Caramel Apple Hard Cider

In the adjusted recipe UpstateMike dropped it from 5 cans of concentrate to 3. I have two questions:

1. Has anyone made the batch with both and if so what are the reviews?
2. If you drop down to 3 how do you make up the volume from the other two? Water? Doesn't really matter?

Shanks!

I haven't done it with the 3 yet but I plan to on my next round. No need to change volume. You'll get about 2...maybe 3 less bottles but it's still gonna rock. You'll just have to deny your two least favorite friends is all...

mikeslag said:

1. Has anyone made the batch with both and if so what are the reviews?

Click to expand...

It is less sweet. This can be a good thing. As with any recipe, flavor to your own personal taste.

mikeslag said:

2. If you drop down to 3 how do you make up the volume from the other two? Water? Doesn't really matter?

Click to expand...

Volume doesn't really matter at this point. But don't add water, you don't want to dilute the batch.

Now I went and did it apple juice is in the bucket yeast has been pitched and the lid and air lock are in place oh along with the 2 lbs of corn sugar
Now it's time to wait and let the yeasties do that thing they do so well

I have a question that I couldn't find an answer to in this thread. I have a batch in the primary right now and am excited for the result. I was wondering if you think this would be ok to bottle in plastic PET type bottles and skip the pasteurization. My thinking is that the only possible problem may be that it fizzes out like crazy when you open it. The plastic bottles are supposed to be able to hold a lot more pressure than the glass ones. Anyone try or think about this?

dmboarder said:

I have a question that I couldn't find an answer to in this thread. I have a batch in the primary right now and am excited for the result. I was wondering if you think this would be ok to bottle in plastic PET type bottles and skip the pasteurization. My thinking is that the only possible problem may be that it fizzes out like crazy when you open it. The plastic bottles are supposed to be able to hold a lot more pressure than the glass ones. Anyone try or think about this?

Click to expand...

I've never thought about doing that so if you do let us know how it turns out. I know for homemade soda and such they lean more towards plastic bottles for this reason. I don't see too much reason why it wouldn't work. I don't know how much pressure buildup you will get from the amount of sugar in this recipe.

dmboarder said:

I have a question that I couldn't find an answer to in this thread. I have a batch in the primary right now and am excited for the result. I was wondering if you think this would be ok to bottle in plastic PET type bottles and skip the pasteurization. My thinking is that the only possible problem may be that it fizzes out like crazy when you open it. The plastic bottles are supposed to be able to hold a lot more pressure than the glass ones. Anyone try or think about this?

Click to expand...

"My thinking is that the only possible problem may be that it fizzes out like crazy when you open it."

That is EXACTLY what will happen. This batch NEEDS to be pasteurized if you are not doing the still variety. You will lose a tremendous amount of cider out of each bottle if you carb and do not pasterrize.

Wow! I just got a cider shower! I followed this recipe step by step and cracked my first bottle. It's been bottled for two weeks.....what is going on? It tasted ok, but obviously I've got a ton of carbonation! Help!

Nathan102 said:

Wow! I just got a cider shower! I followed this recipe step by step and cracked my first bottle. It's been bottled for two weeks.....what is going on? It tasted ok, but obviously I've got a ton of carbonation! Help!

Click to expand...

Did you pasteurize?

Using a test bottle and pasteurizing at proper time is critical IMHO. This stuff can carb up really really fast.

I used the pasteurized apple juice that the recipe called for....

Nathan102 said:

I used the pasteurized apple juice that the recipe called for....

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you need to go through the actual process that the OP linked to in the original post. Using pasteurized juice has nothing to do with it. You are adding, if you backsweeten per the recipe, a whole lot of sugar for the yeast to metabolize. You need to heat to a temperature to kill the yeast once the cider is where you want it.

You're probably living with a bunch of bottle bombs just waiting to shatter. If it were me, I'd uncap every bottle, release the pressure, and recap and keep uber cold till consumption. Stove top pasteurization at this point would be useless.

Thanks for the helpful tips! Appreciate the help.

Nathan102 said:

I used the pasteurized apple juice that the recipe called for....

Click to expand...

Pasteurized juice prevents infection somewhat. Pasteurizing after bottle carbonating kills the yeasts so that they don't continue working and cause a cider shower. If they are already gushing when you open them don't pasteurize now. Cold crashing is your only option at this point.

ajohnson153 said:

If they are already gushing when you open them don't pasteurize now. Cold crashing is your only option at this point.

Click to expand...

Or he could...

1: Coldcrash the bottles for about a day
2: Pry the tops off carefully
3: Recap with new bottlecaps
4: let the bottles get to room temp for about a day
5: Stove Top Pasteurize


This is also why I have in the instructions:
"If you are carbing in the bottle, be aware that this will carb up fast (4 - 5 days) due to all the sugar. When it is time to bottle the batch, I highly recommend that you fill and cap a plastic pop bottle (NOT a water bottle) first, and use that as a guide to tell you when it will be time to Stovetop Pasteurize the batch."

UpstateMike said:

Or he could...

1: Coldcrash the bottles for about a day
2: Pry the tops off carefully
3: Recap with new bottlecaps
4: let the bottles get to room temp for about a day
5: Stove Top Pasteurize

This is also why I have in the instructions:
"If you are carbing in the bottle, be aware that this will carb up fast (4 - 5 days) due to all the sugar. When it is time to bottle the batch, I highly recommend that you fill and cap a plastic pop bottle (NOT a water bottle) first, and use that as a guide to tell you when it will be time to Stovetop Pasteurize the batch."

