Drop Them Panties Again - Sweet Sparkling Cider

and the gravity reading was 1.080 to start.

I tasted my version of this recipe and it tastes great. It has at least 8.5% abv right now at 1.020 and is very smooth and sweet. There is no hot alcohol taste to it, and everyone who tried it during the transfer to the secondary thought it was great.

Thank you for the inspiration. I wasn't able to find any lime-aid concentrate the day we laid this one down, so I am going to have to do it again with that variation.

mine at kegging time with out the lime-aid concentrate tastes very green(1.010 FG). not sure I like it yet. I hope it ages into perfection. next attempt will be with the Lime-aid. this was my first attempt at cider though too. yeast was wyeast's cider yeast which I hear isn't the best choice for sweet cider. don't worry I'll "droppin' them panties again".

Ok, as I don't often get a chance to brew in 5 gallon batches, any help on making this a 3 gallon batch?

Multiply the amounts of ingredients by 3/5

Perfect, how long have most of you let this sit and age after you're done before its best to drink? I had a cider (dry) that took near 6 months, but I can crank out a quick mead in 60 days.

Holy moley...

I put this in primary on 3/3/11 using:

8 can aj concentrate
5 gallons apple cider
2 lbs raw sugar
yeast nutrient
nottingham yeast

I couldn't get it to mix well after adding to the carboy so my OG was somewhere between 1.110 (bottom of carboy) and 1.080 (top of carboy)...

Well after 20 days it is down to 1.001. Tastes like alcohol! I am going to let it sit in the carboy for another month or two before bottling but I was wondering what options I have for sweetening it back up prior to bottling without ending up with bottle bombs? Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

My batch reached 1.016 and I moved it to crash cool and hopefully clear up. It tastes great with the S-04 yeast, but is an orange color. It has always had a different color from my previous apple juice only cysers, but I didn't expect it to be this different. I see where the yeast has fallen out of suspension and is caked at the bottom of the carboy as expected, and the cyser is clear but orange, like an Orange Crush. Well maybe a bit muted from that, but rather striking in any case.

Ive used splenda with great results.. Any alcohol sugar will work and bring out the apple flavor and cool down the hot of the rocket fuel.. I used small 3oz disposable cups from wally world and a gram scale to dial mine in..

I made a label for when I have the in-laws visiting in a couple weeks. anyone that wants it can use it. I used an Art Fram painting. to the OP- if you'd rather I take this off your thread, I'll remove it.

Best label ever!!!

Interesting recipe...I'm in the UK though and we don't seem to get cans of AJ concentrate. What exactly is it? Like diluting juice? We have apple juice from concentrate and diluting juice / squash here.

tobinobin said:

Interesting recipe...I'm in the UK though and we don't seem to get cans of AJ concentrate. What exactly is it? Like diluting juice? We have apple juice from concentrate and diluting juice / squash here.

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I am pretty sure it doesn't exist in the UK. It isn't squash. It comes in a cardboard can about the size of a beer can, it's stored in the freezer and when defrosted it is a thick, syrupy, super sweet, super applely liquid. You typically add four times the volume of water to concentrate to turn it back into apple juice.

Cheers

HW

(Former Brit)

HappyWino said:

I am pretty sure it doesn't exist in the UK. It isn't squash. It comes in a cardboard can about the size of a beer can, it's stored in the freezer and when defrosted it is a thick, syrupy, super sweet, super applely liquid. You typically add four times the volume of water to concentrate to turn it back into apple juice.

Cheers

HW

(Former Brit)

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Damn, any recommendations on what to use instead? This recipe seems interesting.

tobinobin said:

Damn, any recommendations on what to use instead? This recipe seems interesting.

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The only think I can think of would be to make your own concentrate by freezing regular apple juice (make sure you do it in a plastic container, glass will end badly!) I have never done this personally but the theory is that the water should freeze before the apple goodness which you just pour off. You could either monitor it as it freezes and get it at the point that you can pour the apple off the ice, or freeze it completely and invert it over funnel like the "Apple Jackers" do.

Good luck!

Cheers

HW

HappyWino said:

The only think I can think of would be to make your own concentrate by freezing regular apple juice (make sure you do it in a plastic container, glass will end badly!) I have never done this personally but the theory is that the water should freeze before the apple goodness which you just pour off. You could either monitor it as it freezes and get it at the point that you can pour the apple off the ice, or freeze it completely and invert it over funnel like the "Apple Jackers" do.

Good luck!

Cheers

HW

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Thanks for the tip - I might give this a go. Sounds tricky though. All in the name of alcohol though I suppose

Great recipe but should be called Lemon in cider as it's very lemony!!!!!!!

OG: 1.085
Bottled at 1.020 without priming sugar.
final ABV: +- 9.5% ... surprisingly, you don't taste it but you'll feel it LOL.
Pasteurized using the stove top method.
Yeast: S04

Used grolsh bottles and I will NEVER use anything else WOW. Called a local bar and asked them to keep the bottles for me so I only pay the depot 0.20$ per bottle !

Trying 2 1 gallon batch tonight wit more apple concentrate and less sugar. 1 without lemonade and one with 1/4 of the suggested lemonade from original recipe.

I have never made a cider before. Can you bottle this with regular beer bottles or does it have to be wine bottles?

Chuckabrewski said:

I have never made a cider before. Can you bottle this with regular beer bottles or does it have to be wine bottles?

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Wine bottles if still(non-carbonated) and beer or champagne bottle if carbonated.

So, with great anticipation (in spite of the fact my wife said she passed that phase long ago....) I have put this in primary. Just a few notes to those who wish to do this again...

I had to basically have an extra gallon or two of cider to bring it up to 5.5. gallons. Not sure if I got it that high yet but I had to use spring water to make up the difference. I still got a SG of 1.080 so I'm pretty happy with that but be advised, you will need some more cider if you wish to avoid water.

I am planning on kegging this so I assume once it stops fermenting, I'll move it to secondary for a bit to rest and blend then stick it in a keg and carb it up.

My other assumption is there will still be a bit of sweetness left over using the ale yeast so I'll just have to carb it up and be good to go.

Fermentation is complete! Do I just back sweeten to taste? How many cans of concentrate is normal? Mine fermented all the way down to 1.004. I am thinking two cans of concentrate will be good. It has a great sour apple taste, so I don't want to add to much. Can't wait to get this in bottles and carb it up and drink it!

Just ordered a Deluxe/Beginners wine making equipment kit-Glass from ebay last week.

I think this is going to be the first recipe I try.

I left this in my garage for the first night because I didnt have enough apple juice topped it off next day and arrated with some O2. Should that be ok just wondering? Been in there for 2 days no activity.

I've had similar problems with beer not fermenting. Give it another day or so before you repitch yeast or add nutrient

Approximately how long do you let it ferment before bottling?

Byronbrew138 said:

Approximately how long do you let it ferment before bottling?

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Adding on to that, is there any need to worry about bottle bombs if we don't back sweeten? If I just bottle it after 2 months of fermentation, can I let it bottle age safely without concern for it blowing up?

Just made this recipe. I screwed up and only put in 4 gallons of apple juice with the rest of the ingredients. Fermented for a little over a month. Then I backsweetened with the final gallon of apple juice, and added campden / K sorbate. Absolutely delicious.