Cider Help

So I picked up 4 gallons of fresh apple cider with no perservatives while visiting a cider mill in Cooperstown NY. The fresh cider was delicious, so what could be better, getting tanked while drinking it. I did a cider once before and just added WL775 english cider yeast and it was good. This time I wanted to bump it up a bit and try something new. I have 3 lbs of NJ wildflower honey and a pound of belgium soft candi sugar. Can I add those in to add taste and alcohol content? Also I see a lot of people using dry wine or champagne yeast. Which do you think would be better, the dry or just going with the liquid yeast I used before?

I would be wary of the "just add sugar for alcohol" line of thinking.

You alcohol will bump up, but that doesn't mean is it going to taste good.

I would start with a recipe like this...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/johnny-jump-up-cider-76139/

That already uses a fair amount of sugar and hits 10.5% ABV. Maybe try switching some sugar for honey or just boosting with honey.

manoaction said:

I would be wary of the "just add sugar for alcohol" line of thinking.

You alcohol will bump up, but that doesn't mean is it going to taste good.

I would start with a recipe like this...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/johnny-jump-up-cider-76139/

That already uses a fair amount of sugar and hits 10.5% ABV. Maybe try switching some sugar for honey or just boosting with honey.

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wow, that uses a lot of sugar. When I said bump up, I am not sure about 10.5 percent. Thinking more like 7 to 8. I am now wondering if there is somewhere I could locate about how much damage the honey will do? If there is like a general rule of thumb, like one pound of honey equals a half percent of alcohol.

Hi Nordoe. Have you taken a look through the cider sub-forum?

Honey will tend to dry it out, im not sure i would use honey. You wont get a lot of honey flavor off it.

I just got done making my first cider. I used the WL775 and the finished product definitely tastes like apples. Kinda like a sweeter version of Hardcore cider, but i didn't want to let it get totally dry. I used 5 gallons of store bought apple juice and 2 lbs of corn sugar to give me an OG of 1.058 or so.

I think the key is to add some yeast nutrient because from my understanding apple juice isn't as 'complete' of a food for the yeast.

nanofreak said:

Honey will tend to dry it out, im not sure i would use honey. You wont get a lot of honey flavor off it.

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I was not going to use the honey for much taste, just for the alcohol content.

well honey doesnt add a consistent amount of gravity points so you will have to measure on the fly. but if you get an og around 1.07-1.08 and ferment it dry like usualy you could get what you are looking for.

So last night I put together the cider. I used 4 gallons of cider, 3 lbs of honey and 1 lb of amber belgian candy sugar. My OG was at 1.077. Right where I want to be. I pitched rehydrated champagne yeast and by this morning it was really active. Hope it taste good? I need a good name for it. Maybe I should wait to taste and then name. I plan on keeping it in the primary for about 10 days. Moving to secondary to clear up for 2 weeks. Then bottling it with carb tabs.

In my experience with cider, adding sugar causes the flavor to become bland. Adding honey is different in that it imparts a mead flavor because in effect what you are creating is a cyser. With a gravity that high, you might want to wait a very long time before drinking it. I would give it 6 months to a year at least.

Teromous said:

In my experience with cider, adding sugar causes the flavor to become bland. Adding honey is different in that it imparts a mead flavor because in effect what you are creating is a cyser. With a gravity that high, you might want to wait a very long time before drinking it. I would give it 6 months to a year at least.

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Wow, really that long. I am not that patient. What do you think would differ by only waiting a month or two.

nordoe said:

Wow, really that long. I am not that patient. What do you think would differ by only waiting a month or two.

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yes. your cider should stay in primary for at least a month. especially with a gravity that high. then ideally should clear for a couple months.

Tinga said:

yes. your cider should stay in primary for at least a month. especially with a gravity that high. then ideally should clear for a couple months.

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I dont have much expierence with cider, so I will take your advice and wait. I guess its similar to beer. Rule of thumb, higher the gravity, the longer you need. I wanted to have them ready for Thanksgiving, but I guess maybe more like July 4th.

I did a Cyser (Cider w/ Honey) back in May or June. My LHBS told me that making a Cider is more like making a wine than a beer. I did 4 1/2 gallons of cider and 10 lbs of honey. I don't have my brew book here at work so I don't know my SG's but I know my abv was 13.75%. Don't remember what yeast I used (again, it's all at home in the brew book). It sat in the primary for about a month and then in the secondary for about another month. I tasted one a few weeks back and it will def. need a couple more months at least. I'm thinking of saving it for next fall at this point.