Do you think this recipe will work ?

This is my first post and first try making cider, I've made a MrBeer kit before, which was successful but didn't seem "home made" enough...

So I've been lurking on here and decided on a bucket for my first batch (I read all the pros and cons and went for it) and because there's no brewshop nearby, I made a homemade airlock with a plastic cork and 1/4 inch clear tube (I'll probably replace both if this batch works)


This is what I've done :

Carboy - Homedepot #2 5gal bucket for carboy, 3/4 hole drilled in lid and fitted with a cork, 1/4 hole drilled in the cork for 1/4 inch clear plastic tube submerged in water as home made airlock
Juice - 10 x 2qt Juicy Juice Apple Juice, all fit in the carboy except about 1/8 of one bottle
Yeast - Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast, from Savannah HomeBrew, dissolved in 1/4cup of 105F water
Sugar - 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup dark brown Publix sugar - dissolved in nearly a quart of applejuice at 140F in a sterilized pan

Pan, Carboy, airlock, spoon and pan were sanitized in 1 capful of bleach to 1 gallon of water for 30 mins, then rinsed with fresh water.

Everything mixed together (put in 4 qts of juice, then pan of sugars, 2qts of juice, dissolved yeast, then the rest of the juice) and put the airlock on at 1:30pm on 12/13/09



So my question is : What do you think about this recipe ?? I prefer a dry cider with lots of big bubbles, and wondered what I can do while bottling to help achive that ?

Will this smell like a whale fart in a couple of days ? It's inside in my house that's usually about 70-75deg, a little colder at night.

I waited for the Sunday paper and found "buy one get one free" applejuice - it ended up at $18 for 5 gallons

Thanks for any help !

Joey

Welcome to HBT!

It should work just fine. Cider is not hard to make and about the only thing that will mess it up is bad sanitation.

Yes, it probably will smell like Rhino (or Whale) farts for a few days.

Do you think 2 cups of sugar is enough ?? If not is it possible to add more now ??

I happen to like it without additional sugar but you could easily go another pound or so if you want. Boil up the additional sugar with a little water, cool, and add it to your fermenter.

What will the cider be like by adding just the sugar I've added so far.. I would like fairly high test stuff that is dry..
My understanding is that the more sugar, the higher %, but the longer it will take to ferment..

I also wonder what to do before I bottle it to create large bubbles..

I got up this morning, and the airlock (homemade) is bubbling !! A bubble about the size of a marble every second or so !

Kinda talking to myself here.. BUT - I measured the SG of the quickly bubbling juices ( i can hear it 15ft behind me now) and I got 1.046 (its been 36 hours since I closed the lid)

I know some of you gurus know what to do-

I'd like a dry cider around 8% with big ass bubbles..

any tips > ?

Sound good to me. Let it go untill the first week is up and then take a hydrometer reading again. If you want it dry then let it ferment until it is below 1.000 and for the bubbles add a little sugar to the cider just before bottling and let it condition in the bottle.
Are you going use wine or beer bottles?

Should work OK. Just be sure to check any AJ you buy for preservatives. I wouldn't carb your first batch, easier to just start out simple and see if you like it.

I'm planning on bottling some in glass beer bottles, and some in PET beer bottles..
I think I'll leave half uncarbed and try to prime half with apple juice ??
does that sound like a good idea, or should I use sugar/dextrose ??

Here is a webpage that details everything I did and what I plan to do!!!!
Any suggestions???

Yes, your recipe will work, except that it isn't cider, it is a wine. Ciders do not have any added sugar, so therefore, your worries about not having enough sugar are for nothing. Now, if you wanted a good apple wine, then yeah, I would have added about two pounds of sugar per gallon, but don't worry about it for now.

Also, cider is not to be rushed like beer, but aged like wine. Your first racking, if it is indoors at 70 degrees, will be around New Years or later. Your second racking/bottling will follow about two weeks after that or longer. Bottle it, and then try not to touch it for a good three months or longer.

Take a look at my blog for a little bit of clarification.
http://bycandlelightwinery.blogspot.com/2009/12/differences-between-wine-beer-and-cider.html

I know you want traffic for your blog, we all do..
BUT>
I bottled the cider in glass and PET bottles and after three days, noticed the PET bottles were TIGHT (the amount of sugar per bottle was 1/2tsp white sugar in most of the bottles per 12oz.)

After a couple of days, I opened a grolsch bottle, and it didn't seem overcarbonated even thought the PET did seem pretty hard... I tasted the bottle and it was alot "hotter" and less drinkable than it was when it was in the carboy.. (I wish I'd never heard the term "hot" because as I drank it, that is EXACTLY what it was.. !!)

So, do you think it will settle after a couple of weeks in bottles, or do you think it's destined to be "hot" and we should dispose of it ASAP ??

Thanks for any help,
Joey

For What it's worth,
the way to promote a blog would be to post relevant answers, that people think are insightful and then put your blog link in your signature..

- just saying "this is wine" look at my blog : www.hasjdfajsdfjsaj.com is a commercial,and will be seen, and ignored, as such.. (plus bomb my thread)

THANKS,
Joey

It if fine if you ignore my blog, but ignoring my advice on bottling is what got you into this mess. Sorry, I already gave you advice once, and you "ignored [it], as such."

Priming with juice is possible, but that will dilute the batch. It is also much harder to predict the results.

As far as making a high ABV cider goes, the higher you push, the less like cider it tastes. Something like apfelwein, tastes more like a dry white wine than a cider.