easy 1 gallon recipe?

I'm looking for the most simplistic yet effective way to make cider. I have a 1 gallon carboy, an airlock, and a funnel with a strainer attachment. Any thoughts?

Go out an buy a gallon of any apple juice that has NO additives or preservatives.

Sanitize your bottle, funnel, stopper, etc.

Pour in your apple juice into the carboy leaving a little room for bubbles & form (it's about a 1/4 inch of foam that is produced).

Add your yeast. I use Montrachet wine yeast which ferments out dry.

After about 4 weeks you can drink it, but it will get better withing another 4 weeks.

You can sweeten it later with lactos or Splenda.

Shoot, I found a carboy bung will fit most gallon jugs of apple juice. I pour off a small glass of juice, add yeast and put the air lock on.

I use the juice to get an OG and quality assurance.

excellent. Thanks guys. I wasn't sure if it could possibly be that easy to get something decent tasting (of course, i say easy withouth having done it )
My next question would be, what could i do to get a cider that's a little on the sweet side? Add some sugar, or a different kind of yeast perhaps?

sconnie said:

My next question would be, what could i do to get a cider that's a little on the sweet side? Add some sugar, or a different kind of yeast perhaps?

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Do you want it BUBBLY and sweet, or FLAT and sweet?

To get flat & sweet you either have to kill the yeast at the right time, kill the yeast and add some sugar or add lactose or some other non-fermentable sweetner.

i guess i'm neutral on bubbles, as i've never had cider, with or without them.:cross:
But, if i made it bubbly, when would i add the sugar, and how much should i add? Also, what yeast would be best?
thanks for all your help guys

sconnie said:

i guess i'm neutral on bubbles, as i've never had cider, with or without them.:cross:
But, if i made it bubbly, when would i add the sugar, and how much should i add? Also, what yeast would be best?
thanks for all your help guys

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If you want it sweet and bubbly, and you are not kegging the brew, you are going to have to use a non-fermentable sugar; lactose or something artificial. Any fermentable sugar added will... well... it will ferment and not leave sweetness behind.

If you use a non-fermentable sweetener, it doesn't matter when you add it. You could add it to the fermenter, or the bottling bucket. Just make sure add it to water and boil it to sanitize if before adding it to the cider.

As for yeast... you should be able to find cider yeast at a brew-shop. If you can't find cider yeast, try champaign or a clean ale yeast.

-walker

Walker-san said:

If you can't find cider yeast, try champaign or a clean ale yeast.

-walker

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I have an extra pack of nottingham ale yeast on its way to me.
would it be a good candidate if fermented cool (around say 62??)

thanks
will

I had a really easy way of fermenting cider. I'd buy a jug of unfiltered cider in a plastic jug. I'd drink half of it, then leave the rest in the jug on the counter for one or two weeks, opening it up every so often to let the pressure out. The time fermented usually corresponded with how dry it became. It would also be sparkling to a certain amount. When it was done, it was mildly alcoholic, still fairly sweet, and very tasty.

Not saying this is ideal, or that it'll work all the time. I'm not quite sure what it was that fermented the cider. It may have been a wild yeast from the apples (although I think it was pasteurized), or perhaps some sort of malolactic fermentation was taking place.

DARK said:

I had a really easy way of fermenting cider. I'd buy a jug of unfiltered cider in a plastic jug. I'd drink half of it, then leave the rest in the jug on the counter for one or two weeks, opening it up every so often to let the pressure out. The time fermented usually corresponded with how dry it became. It would also be sparkling to a certain amount. When it was done, it was mildly alcoholic, still fairly sweet, and very tasty.

Not saying this is ideal, or that it'll work all the time. I'm not quite sure what it was that fermented the cider. It may have been a wild yeast from the apples (although I think it was pasteurized), or perhaps some sort of malolactic fermentation was taking place.

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I stumbled over a thread on this forum a couple days ago. I had already been through a couple pumpkin ales, but basically what I read was that it's possible that something in your saliva was actually the catalyst for fermentation, assuming you drank straight out of the jug.There are some tribes that chew (some kind of) leaves and spit them out into a large pile and make an alcoholic beverage.

Made a couple batches of this cider now, with a few modifications and just wanted to say Thanks EdWort! :rockin:

You guys are scaring me with the "drinking out of the jug" and "spit" bit Sterile technique is important in cider as in all brewing if you want predictable results that don't make folks sick. If you are getting your cider fresh from a mill, you can bet the wild yeast floating around the air there is specific to apples--the yeast in your kitchen (or spit) not so much. There are some woolybears in the yeast world you don't want to tango with. Usually, you will just end up with vingar instead of hard cider. But if you do take risks, don't share your brew without warning your friends!

Making it by the gallon makes sense for storage. Last time I made 5 gallons and took up my entire apt sized fridg.

How the heck do you divide up the yeast (dry) to do a gallon at a time? Spill in on a plate and the make up little piles of equal size??? Then put them i small zip locks in the house fridge?

If you guys are lucky enough to have an orchard nearby, have the farmer press some apples, and fill your carboy with the juice, making sure he doesn't run it through the UV or other means of pasturization. No need to add yeast, fermentation will usually start by the next day. Now what I do is after the initial vigorous fermentation, I pour out about a 2 gallon portion in and start mixing in the sugar, I do about 1lb per gallon, but thats entirely up to you. Usually its drinkable in 4-5 months, and if you wait to drink it untill late summer/early fall it gets even better. I did 12 gallons this year, and next year plan on doing at lealst 30, as it goes pretty quick.

On a side not, it helps to know what kind of apples he is pressing at the time, so you can kind of expect what kind of cider or wine you will end up with

I had one carboy filled with juice from mcintosh, rome, cortland, and empire apple juice(Think tart, crunchy apples), which produces, and very sweet, yet very potent cider, much like a desert wine. No hangovers either, which is the best part!!!

The next one was filled with juice from Red Delicious, and Goldens(Kinda crunchy, sweet, almost candy taste), which produced a product that would be comparable to a semi-dry/dry table wine.

Because how I make it i am dealing with wild yeast, product varries year by year, even the days you get the apples pressed. Which is what I think is the exiting part!!!

I suppose this would also classify as organic if you are into organic foods.

C-Rider said:

Making it by the gallon makes sense for storage. Last time I made 5 gallons and took up my entire apt sized fridg.

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That is why Papper's stove top pasteurizing method is so exciting, you don't have to cold crash or store your brew in the fridge--it is shelf stable after the process. The details on this method are in a stickie at the top of the cider forum.

As far as yeast measurement, I like your idea about eyeballing it into piles. I have a euro cooking scale that I use for baking that is fairly accurate down to the gram. Fortunately if you get it close, the yeast reproduces like a herd of microscopic rabbits, so you are good to go.

C-Rider said:

How the heck do you divide up the yeast (dry) to do a gallon at a time? Spill in on a plate and the make up little piles of equal size??? Then put them i small zip locks in the house fridge?

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I bought a small digital scale from Amazon and split yeast up by weight. Worked like a charm the few times I've done it.

iffyg said:

i bought a small digital scale from amazon and split yeast up by weight. Worked like a charm the few times i've done it.

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tks :d

ClaraT said:

You guys are scaring me with the "drinking out of the jug" and "spit" bit Sterile technique is important

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I don't think anyone here was suggesting those methods actually BE used. . .

@mudcrick, that sounds interesting! Now to find an orchard.