First attempt at cider

Hey all,

I've brewed a couple of extract and a couple of all grain batches of beer in the past, but I'm going to make an attempt at cider that I'm hoping to serve at a friend's wedding rehearsal dinner. Luckily, there is a local cidery that is willing to sell fresh-pressed juice for a reasonable price that I'm going to use. I do not want to produce a heavily sweet cider that is typical or many commercial brands, such as Woodchuck. I'm actually trying to make a dryer, more traditional type of cider in a classic style. Most of the posts on this forum seem to be heavily sugar-laden. Any suggestions out there?

Thanks for all of the help!

Go with the juice/sweet cider & an ale yeast (I use Nottingham), either ferment as is, or add a fermentable sugar to raise the ABV in your end product if you want a little more alcohol. Apfelwein is a good recipe:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/man-i-love-apfelwein-14860/
Regards, GF.

Chuck, as an experienced "Cidermaster",( I brew hard cider exclusively) i could tell you to purchase a quality Hydrometer and pay close attention to gravity, however, a good general rule i use is; Never use more than one (1) metric cup of fermentable sugar per gallon of cider ( or whatever you're brewing.). I brew several different Hard cider recipes of my own creation and use this principle religiously; It consistently yields a crystal-clear, Bone-dry, highly carbonated Hard cider with an ABV% i estimate to be 5-10%( I'm going on taste and "Buzzability" as i rarely use a Hydrometer.) In fact i would say my "main" recipe is most comparable to your run-of-the-mill "Macrobrewed" (Mass produced) American/Domestic lager. I realize rambling ensued towards the end of my post- However, i hope my reply was helpful and i wish you luck.

While a big fan of dry hard cider here, I've learned that if you are making a cider for others remember that the massed produced popular ciders are sweet for a reason. People like sweet cider, and to most sweeter = better. The reverse is also true, dry = bad, not 'dry is not my preference'.

It's a sad state of affairs but there it is. Unless you know that the large majority people attending this function prefer the drier end of the spectrum you may want to ferment the whole batch dry then backsweeten to two or three different levels of residual sugar. Luckily, this is pretty easy if you follow the pasteurization sticky at the top.

A good way to serve dry cider to a larger audience is to make sure it is relatively fruity in flavor (not to be confused with sweetness). Try backsweetening with apple concentrate instead of sugar and consider adding malic acid to keep it lively.