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I may end up having to cold crash and recap. They have been in bottles less than a week (I filled a soda bottle like you said and it is hard enough to knock a person out with right now.) I plan to pasteurize tomorrow but I put a couple in the fridge before work and will see if I get gushers when I open them tonight. Hoping for the best but I just have not had the time to babysit this cider.

The air lock started bubbling less then 24 hours after pitching the yeast

First batch of anything. Fingers crossed

Backsweetened and bottled up the cider today. My wife and I thought it tasted fantastic. She has been looking forward to doing a cider since I started brewing and keeping her happy means I get to brew more. Kudos to you, UpstateMike!

Well, all went to plan and I am pasteurizing as I type this. This turned out great! I might use some vanilla next time around. The caramel is not really as pronounced as I thought it would be. I might have to hide a few bottles from myself and see how this ages.

super excited....less than 24 hours and we have active yeast......go bubbles!!!

I pitched 2 packs of N-ham last night into 10 gallons. This morning it is starting to pick up. It smells delicious.

Ok I'm gonna try this picking up ingredients today thanks for the recipe

Hi everyone,

Joined the forum specifically to ask this. I've brewed a couple of batches of beer myself, but my girlfriend is a cider drinker.

I would like to try this recipe with her, but I don't think I want to make a full 5 gallon batch per the instructions.

Has anyone modified the recipe for a smaller batch? Maybe even only a 1 gallon batch? How much different would the process be for a smaller batch?

Thanks for the help

pentiumone133 said:

Hi everyone,

Joined the forum specifically to ask this. I've brewed a couple of batches of beer myself, but my girlfriend is a cider drinker.

I would like to try this recipe with her, but I don't think I want to make a full 5 gallon batch per the instructions.

Has anyone modified the recipe for a smaller batch? Maybe even only a 1 gallon batch? How much different would the process be for a smaller batch?

Thanks for the help

Click to expand...

My first was a 2.5 gal batch. Just cut everything in half - I did use the full packet of nottingham. It turned out well enough that I made a full one later

Hey guys, is this a good cider to drink right after it carbs or does it take a while to mellow? I'm hoping to do a quick cider before Christmas. Thanks.

DavyP said:

Hey guys, is this a good cider to drink right after it carbs or does it take a while to mellow? I'm hoping to do a quick cider before Christmas. Thanks.

Click to expand...

You will not have any issues drinking it after it carbs...the hard part is letting it sit.

Strange. One of my carboys took off fermenting but the kruesen looks like a Brett fermentation. The other carboy is sitting idle. I proofed the yeast and the cider is at 68 degrees. I even added yeast energizer. Now I am worried.

Whats the ABV end up being on something like this. Seems like it would be kinda low?

Anybody try kegging this?

pentiumone133 said:

Whats the ABV end up being on something like this. Seems like it would be kinda low?

Click to expand...

I ended up with ~5.7% ABV (I think), but I didn't exactly follow Mike's recipe to the letter.

4 Gallons of cider + 2 lbs of dextrose = SG of 1.060.

I let it ferment down to 1.000, so at that point i had ~4 gallons of 7.9% ABV cider. Then I backsweetened with another gallon of the same cider, two cans of FAJC and the caramel syrup which was roughly 1.5 gallons of added liquid.

My wife liked the sweetness at that point so I didn't bother to take another gravity reading.

I am planing on the batch I have fermenting right now being a still batch... With Thomson mind I am going to put this back in the bottles this came out of ... My question is dose this have to go right in the fridge or can l put this in my basement and let it age ? Being that it is going to be put back in The plastic bottles can I pasteurize this?

UpstateMike said:

That is EXACTLY what will happen. This batch NEEDS to be pasteurized if you are not doing the still variety. You will lose a tremendous amount of cider out of each bottle if you carb and do not pasterrize.

Click to expand...

Kind of what I thought. That's why I asked to be for sure. Thanks for the reply. My batch is in the secondary and will be bottled tomorrow. I'll be watching it like a hawk for over-carbing.

Just FYI. I bottled mine & tested it after 1 day. The carb level seemed OK. On day 3, I tested the carb level & got gushers.

This stuff definitely carbs up quickly. I pasteurized today after only two days in the bottle. Pasteurization went well, no bottle bombs, but I'm still keeping them in a one of those Rubbermaid totes. It's not that I don't trust Papper's or Daze's methods, it's just that I don't trust my own ability to follow directions properly.

Oh no!!! Not enough head space. I have a little cider in the airlock. What is the best and safest thing to do? Should I take it apart and clean it or leave it?

would love to try this for my next 1 gallon - but i really suck at basic math and i would hate to screw it up lol- does anyone have a 1 gallon version of this recipe?

dward said:

Anybody try kegging this?

Click to expand...

I did. Went smoothly. Force carbed and let age for as long as I could...about a week

Hello again guys. So is possible to bottle the carbonated version of this in wine bottles with a cork or do I have to go beer bottles with caps? Just curious since I have no capping equipment or beer bottles and have plenty of corks and wine bottles and a floor corker. THANKS!!!

Well i went for it, a couple minor f ups. I thought i had a 6 gallon carboy but was rudely reminded while pouring in the juice that it was only a 5 gallon. 2 lbs dextrose had already been added so I filled as much as possible, strapped on a blow off tube and waited. To my surprise it didn't blow over. It has been sitting at 65 for the past 5 days merrily bubbling every 20-30 seconds. Never saw more action than that. Switched over to an airlock today. When doing so I noticed a thing white film on the carboy head space(what little there is) is this normal? And should I be worried about the recipe change due to less juice in it? My og reading was 1.048 w/o sugar, 1.064 after everything was dumped into the carboy. I will add a pic as soon as I figure out how

Oh and the amount of juice I was not able to add was about 3 quarters of a 96 ounce bottle