Plain ole hard cider

I am able to get unpasturized apple cider from a local cider mill, i do not want to pasteurize it, my plan is to pitch a slurry/starter of either S-04/05 or Nottingham, with a bit of energizer and nutrient, immediatly and let it go...do the cider gurus see anything wrong with this? Any other yeast suggestions?

natureboy68 said:

I am able to get unpasturized apple cider from a local cider mill, i do not want to pasteurize it, my plan is to pitch a slurry/starter of either S-04/05 or Nottingham, with a bit of energizer and nutrient, immediatly and let it go...do the cider gurus see anything wrong with this? Any other yeast suggestions?

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Nottingham and S-04 are both good choices. Add the yeast, put on the airlock, put it in a dark cool area ((60 - 70 degrees) and forget it for about 3 months. A hydrometer reading at the beginning and end would help to determine the alcohol content, But based on just raw cider you may end up with a 5 - 6% ABV product.

Are campden tabs recommended?

upstatemike you rock! thanks!

i dont want to add campden tablets, i want to keep it as natural as possible, however i do know that some people will sulphite it first to knock out any wild yeasties, to get it ready for the good yeasties

natureboy68 said:

upstatemike you rock! thanks!

i dont want to add campden tablets, i want to keep it as natural as possible, however i do know that some people will sulphite it first to knock out any wild yeasties, to get it ready for the good yeasties

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I respect that. I have yet to add any chems to my cider. Haven't gotten my hands on any unpasteurized juice yet, but I'd be tempted to take your approach.

The commercial yeasts should be able to overtake any wild yeasts if you pitch while as fresh as possible.

Nice plan, I'm hoping to be able to make hard cider from unpasteurized cider as well. Does anyone recommend adding any sweeteners to try to boost the alcohol content? I think I can get unpasteurized cider from cleanly raised apples from Busti Cider Mill.

i understand you can use dextrose, or honey if you want a cyser, i will probably make two batches: regular cider and cyser with local honey

porcupine73 said:

Nice plan, I'm hoping to be able to make hard cider from unpasteurized cider as well. Does anyone recommend adding any sweeteners to try to boost the alcohol content? I think I can get unpasteurized cider from cleanly raised apples from Busti Cider Mill.

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I make a cyser with 5 gallons of cider and 3 pounds of honey. Usually gets close to 10% ABV. I ferment it dry, add some priming sugar and end up with a champagne like beverage. I've used Lavin 71b and a Lavin champagne yeast. Both worked well. This fall I'm planning on trying a Belgian yeast to see if it adds some spiciness. Not sure if I'll go with just cider or add the honey.

mathin said:

I make a cyser with 5 gallons of cider and 3 pounds of honey. Usually gets close to 10% ABV. I ferment it dry, add some priming sugar and end up with a champagne like beverage. I've used Lavin 71b and a Lavin champagne yeast. Both worked well. This fall I'm planning on trying a Belgian yeast to see if it adds some spiciness. Not sure if I'll go with just cider or add the honey.

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Three cheers for Belgian yeast! I didn't let mine go to dryness but it was a big hit with those I shared it with.

Cool to hear about the Belgian yeast. I like 'em dry so I'll probably let it ferment out. Can't wait to see how it comes out!

You might have to do two...one with honey and one without. For the advancement of cider brewology of course.

+1 Yes please! I'd love to know which one turns out better

I started my "cider" experiment yesterday. Used 4 gal cider (Johnagold apples). Decided to try Wyeast 3068 (Wiehenstephan) which is a yeast I've used with some wheat beers ... It gives some nice clove spice. My LHBS talked me into throwing in a pound of light DME (boiled 15 min in ~1 gal water) with the thought it might help with the spiciness.

Fermentation is vigorous! I'll probably let it go for 5 weeks or so, then prime and bottle.

I guess the malt makes this a graff without the hops?

mathin said:

I started my "cider" experiment yesterday. Used 4 gal cider (Johnagold apples). Decided to try Wyeast 3068 (Wiehenstephan) which is a yeast I've used with some wheat beers ... It gives some nice clove spice. My LHBS talked me into throwing in a pound of light DME (boiled 15 min in ~1 gal water) with the thought it might help with the spiciness.

Fermentation is vigorous! I'll probably let it go for 5 weeks or so, then prime and bottle.

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Well the cider came out pretty good. I don't taste any spiciness from the yeast, but the apple flavor is more present than my previous ciders. Can't really recommend one way or the other on the yeast strain.

I started my cider about a week ago...
5 gals unpasturized raw cider, rehydrated Safale US-05 (American ale strain) with go-ferm, in hindsight, I should've done a full starter, so it's ready to go, aerated, and pitched yeast, slow starter, took about two days to start bubbling, then rhino farts! I stirred the must and added a full dose of fermaid k and DAP, that got rid of the rhino farts within a day, it's bubbling away happily, and smells appley/fermenty...gonna transfer to secondary in a month or two...keeping fingers crossed!

PS: OG was 1.047