Experimental First Cider

So me and my wife went up to Whole Foods last night and picked up a few gallons of the apple cider that comes in the one gallon glass jugs. We figured we would take a swing at making a simple cider. We are kind of making our own thing up here

Here is what we plan on doing:
1 gallon of cider
1/2 cup of corn sugar
1/2 brown sugar
Some random Wine yeast

I plan on boiling the mixture for 10-15 minutes to get everything combined and uniform. Cooling and adding the yeast.

From other peoples experience what can we expect?
Does cider produce any krausen that I need to worry about (I'm going to try and fit it in the 1 gal jug still if possible?
Any suggestions would be great, I won't feel bad to if you say it's going to be terrible.

Take a look a EdWort's Apfelwein. Your idea is pretty close, but in smaller proportions.

EdWort's yeast apparently did not create a lot of krausen, but I used champaigne yeast instead. I had to swap out an airlock for a blow off tube and it still managed to get though the hose. So you may want a bigger bottle.

if you boil the cider it will never clear from what I've read. something about pectin haze, I'm sure someone that knows what they're talking about will be along shortly to elaborate.

I used cheap store brand juice and lalvin ec-1118 (champagne yeast) for my most recent 1 gallon batch and no krausen at all so far - on day 2. using white labs sweet mead yeast on a couple batches I didn't see a krausen at all either. The only thing I've had resembling a krausen was a couple thin bunches of bubbles on a cranberry-pineapple concoction using montrachet.

We are using unfiltered cider so it has that opacity that we probably will not be able to get rid of.

I have done the Whole Foods apple cider in gallon jugs. I did one batch up as a wine (added a lot of sugar) and did one up as a cider (added no sugar - in fact, didn't even add a Campden tablet since I didn't handle it at all - just yeast).

Thing is, I forgot to add pectic enzyme to the cider, and it is cloudy (maybe I should call it scrumpy?). The wine cleared up just fine.

So, here's what I did

Cider
No sugar added. SG: 1.058. pH around 3.65? Nothing else added except Premier Cuvee yeast. Racked to a new jug after 2 weeks, bottled after another 2 weeks. Should have added pectic enzyme prior to the yeast.

Apple Wine
Sugar to bring the SG to 1.080 (I lost track of how much sugar). Sulfited due to handling, and added pectic enzyme "because of added sugar" (which I now know I should always do it). Same pH. Had a bit of trouble starting, so added yeast nutrient. Racked to secondary after 3 weeks, bottled after another 2.

I was a bit concerned with how fast these went, but I was reassured by my UK cider group that since it was only a gallon indoors, it would ferment much faster than their batches, but that I should still let it age. Since then, they have been aging, and are about 2 months old now. I thought I might try one out closer to Valentines day when it is closer to 3 months.

Don't boil the juice, it will set the pectins. Use some pectic enzyme, it will help to break up those pectins & to clear. Add some yeast nutrient. You should be fine if you just add the sugar & shake it up. Follow the directions for rehydration on the yeast packet. Now all you have to do is find something tasty to drink until your cider is ready. Regards, GF.

Here is what ended up going down last night:

Cider A:
1 Gallon cider
3/4 cup of dextrose
Red Star Côte des Blancs yeast

Cider B:
1 Gallon cider
1/2 cup of dextrose
Red Star Montrachet yeast

I decided not to boil but I'm not terrible concerned about clarity at this point. Added dextrose and gave a good shake then added yeast. As of this morning Cider B has already taken off with some good yeast activity, A seemed to be barely starting.

It is currently fermenting at 70 degrees in the kitchen.

I'm thinking maybe 2 weeks in primary and 1 week in secondary?

Pics and tasting notes to follow.

Dylock said:

It is currently fermenting at 70 degrees in the kitchen.

I'm thinking maybe 2 weeks in primary and 1 week in secondary?

