Caramel Apple Hard Cider

nyrangers955 said:

I have a batch of this cider fermenting and was thinking of putting a few bottles away for 6 months or till this time next year.
Has anyone tried this?

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Be careful, there's a chance it can turn into vinegar. Something like cider isn't as complex as beer with all the malt and hops and other types of sugars. Aging won't really do wonders to it like it would a high grav beer.

While I agree that it can turn into vinegar, if transfers and bottling is handled carefully and everything is sanitized, cider WILL get better with age, especially any cider made with raw apple juice or cider from an orchard. I am on my first 2 batches of cider with store bought juice, so I can't comment on this particular recipe, but the principle is the same, more aging = mellowed more complex flavors.... To a point. Most will hit their stride at a year, then decline slowly.

mcbethenstein said:

While I agree that it can turn into vinegar, if transfers and bottling is handled carefully and everything is sanitized, cider WILL get better with age, especially any cider made with raw apple juice or cider from an orchard. I am on my first 2 batches of cider with store bought juice, so I can't comment on this particular recipe, but the principle is the same, more aging = mellowed more complex flavors.... To a point. Most will hit their stride at a year, then decline slowly.

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+1 - I've only heard of ciders increasing in goodness....but, that's assuming the sanitation is well done as mentioned above. I've got one cider that's nearly 1 year old that is just now becoming better. It's taken forever and I've thrown back a few throughout the past 12 months but saved about 20 bottles. And it's becoming more and more palatable. In this case, I'm more curious if you COULD hide this stuff. It's so good there's really no reason not to just make more of it!

So just finished bottling. Had the problem of the syrup sinking to the bottom of the bottling bucket and I even tried to prevent by: mixing concentrate with syrup before adding, stirred a few times during bottling. Oh we'll, tasted it and it was amazingggg. Question though. My yeast cake looked a bit weird. This is my first 5 gallon batch of cider and have only done 3 batches of beer. The cake seemed almost like the consistency of white mud and had little holes in it(assuming where the c02 is forming) does this sound normal? Unfortunately I didn't take pictures

HopHeaven said:

So just finished bottling. Had the problem of the syrup sinking to the bottom of the bottling bucket and I even tried to prevent by: mixing concentrate with syrup before adding, stirred a few times during bottling. Oh we'll, tasted it and it was amazingggg. Question though. My yeast cake looked a bit weird. This is my first 5 gallon batch of cider and have only done 3 batches of beer. The cake seemed almost like the consistency of white mud and had little holes in it(assuming where the c02 is forming) does this sound normal? Unfortunately I didn't take pictures

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Totally normal. Sounds like a well compacted yeast cake. I've had many that have little holes in them. It's just where the CO2 escaped from after it compacted.

UpstateMike said:

Caramel Apple Hard Cider

Recipe for Caramel Syrup:
2 cups of water
2 cups of light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Combine in a saucepan and bring to a boil. At boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes (until volume is reduced to half). Let cool & bottle for future use.

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Just made the sauce and realized I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown. Will this make a significant difference or should I redo it?

Sshamash said:

Just made the sauce and realized I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown. Will this make a significant difference or should I redo it?

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I also used dark brown sugar and man does my sample taste good!

Dang, checked SG 8 days in and I'm still as high as 1.03. It fermented and foamed up and dropped really quickly for me so I was hoping its would finish early. (in time for Canadian thanksgiving, this weekend) I doubt it will drop another .015 in another few days eh?
Oh well....

So heres a question. So, I just found out about carb tablets... Would it be possible to use campden tabs to kill off all yeast, then add Carb tabs to get desired carbonation? That way you wouldn't have to worry about waiting correct amount of time and pasteurizing the bottles?

OG was 1.064 and currently sitting at 1.014 at 12 days (6.7% ABV). Chances this will continue to ferment a bit drier? Used Fermentis Safale S-04 and am heading out of town on Tuesday. Going to give it to Sunday to ferment a bit longer then rack onto the camden tablets before the backsweetening (it didn't get very dry, so i'll start with 1 can of the AJ concentrate and go from there) on Monday. Then a 14-28 day room temp rest in the keg with enough pressure to seal the lid.

