Dry hopped, Citrus peels, Blackcurrant

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JimmyJ

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So last year I made(first ever) 25 litres (6.6 gallons) of cider and let it ripe in secondary with medium roasted oak chips. I let it ferment out dry, then back sweetened with lactose to take of the edge and bottle carbonated with some dark cane sugar. And it was delicious but 'vanilla'...

So now I got me some smaller demijohns and am ready for some experiments.



mini batch #1 Dry hopped:

Let's see what all the hype is about.


  • 5 Litres(1.3 gallons) of Ordal juice (OG 1.045)
  • Fermentis Safale s-04 dry yeast
  • 6g (0.2 oz) nutrivit yeast nutrition
  • added ~140 grams of cane sugar to bring my expected alcohol percentage to about 7.5% (SG 1.056)
  • gonna ad ~15g of Cascade hop flowers in secondary for ~7days. And we will see how it tastes then

current state: bubbling away :rockin:



mini batch #2 Citrus peels:


Anyone have experience with hard cider and various citrus peels and if you can add the squeezed juice from these pieces of fruit as well?
I thought this could be a nice one during those hot summer months.


  • 5 Litres(1.3 gallons) of Ordal juice (OG 1.045)
  • Fermentis Safale S-04 dry yeast
  • 6g (0.2 oz) nutrivit yeast nutrition
  • no added sugar, gonna keep this one fresh and low %
  • Citrus peels and or the squeezed juice, thinking lemon/orange.

current state: bubbling away :rockin:



mini batch #3 Blackcurrant:


Saw this one online and wanted to give it a go.

  • 5 Litres(1.3 gallons) of Ordal juice (OG 1.045)
  • Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 dry yeast
  • 6g (0.2 oz) nutrivit yeast nutrition
  • 1/4th of a tsp tannin
  • 500ml (~1pint) Carrefour Bio Blackcurrant, Elderberry, strawberry
  • OG after the sirup = 1.069

current state: in primary

I'm gonna ferment this one dry, then add Apple juice to dilute the alcohol/sweeten if necessary.

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Still thinking about how I am gonna backsweetend. I was thinking about backsweetening with sugar, bottle it and pasteurize when the level of carb is just right. Or does anyone happen to have experience with stevia?

couple more questions since I am still a bit of a noob:

In the Blackcurrant recipe I found they added tannin. How does this affect flavor or what does it affect?
 
So the blackcurrant one has been altered to 'Carrefour Bio Blackcurrant, Elderberry, strawberry' I had hoped the strawberry wouldn't overpower in flavor and I wasn't dissapointed after a taste :).

They are currently all sitting in primary. I expect the third one to kick off in about 12-24 hours (could be longer due to the sirup)

dsc7412b.jpg

from left to right: batch #1, batch #3, batch #2 (don't worry, they are normally nicely tucked in to keep the light out)

dsc7422a.jpg

loving the color


gotta come up with names for these babies, hehe.
 
Looking into citrus, eh phug? I don't think I've ever seen apple-orange as a combo. Might be interesting.

yeah, I'm trying to figure out what I can do to add Citrus flavour and Aroma without overpowering the apple. right now what I have as a starting point is about 1 fruit worth of zest per gallon, either into primary or secondary.

If anybody else has any suggestions or experiences, I'm all ears.
 
I've used the zest of a lemon, as well as its juice, in a 5gal. batch. Racked after a week. Used EC-1118 as a yeast. It's been aging for 2 months now and it's a bit overpowering...
 
I've used the zest of a lemon, as well as its juice, in a 5gal. batch. Racked after a week. Used EC-1118 as a yeast. It's been aging for 2 months now and it's a bit overpowering...

Kind of a newb question (First batch ever sitting in secondary) but - When you used the zest/juice - Did you add those into primary? Or did you add those into secondary, then racked again after a week?

Sorry just trying to understand some processes here...:)
 
I've used the zest of a lemon, as well as its juice, in a 5gal. batch. Racked after a week. Used EC-1118 as a yeast. It's been aging for 2 months now and it's a bit overpowering...

Good to know. so I might start out with zest of one fruit for 5 gallon, and just see where that takes me. Thanks Melou
 
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