Windaria
Well-Known Member
OK... I used to brew stuff when I was about 16 (kind of hard to buy at that age after all) and haven't even thought about it in years. Well, I happened upon talk of making your own mead, and I decided I would try it out again. Instead of mead though, I decided to go for a cider, and while trying to figure out what recipe I would use I took a lot of elements from the mead recipe I was planning (still intend on making it, we shall see), and I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts regarding my recipe:
******
Apples, 2 each:
Rome
Pink Lady
Braeburn
Granny Smith
Jonagold
Fuji
McIntosh
Cameo
3 gallons pasturized non-preserved apple juice
1.5 gallons apple juice from concentrate (water, concentrate, ascorbic acid)
1 ounce crushed cinamon sticks
2.5 tbsp nutmeg
6 lemons
Water to 6 gallons
.75 cup green tea leaves
1 cup sugar
2 packages champagne yeast
Juiced apples and lemons and brought them to a boil along with the pulp from the apples as well as the green tea leaves, cinamon, and nutmeg. Added apple juice to fill the pot and, when it started boiling, dumped into 6 gallon carbody. Added the rest of the juice then boiled the water and added that to the carbody until full.
Shook carbody and poured some of the juice into a glass. Added yeast and sugar and watched the yeast start to bubble then added it back into the carbody and shook it again. Corked carbody and added the airlock.
******
I figure it would be like a hard cider with a hint of lemon and green tea... any thoughts? I juiced the apples to give it a varietal taste, and figured they might give it some mixed overtones to go with my (bloody expensive) 3 gallons of prime juice and the 1.5 gallons of cheap stuff, to round out the flavor a bit, and then naturally the cinamon and nutmeg for some spice (which I figure will mellow over the year or so that it will likely sit until I drink it).
Anyway, I threw it all into the carbody about an hour ago and am waiting to see my first bubbles. It started bubbling when it was in the cup, just waiting for it to do it from the carbody. <smiles>
******
Apples, 2 each:
Rome
Pink Lady
Braeburn
Granny Smith
Jonagold
Fuji
McIntosh
Cameo
3 gallons pasturized non-preserved apple juice
1.5 gallons apple juice from concentrate (water, concentrate, ascorbic acid)
1 ounce crushed cinamon sticks
2.5 tbsp nutmeg
6 lemons
Water to 6 gallons
.75 cup green tea leaves
1 cup sugar
2 packages champagne yeast
Juiced apples and lemons and brought them to a boil along with the pulp from the apples as well as the green tea leaves, cinamon, and nutmeg. Added apple juice to fill the pot and, when it started boiling, dumped into 6 gallon carbody. Added the rest of the juice then boiled the water and added that to the carbody until full.
Shook carbody and poured some of the juice into a glass. Added yeast and sugar and watched the yeast start to bubble then added it back into the carbody and shook it again. Corked carbody and added the airlock.
******
I figure it would be like a hard cider with a hint of lemon and green tea... any thoughts? I juiced the apples to give it a varietal taste, and figured they might give it some mixed overtones to go with my (bloody expensive) 3 gallons of prime juice and the 1.5 gallons of cheap stuff, to round out the flavor a bit, and then naturally the cinamon and nutmeg for some spice (which I figure will mellow over the year or so that it will likely sit until I drink it).
Anyway, I threw it all into the carbody about an hour ago and am waiting to see my first bubbles. It started bubbling when it was in the cup, just waiting for it to do it from the carbody. <smiles>