Bottled my batch today from the Secondary. OG was 1.062 on 9/17... FG yesterday when I transfered to secondary was 1.004. Used nottingham with one addition of yeast nutrient on the third day. Added the syrup and 3 cans of AJ concentrate and it tastes like liquid apple sauce, smells like apple pie. Gonna let it carb for a few days and then pasteurize to serve at a Halloween party on the 27th. Can't wait

janson745 said:

So heres a question. So, I just found out about carb tablets... Would it be possible to use campden tabs to kill off all yeast, then add Carb tabs to get desired carbonation? That way you wouldn't have to worry about waiting correct amount of time and pasteurizing the bottles?

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I don't think campdem tablets kills yeast

Hey guys,
Any ideas on how to get this into the Tap-A-Draft PET bottles? I read through about 28 posts, couldn't find anyone addressing this yet. I know I can't pasteurize in these things.

Thanks!

braq24 said:

Hey guys,
Any ideas on how to get this into the Tap-A-Draft PET bottles? I read through about 28 posts, couldn't find anyone addressing this yet. I know I can't pasteurize in these things.

Thanks!

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Lots of opening and releasing pressure every so often? Otherwise, you may end up having to make a still cider. Maybe someone else will have a method...

Seems like the easiest way would be to let it carb as desired in another container, pasteurize it or chemically arrest the yeast, then transfer it to the Tap-A-Draft and use a CO2 cart to keep your fizz up as needed. Kind of like you would if you were using it for a take-home from a microbrewery, or with soda.

janson745 said:

So heres a question. So, I just found out about carb tablets... Would it be possible to use campden tabs to kill off all yeast, then add Carb tabs to get desired carbonation? That way you wouldn't have to worry about waiting correct amount of time and pasteurizing the bottles?

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Pretty sure carb tablets are nothing more than priming sugar in a hard compressed form. In order for them to work, you will need living yeast.

I am getting ready to try this. Thanks for the recipe. I noticed that it is recommended that you test carbonation with a plastic bottle to help prevent glass bottle bombs. I was wwondering what you do with the remaining primed cider while testing with the plastic bottles. Thanks.

buckeyebrew said:

I am getting ready to try this. Thanks for the recipe. I noticed that it is recommended that you test carbonation with a plastic bottle to help prevent glass bottle bombs. I was wwondering what you do with the remaining primed cider while testing with the plastic bottles. Thanks.

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You bottle everything, mostly in glass with 1 or 2 plastic's. When the plastic get rock hard you know it is time to pasteurize the glass.

I have made some changes to the recipe. Changes are in RED.

Caramel Apple Hard Cider

Ingredients, Part 1:
7 x 96 ounce bottles (5.25 gallons) Wegmans 100% Apple Juice, pasteurized, only vitamin C added
2 lbs. Dextrose
Nottingham Yeast
6 tsp Yeast Nutrient (or follow the directions on your bottle of yeast nutrient for a 6 gallon batch). This will help eliminate the "Rhino Fart" phase of fermentation.

Ingredients, Part 2
5 campden tablets (Optional, see notes)
3 – 12 oz. cans of Frozen Concentrated Apple Juice, thawed to room temperature (Reduced from 5 cans, this will make it less sweet, and make it not carb up so fast. Feel free to adjust the amount of FCAJ to your taste.)
Caramel Syrup (See recipe below)

Recipe for Caramel Syrup: (Make about 24 hours before bottling)
2 cups of water
2 cups of light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, OR 1/2 tsp liquid cinnamon extract
Combine in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. At boil, reduce heat to Low and simmer for about 5 minutes. (EDIT: Removed "Reduce by half". This may have been making the syrup too thick to properly mix) Let cool & bottle for future use.

