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UnDeFiNeD_EK-808

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5 gallons tree top apple juice 100%
3 6oz cans frozen apple juice concetrate
2lbs light brown sugar

Add 4 gallonsof juice to carboy. Desolve 2 lbs light brown sugar in last gallon of juice on stove. Add yeast. After fermentation is comeplete rack to keg add 1-2 maybe 3 cans of concetrate depending on how dry this comes out.

My question is does 5 gallons of juice to 2 lbs of light brown sugar sound about right. And also i will also be using a packet of ec118 and was wondering if anybody could give some tips on how to make a starter with this type of yeast.
I was also pondering adding cinnamon to this batch but wasnt sure wen to add it or how much.

Ps. This is my first attempt at making a cider.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
No need to make a starter for cider, just rehydrate the yeast and pitch. If you're kegging the cider with concentrate be sure to stabilize it first with either sulfite & sorbate, or pasteurize. 1118 is a beast of a strain and has been known to keep fermenting in the keg at fridge temps.
 
LeBreton said:
No need to make a starter for cider, just rehydrate the yeast and pitch. If you're kegging the cider with concentrate be sure to stabilize it first with either sulfite & sorbate, or pasteurize. 1118 is a beast of a strain and has been known to keep fermenting in the keg at fridge temps.

You can rehydrate in the juice itself, right? Or should it be done in water with a small amount of sugar?
 
You can rehydrate in the juice itself, right? Or should it be done in water with a small amount of sugar?

As per the instructions, ideally one should rehydrate in 104* water and every 15 minutes mix with must to drop the temp 10* until equilibrium is reached.

That being said, pitching straight into the juice works too :D, but I'd avoid that if the juice is particularly cold. Temperature shocking the yeast during rehydration and the lag phase can lead to cell mutations.
 
What about cinnamon? At wat point should i add. I wasnt planning to use a secondary because there all full but i was thinking about adding powdered cinnamon either in with the disolved sugarand juice then to the rest of the juice or should i put it in after about 2 weeks kinda like dry hopping?
 
Sounds fine. Just make sure your juice has no preservatives.

Not to sure if it is or not all i know is it says 100% apple juice and its tree top brand. This being said what are the effects if this juice does have preservs. in it?
 
UnDeFiNeD_EK-808 said:
What about cinnamon? At wat point should i add. I wasnt planning to use a secondary because there all full but i was thinking about adding powdered cinnamon either in with the disolved sugarand juice then to the rest of the juice or should i put it in after about 2 weeks kinda like dry hopping?

I don't recommend powder. Cinnamon doesn't really dissolve. It's easier to get the sticks out. My personal choice, and everyone has a different one, I boil about a quart of water with a few sticks in it for 20 minutes or so, chill it, then pore it in. Sticks and all.

I've had a problem before putting powder in and getting a 'sandy' feeling.
 
UnDeFiNeD_EK-808 said:
Not to sure if it is or not all i know is it says 100% apple juice and its tree top brand. This being said what are the effects if this juice does have preservs. in it?

Preservs will not let the yeast do their job.
 
UnDeFiNeD_EK-808 said:
So should i put cinnamon sticks or powder after fermentation?

Don't do powder. Harder to control and just bad all around for the brew, IMO. do what the above comment recommended. Just make sure to cool to room temp first.
 
With the cinnamon it sounds like the Grandma's liquid apple pie recipe that's posted around here somewhere, minus the 5 pounds of honey. Def go with the sticks, not the powder.

I'm by no means an expert, but once I racked a similar recipe to secondary and then back to the original juice bottles, there was pressure, but no carbonation. So you're probably going to have to add some priming sugar.
 
Ok so its been about 3 weeks now or so . I did a "dry hop" with cinamon sticks smells really good. But my only worry is this thing has been on the yeast cake for this long because i dont have any empty fermentors.. any ill effects?
 
3 weeks isn't too long on a yeast cake. I'd be more worried about how long those cinnamon sticks stay in there. If it's done fermenting, I would just let it sit in the primary another week or so to clear and then bottle.

I usually rack mine to secondary after about 7-10 days. I do this because the cider is still producing CO2 and will blanket the cider in secondary. This will help protect it from oxidation.
 
3 weeks isn't too long on a yeast cake. I'd be more worried about how long those cinnamon sticks stay in there. If it's done fermenting, I would just let it sit in the primary another week or so to clear and then bottle.

I usually rack mine to secondary after about 7-10 days. I do this because the cider is still producing CO2 and will blanket the cider in secondary. This will help protect it from oxidation.

The cinnamon has only been in for a couple of days i was thinking maybe another week to bring the total time to a month wat do u guys think? Btw i already hit my final and there hasnt been any change in it in a couple days
 
Just taste it every few days for the strength of the cinnamon. It will determine when its time to rack.

1 week 1 broken up stick in hop bag not enough taste anybody got any other ways. I was thinking wen i rack and add frozen concentrate i would add concetrate to a pot with a couple more sticks and simmer for like 10 min then add to keg with potasium sorbate. Wat do u guys think? Btw i used organic cinnamon cause thats all i could find anybody had problems with flavor
 
I've always had the best results simmering a couple of ounces of sticks for about 15 minutes in a quart or so of water. I usually add it to the wort.
 
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