2 key limes (or one regular lime)
partial package of s-04 (or a little of any other english ale yeast)
(yeast nutrients as needed)

directions
Add juice of 1/2 lime to 1 cup of water, bring to a boil then turn off heat. Steep teabag for 7-10 mins, cool for a few mins then add to carboy. Add nutrients and juice into carboy with an aggressive pour to help aerate the juice. Add yeast, put an airlock on then place in a cool (60F-70F) environment.

Primary for one month, then rack to secondary, topping off with juice. Leave in secondary until crystal clear (usually 2-3 months or so from pitching) then bottle with 0.75oz priming sugar.

Takes about a month to carbonate, tastes good after 3 months, but just gets better with age. I usually start opening bottles about 5 months after pitching.

Tastes good man. if you like dry cider that is.

I'm new to this Home Brewing but would like to give the recipe for Graff a try.....

I get the first step "steeping the grains in 3/4 gallon of water for 30 minutes"

The second step "sparge" does this mean I strain the grains out of the original water in a sanitized colander (saving the water of course) and then rinse the grains with the 1/4 gallon of 170' water catching the water to top off and bring the total amount of water to the 1 gallon mark called for in the recipe?

Not that I'm underestimating your abilities, but judging by the number of people who mess up apple juice + yeast I would recommend trying something simpler.

I have done several one gallon batches latley. Here is one of my favorites.

1 gallon wallmart apple juice
1 cup white sugar
White labs cider yeast

Since the cider yeast comes in a vial that treats up to 8 gallons I just pour a little in and put the rest in the fridge.

Start the fermentation and taste and take hydrometer reading. Rack & Cold crash when you like the taste of it. Taste is subjective so have your wife help you with this.

Cold crash for a couple of days and then rack and or bottle. its good to drink right away. Depending on the temp you are fermenting at you could have something drinkable in 10 days.

Good luck!

Teromous said:

Not that I'm underestimating your abilities, but judging by the number of people who mess up apple juice + yeast I would recommend trying something simpler.

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Thanks...but you didn't answer my question.

So I'll ask again, how exactly does this "sparge" process work? If I'm thread robbing by asking the question here just let me know.

rebeltruce said:

I'm new to this Home Brewing but would like to give the recipe for Graff a try.....

I get the first step "steeping the grains in 3/4 gallon of water for 30 minutes"

The second step "sparge" does this mean I strain the grains out of the original water in a sanitized colander (saving the water of course) and then rinse the grains with the 1/4 gallon of 170' water catching the water to top off and bring the total amount of water to the 1 gallon mark called for in the recipe?

Click to expand...

Yep, that's exactly how you do it. It'll make you think about getting into all grain brewing too! Regards, GF.

sweet will have a couple gallons of graff going this afternoon.
gonna try a gallon of the grahams also
would prefer some less dry recipies
any other suggestions i have 2 more gallon carboys free..

Excellent thanks GF!

I just checked with my LHBS and they have everything I need in stock..this will be my weekend project.

got one gallon of the grahams going yesterday, had everything on hand.
heading to brewers apprentice today to pick up some ingredients, need the breakdown of the graff for a one gallon batch?

Mista_Sparkle said:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/

take a look at that, seems popular enough. Im probably going to get a batch of this going in a week to ferment while im out of town

Click to expand...

I would not recommend the graff for someone that does not enjoy beers. I would go with a standard cider recipe....no hops.

Rowdy said:

got one gallon of the grahams going yesterday, had everything on hand.
heading to brewers apprentice today to pick up some ingredients, need the breakdown of the graff for a one gallon batch?

Click to expand...

You are close enough to me where if you wanted to taste graff you could stop by and taste some. Mine has been conditioning for 3 weeks, still needs another 5 weeks or so at least.

The hoppyness has diminished a LOT since the day I kegged it, but its still a little too strong even for my taste.

Lunarpancake said:

I would not recommend the graff for someone that does not enjoy beers. I would go with a standard cider recipe....no hops.

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was planning on doing the graff recipe in a couple one gallon batches, one without any hops at all and 2 with different amounts/types.

Lunarpancake said:

You are close enough to me where if you wanted to taste graff you could stop by and taste some. Mine has been conditioning for 3 weeks, still needs another 5 weeks or so at least.

The hoppyness has diminished a LOT since the day I kegged it, but its still a little too strong even for my taste.

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might have to take ya up on that

Early on I made a "graff" that wasn't really, just a batch of cider with a pound of extra light dry malt extract. It was very tasty--nice apple flavor with a rich malty sweetness from the DME. Not for everybody, I'm sure--the consensus I gather from this website is that most folks who do malted beverages like at least a little bit of hop bite. But if your tastes run to that kind of thing, as do mine sometimes, it was mighty good. I did that in the spring but I can envision it being a good winter brew as well.

Rowdy said:

need the breakdown of the graff for a one gallon batch?

Click to expand...

I'm interested in the recipe for a one gallon batch.

@OP If you're still looking for a not-as-dry recipe, you ought to try the Southern Sweet Cider recipe under the cider recipes section. Its a very tasty sweet cider. Only downside is that it has to be flat, because of the sweetness.

I've made 2 one gallon batches of graff and helped a buddy do another one. Getting the proportion right is difficult in such a small amount of water that would be used. The way I compensate for it is to use about 1/3rd of a gallon of water, 2/3rd of a gallon of AJ and a can of AJ concentrate at the end.. 1/2 lb DME, just a hint of crushed cara-pils (less than .1 lbs), .15-.25lb Crystal 60L, and whatever hops you want (i don't dig on hops, so i don't use 'em, but my friend did). heat about 1/4 gallon of yr water to 150, steep as the original recipe says, sparge with the rest of the water, add hops if you're using them, cool down this wort. Add to the 2/3rd of a gallon AJ in yr carboy. Using a 4 liter Carlo Rossi bottle makes this brew easier, because you can use the little bit of headroom to add in some AJ concentrate, helping bring the balance back towards the apple end.

This ends up tasting pretty good, but more like an apple beer than a beer-y cider. I would suggest less grain if you want it to taste like a cider more. This is just one adaptation of it, hopefully other folks have more.

I just did a sweet one.

1 part fresh apple juice - 1 part Gewurztraminer (grape juice) and 1 kg of Honey.
used some wild yeast I saved from previous apple ciders.
Primary for 5 weeks and then mix with 60g sugar and bottle.

Turned out great after 6 weeks in the bottle!