Part 1:
Opened 1 bottle of apple juice, got a gravity reading of 1.050. Temp is 64 degrees.

In a 6 gallon carboy, pour in bottles 1 and 2 of apple juice.

Open bottles 3 and 4 of apple juice. Pour half of each bottle into carboy. Add 1 pound dextrose per bottle to the remaining amount of apple juice in bottles 3 and 4. Shake bottles to mix sugar and apple juice. Pour bottles 3 and 4 into carboy.

Pour bottles 5, and 6 of apple juice into carboy. Take another sample for OG, got a reading of 1.064. Open Nottingham yeast, pour into carboy. Agitate carboy to mix in yeast. Pour bottle 7 of apple juice into carboy.


Part 2 (In about 14 days):
Check for target FG of 1.010 to 1.015

Rack cider into another carboy. This is optional, but it may help in clearing.

OPTION: If you want a still cider, add 5 crushed Campden tablets to the cider at this time. If you want a carbonated cider, do not add Campden tablets.

Make the Caramel Syrup and wait 24 hours before proceeding.

After 24 hours, siphon cider into your bottling bucket. Add the Caramel Syrup and the 3 cans of apple juice concentrate while siphoning to aid in mixing. Bottle the cider and enjoy.

If you are carbing in the bottle, be aware that this will carb up fast (4 - 5 days) due to all the sugar. When it is time to bottle the batch, I highly recommend that you fill and cap a plastic pop bottle (NOT a water bottle) first, and use that as a guide to tell you when it will be time to Stovetop Pasteurize the batch.

buckeyebrew said:

I am getting ready to try this. Thanks for the recipe. I noticed that it is recommended that you test carbonation with a plastic bottle to help prevent glass bottle bombs. I was wwondering what you do with the remaining primed cider while testing with the plastic bottles. Thanks.

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Bottle the entire batch at the same time. When I bottle, the first bottle is a plastic one and one of the last bottles (when there is about 1 gallon left in the bucket) is also a plastic one. When they get hard to squeeze, like a new unopened pop bottle from the store, it is time to pasteurize the rest of the batch in the glass bottles. Open the first plastic bottle and pour into a glass to verify that you don't have an overcarbonation issue. DO NOT pasteurize any remaining plastic bottles, just put them in the fridge and drink them later.

Just finished "brewing" up a batch of this, true to the OP recipe. I used Langer's AJ.

OK -
I made a batch of this per Mike's original directions. My OG 1.068, now 7 days later I am at 1.010 (below recipe target) so I racked to secondary glass carboy.
I am looking for something on the fresh picked apple sweet side with a kick. Looks like I can back sweeten to taste.
So do I bottle to taste within the 24hrs? OR do let it continue to ferment down then sweeten to taste?
Will be doing stove top pasterization.

So I think I got my answer on this thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/fg-1-020-too-high-357506/

Just wanted to chime in and say I have just made a 1 Gallon scaled down version of the original recipe with about half the called-for FCAJ. Bottled a week ago and just tried one to check carb level (still a little undercarbed). This stuff is fantastic! Especially for how quick of a turn-around it is! Kudos to OP!!!

I made this per the recipe, going for a still cider. Tried one two days after bottling, it was wonderful but needed a few weeks of age. Fast-forward 3 weeks, I open one and to my surprise I get a gusher! I open a second it’s confirmed, these things are carb'd! I should have known better but for some reason I figured the campden tabs would have taken care of the yeast. I should have pasteurized.
For now, the remaining bottles are in the fridge until I figure what to do with them. Any suggestions on what to do? I was thinking of pouring them back into a bucket, waiting a few days; bottle again, this time pasteurize? Has this happen to anyone else?

Thanks
Adam

Started a batch on Saturday, 5 gallons treetop cider from walmart, 2 pounds dextrose and pitched WLP001 (California Ale) at 70 degrees. OG of 1.065, by Sunday night had a nice flow of bubbles, this morning I had tons of crude in my airlock, cleaned it out and re-sanitized it all. So far so good. Looking forward to this, this is my first attempt at a cider. Cheers!

