Angry Orchard Clone - Green

HELLLOOOOO!!

SWMBO likes the green apple angry orchard. I spent some time looking for a clone recipe and found... blah.

So I made my own.

5 Gallons target product volume (target ABV is 5%, so 1.040)
Green Apples 4 x 6 lb bags
Ambrosia apples 2 x 4 lb bags
Honey Crisp Apples 1x 4 lb bag
Apple juice - ~2.5 gallons of musselmans apple cider
Water - Filtered fridge water - to 5.5 gallons


Actual OG - 1.045 = 5.7% abv

Sanitize whole apples.
Core and slice apples
blend in vitamix with water
strain into primary vessel with hop bag.
add pectic enzyme to must
add campden tablets to must
add bicarbonate to buffer ph of tart green apples


day two
adjust to correct temp for yeast
aerate must and release SO2.
rehydrate then pitch yeast - go ferm protect - 10 grams
add fermaid o- 7 grams
SNAs? - no. less risk of infection from acetobacter

let sit at least three weeks in primary

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I'm terrified of acetobacter because the last few ciders i made got nasty, and i had to label them 'cider-rita'. ewww.

so I'm going to let it sit in primary for a month, then to limit oxygen and exposure to the nasty bacteria, i'll be going directly into a keg with co2 purge for bulk aging. maybe 6 months.

I wanted to get the tart taste of green apples, and balanced it out with the straight apple juice.


any interest out there in figuring out this clone with me?

I'm not sure how much juice you get out of chopped apples without pressing them.

Angry orchard uses some domestic apples/juice, but also adds imported cider apples that I believe are grown in Italy.
So you aren't going to make a "clone" of their cider unless you can get the same apples.
My thoughts are to forget about making a clone of any particular cider.
Make a cider from the apples/juice you can get and experiment with it to get something that suits your taste.
If there are any orchards in your area, start there with fresh pressed juice or apples that make decent cider.
Some people say they make drinkable cider using juice from Sam's club or other large stores.
I'm in an apple area, but in the off season I've made a pretty good cider using "simply apple" juice from the grocery store.
Around here, it goes on sale about every 4th week for about $3. The usual price is $3.99. Just buying Simply Apple and using that would be better than
the recipe you provided above.
http://edengourmet.com/shop/dairy/simply-apple-juice-59oz/

I agree with above comments that running the apples through a vitamix may not produce any usable juice.
There are you tube videos of people using table top juicers.
Also those "green apples" in your recipe are probably granny smith?
Your cider will be very acidic after fermenting if you use more than 10-20%
apples like Granny Smith.

madscientist451 said:

Also those "green apples" in your recipe are probably granny smith?
Your cider will be very acidic after fermenting if you use more than 10-20%
apples like Granny Smith.

Click to expand...

I was thinking that, but then OP said something about adding bicarbonate to balance the acid... not sure that I have ever seen that before. I'd be interested in hearing more about what was done exactly (how much? how added? why was this amount chosen?).

Also not sure that any cider maker would ever add water. You can get enough juice from apples if you start with enough apples and you press them to extract their juice. Water simply dilutes the flavor. Your call, of course, clintonsimmons, but apples ain't grain and cider ain't beer.

If you want to increase the tartness of a cider you add malic acid. That's the dominant acid found in apples.

ok. so. its already made and fermented. maybe four days bubbling, and now its quiet, with an expected ABV of 5.5%.
no presser available, i squeezed a hop bag, but threw away a qtr gallon of liquid with the pulp. then added water and juice and still got 1.045.

this guy, loveofrose, wrote all about bicarbonate and ph in mead, so i stole the idea. : https://www.denardbrewing.com/blog/post/mead-making-practices-mistakes/ maybe three table spoons

malic acid may be my answer later, i was trying my hand at natural granny smith greeeeen-ness. we;ll see how tart it is on its own.

the vitamix made about 2 gallons of juice