Fantastic Hard Cider Recipe with Instructions (and fall spice / cherry variations)

Added 1oz of Calypso hops to all the cider today, planning to bottle on Friday, give them 24-36 hours to carb up, then dishwasher pasteurize if they're ready at that point. I don't want a lot of carbonation behind them so I'll be using a couple soda bottles of each type im doing and will likely pasteurize before they get as hard as a normal soda bottle.

So i followed the recipe.. The cloudy slurry in the bottle is freaking me out.. Im assuming its the nectar that sank to the bottom ... Right?

That is likely the yeast that is responsible for carbonation, settling down to the bottom.

Relax. Find something else to do besides bothering it while it works!

TeeJo

Has anyone used campden and potassium sorbate after back sweetening and the using priming sugar instead of stove top pasteurizing?

rockydog101 said:

Has anyone used campden and potassium sorbate after back sweetening and the using priming sugar instead of stove top pasteurizing?

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Campden and sorbate will render the yeast useless, therefore priming sugar will do nothing.

It will add some sweetness at that point since the yeast won't eat it. But you won't be able to bottle carbonate it.

So I just bottled this still (campden, K sorb). Absolutely delicious and quite strong. I don't know my ABV on this but it's great. And this is day one of bottling. I imagine in about six weeks it will be delicious. Infinitely better than store bought "hard cider."

bolus14 said:

Added 1oz of Calypso hops to all the cider today, planning to bottle on Friday, give them 24-36 hours to carb up, then dishwasher pasteurize if they're ready at that point. I don't want a lot of carbonation behind them so I'll be using a couple soda bottles of each type im doing and will likely pasteurize before they get as hard as a normal soda bottle.

Click to expand...

Was curious about the hops.....I've made a Graff last fall and came out pretty great, more like a dry cider. How did the hops come through on this?

They are there, could've used another .5oz IMO as it turned out pretty subtle. I think that's just Calypso as a dry hop though so if you use something else 1oz might be sufficient. The cider is very dry and for my taste could use a little more sweetness.

The dry hop aroma/flavor has seemed to fade quicker than usual though, on guessing because of pasteurizing the bottles.

This looks like a great recipe, and I started a batch last weekend. However, to fit my schedule better, I was thinking of leaving it in primary for two weeks and secondary for another two. Has anyone done this, or can anyone Comment on how this would affect the recipe?
Also, I have held on to an unopened, UV pasteurized, preservative free gallon of cider in a plastic jug from the same source. It is sitting in an unheated mudroom, about five degrees celsius. I was planning to use this for the backsweetening. Will it stay good if I keep it that way for a month? Should i freeze it, or something else?
Thanks,
Greg

I have 2.5 gallons of juice fermenting right now. Do you recommend 1 or 2 quarts of red cherry juice after the fermenting? Thanks!