I started this last night about 8 PM. Used 5 gallons Kirkland apple juice with the Nottingham yeast and 2 pounds of dextrose. OG of 1.062. Getting bubbles already. So far so good. I was planning on using campden tables to stop fermentation around 1.005 to 1.010, back sweeten and then force carb in the keg. Should I be worried the campden tablets won't kill fermentation? If so, how would you recommend I pasteurize in a corney keg/batch?

Just my advice...I tried the recipe with 2 cups of brown sugar and 1 can of concentrate. Next time, I'll only do the brown sugar and see how it is then. I like a dry cider and for me, even the 1 can of concentrate made it a little too sweet.
I used Nottingham yeast and it fermented down to 1000, then added campden & potassium sorbate, and the 2 cups of the caramel syrup, and 1 can concentrate then kegged and carbonated it. It tastes pretty good, but next time, I'll hold on the extra can of concentrate. You can always add more, but you can't take it out.

As an update, been fermenting for 3 days now, had to clean my airlock twice. 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon bucket, about 30 bubbles per minute. Will take a gravity reading tonight, my guess is the end is getting near, this is going fast. During cleaning the airlock smelt FANTASTIC.

Biohazard said:

As an update, been fermenting for 3 days now, had to clean my airlock twice. 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon bucket, about 30 bubbles per minute. Will take a gravity reading tonight, my guess is the end is getting near, this is going fast. During cleaning the airlock smelt FANTASTIC.

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Are you using Nottingham? What temp are you fermenting at? I usually don't get much of a krausen from Notty.

I followed the initial recipe but instead used S04. I just back sweetened after a day in the keg. I made the syrup and mixed in a can of aj concentrate into the syrup. I then added just 1.5 cups of said syrup and it is perfectly sweetened for my taste. This recipe is a winner but definitely go easy on the back sweetening.

Just bottled my first batch. I used some fresh cider and about a cup and a half of the carmel syrup, I like my stuff kinda dry. The good news is I think it tasted great, the bad news is I dropped my carboy when I went to clean it .Don't worry, the booze is safe! I guess I'm off to the LHBS tomorrow morning so I can start another batch.

Alright,
Down to 1.012 SG
So... I'm going to rack her onto Camden tablets.
Question.
How long after bottling it (still, and into wine bottles) is it good to drink and share?

Thanks all!!!

Spencer

Also,
I just realized I don't have any more air locks for my carboys!!!
After racking it onto Camden tablets can I just cover with syranwrap? Considering there should be no c02 action?
Also I don't have any cam den tablets will just potassium meta sulfite be enough?

Does anyon have a scaled down version? Perhaps a 2.5 gallon?

Thanks Mike for this recipe, everything turned out great. Had one bottle explode out of 60, in the stove top pasteurization pot, other then that it was smooth sailing. I used Indian Summer Apple Juice, Nottingham yeast with 3 cans of concentrate for the first batch, ended up with about 9.5% abv. I have another 5 gallons started last week with S04 and Costco (not from concentrate) apple juice, it will be interesting to compare the two.

This recipe sounds awesome! I will be giving it a whirl this weekend Thanks!
:rockin:

Could I carb and pasteurize these in mason jars? Or would it not carb? Or bible over during pasteurization? Just wondering. I feel it would look cool for gifts and I have a bunch.

Mason jars are not made to handle carbonation, so what you would be going as gifts would be little bombs. Assuming they made it that far. They wold probly explode before you gave them out, ruining anything around them. Mason jars are a recipe for disaster..... And hospital visits....

snortwheeze said:

Mason jars are not made to handle carbonation, so what you would be going as gifts would be little bombs. Assuming they made it that far. They wold probly explode before you gave them out, ruining anything around them. Mason jars are a recipe for disaster..... And hospital visits....

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Maybe he doesn't like the people he is giving them to. Cow-Orkers and such. In that case, go for it!