First batch ever, check out my recipe.

So Ive had the itch and the kit so me and my buddy went ahead and pulled the trigger. Right now its in its 5th day of fermentation. Let me know if you guys think there is anything easy to improve upon. Next batch will not use any water and will be from 5gals of the juice. The initial SG reading was 1.078

Video:



Recipe:

4 gallons Kirkland brand pure apple juice (costco)

~4-4.5lb sugar

1 gal water

10g Cotes de Blanc yeast

4tsp yeast nutrient

I'm a purest who doesn't believe in adding sugar to cider, but a lot of people do.

Welcome to the forum! Unfortunately I can't watch youtube where I'm at
Your batch is going to have a very high alcohol content so be prepared for that. One thing to note especially for hard ciders with a high alcohol content, is that they get better over time as they age (much like a wine or mead). Good luck on your first cider!

around here we call that Apfelwien, You will want to be pacient and very careful with the final product. Good luck.

Drink'em in good health

CandleWineProject- Sorry, yea, this is a cyser I suppose, from here on I will refer to it as an Apfelwien.

Others- Thanks for the tips on aging. My goal was to go for strong so it isnt a surprise there. Either today or tomorrow I will get an updated Sg reading to see how its coming along. I gotta admit, i wont be able to wait for a full aging time on some of it, but roughly half will be bottled and buried.

12lbchevelle said:

CandleWineProject- Sorry, yea, this is a cyser I suppose, from here on I will refer to it as an Apfelwien.

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This isn't a cyser. A cyser is a cider and mead blend. No honey in there but I would call it apfelwein.

I would agree w/ everyone else that you will need to age for a bit before it tastes good. My current apfelwein is ~6 months old and it is only starting to get good.

Hmm, I may be more tolerant of the taste heh, I know I cant wait 6 months, not on the first batch at least. So Apfelwien it is.

Did an SG test today and it is at 1.014, down from 1.078 after only 4.5 full days of fermentation. Does fermentation slow down towards the end?

yes it does. you may want to put a trash bag over that to keep the light out. It wont skunk like beer but it will mess with the taste and color.

So I started this batch last Friday, it is now Thursday. Did another SG test today and its at 1.005. The bloopin has slowed down considerably. Taste is great :fro:

Tested my Friend's batch made at the same time and he is at .999 SG, he pitched 15g of the Cotes de Blanc.

Racked both batches and they had equal sediment build up, roughly 3/16in.

Tried and confirmed its a beast of a brew :rockin::rockin:

Final SG is .993 believe it or not. Started with a 1.078. Racked it and am waiting for it to settle out. Set it outside for this, probably an average of 45 degrees, that aint too cold right?