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At that temp, probably 2 weeks in the primary, and then rely on your hydrometer for the secondary. I didn't add sugar to mine, and it took two weeks in the secondary. Yours is slightly warmer than mine, so it might be possible to finish sooner, but you should still let it age.

Out of curiosity, why did you add sugar?

CandleWineProject said:

Out of curiosity, why did you add sugar?

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I'm hoping for a sweeter finish. This is mainly for the misses so I don't want it to be dry as a bone. I imagine I will cold crash it as well to prevent it all from being eaten by the yeasties.

Airlock activity is about every 3 seconds already, amazing.

Dylock said:

I'm hoping for a sweeter finish. This is mainly for the misses so I don't want it to be dry as a bone. I imagine I will cold crash it as well to prevent it all from being eaten by the yeasties.

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I'm sorry, my friend, but you really just increased the amount of alcohol that can be in it, and therefore messed with the flavor. Also, cider doesn't cold crash. There are UK cidermakers who allow their cider to ferment outside and freeze, and then it thaws and starts refermenting again. If you want a sweet cider, you have to use chemicals and then back sweeten it. In fact, the Cider Workshop today was lamenting about how the public doesn't want a dry cider, yet they don't like chemicals or artificial sweeteners. It's just kind of impossible standards meet.

CandleWineProject said:

I'm sorry, my friend, but you really just increased the amount of alcohol that can be in it, and therefore messed with the flavor. Also, cider doesn't cold crash. There are UK cidermakers who allow their cider to ferment outside and freeze, and then it thaws and starts refermenting again. If you want a sweet cider, you have to use chemicals and then back sweeten it. In fact, the Cider Workshop today was lamenting about how the public doesn't want a dry cider, yet they don't like chemicals or artificial sweeteners. It's just kind of impossible standards meet.

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apparently you haven't read the sticky on the yeast experiements... you can cold crash cider very effectively

BaronIV said:

apparently you haven't read the sticky on the yeast experiments... you can cold crash cider very effectively

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Not if you age cider like you should. Ciders and other fruits have 100% fermentable sugars. Beer doesn't, which is why cold crashing mostly works. If you gave beer enough time, the yeast would come out of dormancy. Another reason it works with beer is that it is barely aged, so it doesn't really have a chance to perk up. Cold crashing does not kill yeast, it only makes it go dormant.

Looks like I'm going to have some strong cider!

Looks like I could use some potassium sorbate to stop the fermentation?

i never said cold crashing kills yeast, you make the yeast drop out when you cold crash, thus making it possible to remove the cider off the yeast cake...

Dylock said:

Looks like I could use some potassium sorbate to stop the fermentation?

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Yes. It would stop fermentation, and if I'm completely off base about cold crashing, potassium sorbate would still be easier.

Dylock said:

Looks like I could use some potassium sorbate to stop the fermentation?

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sorbate is going to make your cider taste like vanilla medicine, its vial stuff that takes months to go away.

I would recommend next batch not adding so much sugar, just enough to get og to about 1.065 or so and then cold crashing around 1.010-1.025 depending on your tastes.

The down fall is that if you do succcessfully keep it stable at that point you can not carb it without kegging it.

In my opinion though it tastes great still. Carbing it just dries it out to the point that it will take months to age to get rid of the hot taste and bring back the apple flavor. But even then it will be still very dry.

Cold crashing works fine if you do it right. I've still got 20 liters left over from last season that were crashed and stored at room temp for over a year. Its a little more effort, but well worth it to avoid the awful sorbate taste.

Most unpasterurized apple mixes will clear fine on their own. I've done 24 keg batches so far this year and only one of them didnt clear. Tasted fine cloudy tho.

Are you still able to carb bottles if you cold crash? (I'm assuming you can't get all yeast out of suspension)

No - if you cold crash successfully then the yeast and nutrient will be gone and the cider will stay still. If you want to bottle condition a sweet cider, search the forum for threads on bottle pasteurization