Caramel Apple

This just went into primary today:

5 gal unpasteurized apple cider, no preservatives
1.5 gal H2O
.5 lb crystal 60
4 cups dextrose (1.5 lb I believe)
5 campden tablets
1 tube White Labs english cider yeast
irish moss
yeast nutrient

-Sanitize carboy, funnel, etc.
-Pour cider into carboy
-Add campden tablets, seal and leave for 24 hours
-Steep crystal malt in 1.5 gal (to compensate for boil off)
-Bring to boil, add irish moss and yeast nutrient
-Boil 20 minutes then cool
-Add wort and dextrose to carboy
-Pitch yeast
-Mix well/aerate
-Seal carboy

My OG was 1.053. I was hoping for a little higher, but no big deal. Anybody have any guesses what the FG will be?

I'll keep you updated with results...

I have two of similar batches and ended up around 1.006. Based on your og and recipe, I would expect a little lower because I had a 2:1 ratio of apple juice to steeped grains. Yours is about 4:1 and the juice should ferment out drier.

Don't forget to report back what you get when it is done.

so what gives it the caramel flavor??

curbdawg said:

so what gives it the caramel flavor??

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The crystal malt.

remilard said:

The crystal malt.

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Yeah, don't use the crystal meth.

JoeSponge said:

Yeah, don't use the crystal meth.

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yeah i'm actually tring to quit:cross:

Sorry to ask probably a dumb question, but what exactly does the Irish Moss do? I have been making cider for awhile, but never used it before.

Thanks.

Dude, this sounds interesting. Keep us posted on what the crystal malt does for flavor (and maybe sweetness) in the finished cider!

I have to admit, I had to read this post a couple of times, so please excuse any stupid questions.

Pez said:

1.5 gal H2O

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I understand airation, this is the first I have heard of it as part of the recipe. Great, I would assume this is some time measurement to volume reading for H20. But how do you come up with it?

Pez said:

.5 lb crystal 60

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First recipe that sounded good using steep grains.
I tend to use late runnings of high gravity beers as a base for strong mead / braggot. I never thought of using it for a cider. ( I have a limited imagination). So rack me up as tracking this.

Pez said:

1 tube White Labs english cider yeast

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Never seen this, but my LHBS does have some limits, I usually use WLP001, wine yeast, and whatever I feel like to play with.

Pez said:

My OG was 1.053. I was hoping for a little higher, but no big deal. Anybody have any guesses what the FG will be?

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?? FG: 1.008 ?? Or less. I would actually be surprised if it came over 1.002. The only thing that would keep it above 1.0 is the steeped crystals, and that will not much.

Thank you for sharing this, it does look very interesting.

Kauai_Kahuna said:

I have to admit, I had to read this post a couple of times, so please excuse any stupid questions.


I understand airation, this is the first I have heard of it as part of the recipe. Great, I would assume this is some time measurement to volume reading for H20. But how do you come up with it?

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I tried real hard not to laugh about this... But don't overthink the water addition

Yeah Kauai, did you confuse H2O with O2? haha I am really intrigued by this recipe, will need to wait and see how this turns out.

You're adding the campden later, right? Not into the primary. Because...wouldn't that kill the yeast and defeat the whole purpose? Or am I mistaken as to the purpose of the tablets?

wendelgee2, campden serves many purposes. In this case, he is using preservative free unpasteurized cider, in this case you must kill off the wild yeast before pitching a brewer's yeast. You throw in one crushed and dissolved tablet per gallon, wait 24 hours and then pitch your own yeast.

Thanks Tusch.
Not to hijack the thread, but I can't seem to find your strong spiced cider recipe on the forums. Have you posted it? If not, would you mind? It sounds like exactly what I'm looking to make.

No real recipe on that, I believe it was 1 Tbs of apple pie spice and 1/2 lb of brown sugar per gallon of store bought juice. The ground spices ended up being a pain, but the taste was quite nice with that.

Transferred to secondary yesterday with a FG of 1.002...

remilard said:

The crystal malt.

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I'm hoping it gives the cider some body too...

Finally bottled with total of ~2 weeks in primary and ~4 weeks in secondary. Cider turned out very clear. I forgot to taste before adding dextrose, but it wasn't as light as some ciders I have tried, which was the goal and it was fairly sweet. Seemed to have a few bubbles already so hopefully it will carb nicely in bottles.

any update on this? I am curious how the carbonation turned out from the bottles.

It has decent carbonation. No head, as expected for cider but I intend to age this until this fall so hopefully it will be nicely carbed next time i crack one!

Any word on how this one tastes?

It is getting pretty tasty but I will tell you for sure in October!

How does the caramel taste?

If you want caramel taste you are gonna need more than .5lbs of 60L.

I have used 1lb of 120L with excellent results in trying to get a actual caramel taste.

Brandon O said:

If you want caramel taste you are gonna need more than .5lbs of 60L.

I have used 1lb of 120L with excellent results in trying to get a actual caramel taste.

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True! I've tried a few and there isn't much caramel flavor so maybe I'll try your method this season.

Pez, it's past October, how did this turn out?

Turned out a little drier than i had hoped, with minimal flavor added from the malt. Back to the drawing board...

You could try using CaraMunich or Special B, which will give more sweetness and caramel notes than any of the crystal malts(which are actually crystalized not caramelized).

i was thinking of using one pund of caramunich for a five gallon batch of cider. Would this be enough to have a presence of caramel but not overwhelm or should i bump it up some?

Battery_BreweryNJ said:

You could try using CaraMunich or Special B, which will give more sweetness and caramel notes than any of the crystal malts(which are actually crystalized not caramelized).

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What is CaraMunich exactly?

CaraMunich is a "super munich", it gives a sweet maltyness

I am going to make this this week.

5 Gal Organic Santa Cruz Apple Juice
1# Light DME
1# 120L
2 Cinnamon Sticks
1 Vanilla bean
? Nutmeg
? Clove
WLP720 Sweet Mead/wine Yeast

I want the Caramel to shine through. I hope this is enough 120L.

how did yours' turn out mike?

Yes, we're dying to know.

I see cider in my future and this of course looks interesting.