2010 cider notes

[hroth521]

My first batch is described here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/1st-batch-150988/

Since then things have kind of gotten out of hand. I built a press and grinder over the spring and summer : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/homemade-grinder-press-193453/

I sourced 12 bushels of apples from a farmer in Michigan (Peter Klein from Seedlings - can't say enough great things about him). The apples were beautiful - 4 types: Northern Spy, Golden Russet, Grimes Golden and Ida Red.
We had a pressing party on Saturday with nearly 70 people 30 of them kids. It was so much fun to watch the expression on the faces of the kids and the adults as they tasted juice fresh from the apple.

After all the drinking and some took some home - I had only about 26 gallons of juice. Since this is my first time with fresh squeezed juice I sulfited the juice, let it rest overnight and pitched my yeast yesterday. I'm going to ferment 5 gallons dry and then backsweeten one/carb/stovetop pasteurize for SWMBO. I think 2 gallons will be dry sparkling cider. Last year's was so delicious I wanted to make 2 batches this year. I'm going to pitch 9 lb frozen sour cherries into the fourth batch. Those four are 1/2 Safale US05 and 1/2 Nottingham just to do a head to head. My last batch will be a raspberry cyser. I added 9 lb honey and energizer and nutrient and pitched a Wyeast sweet mead smackpack. In a week or 10 days I'll add a flat of frozen raspberries we got this summer.

Oh, temp corrected O.G. juice was 1.043. Temp corrected O.G. cyser was 1.114.

 

[hroth521]

11/10/ the four ciders are bubbling. Not yet the mead. Aerated the mead yesterday. and today with a brewing spoon. s.g. 1.1016 -

11/11 - all 5 are bubbling away. add energizer and nutrient to cyser only - 1 tsp each - aerate with large whisk

11/14 - Was gone for a few days. Temp 72deg in basement. Came back and there was a mini blowout of the mead - only into the fermentation lock. Cleaned and refilled the lock with vodka. S.G. (corrected) 1.060 .:rockin:

 

[jamesjensen1068]

The press and grinder look great. I'm thinking of doing the same thing. Our groundskeeper at work has a small orchard and doesn't do anything with the apples and told me I could take as many apples that I wanted next year.

Looking forward to next year.........

 

[hroth521]

11/17 - One of the Nottinghams is at 1.0216 (corrected for temp= 70 F.) Added 8 lb sour pitted frozen cherries. Soaked grain bag in star san, wrung it out and filled with cherries. Tied with a soaked string and added to primary fermenter. SG sample is very cloudy, bright yellow, very tart and sweet. Lemony.

11/20 - cherry cider is pink! 1.0096 - definitely taste the sour cherries and cider
mead is yellow - honey and cider flavor - rocket fuel alcohol, dry tasting - 1.0036

Note: Nottinghams smell much more of sulphur than do the Safales or the sweet mead yeast.

 

[hroth521]

11/23 - cherry cider s.g. 1.002 I really like the way the safale us05 flocculates. Probably siphon into secondary on Sunday (3 weeks since fermentation). Color is a light burgundy wine. Flavor is pleasant sour cherry over young cider. Too much sulphur flavor though - hopefully that will blow off over time. Most of the color is gone from the fruit so I dumped it. Cleaned the bag and soaked it in star san. Tomorrow I’ll put the raspberries in the cyser.

 

[hroth521]

Reviewed my notes and realized an error. The cherry cider has, in fact, been fermented with Nottingham yeast. So I really like the flocculation of the Nottingham and I still hope the sulphur blows off.

 

[hroth521]

Tasted the Notty cider - very tart, very little fruit. Still too much sulphur. Only at the very end do I detect the depth and fruit that will come with aging. It's starting to clear already.

The Cherry apple cider is quite clear - it might be drinkable before the plain ciders.

The raspberry cyser "tastes like medicine" according to SWMBO. It is quite clear already also. We'll see if 8 month to a year's aging can integrate the raspberriness.

Safeale ciders are also tart, much less sulphur than the notty, more complexity at this stage.

 

[dinnerstick]

curious about the cherry cider. i had some frozen sweet cherries from the supermarket and some juice from concentrate. i have always been a bit of a cider purist and until yesterday had never made a cider from non-fresh juice nor ever added sugar, but i was bored so i just knocked up a small batch with the cherries, supermarket juice, bit of leftover DME and light brown sugar. cooked the cherries briefly in the sugars, let them cool and soak in some juice, strained them off, 1.068, safale04.
a few handfuls of cherries really colored 5L juice to dark maroon, and almost (in a good way) completely overpower the limp supermarket juice. it tasted great. i wonder: could i have left the cherries in for the whole fermentation? some threads on here suggest that they eventually start to give off notes but i don't know if that is only for fresh, unpitted? but most importantly, will the nice cherry tang survive fermentation?? or will this finish like dirty water. can't wait to find out, as this is a tester batch, intending to do a large one next year. but i'm going to give this one many months aging.
cheers

 

[hroth521]

I waited until most of the fermentation was done, then just racked onto frozen cherries. They get really nasty looking once the color has leeched out into the cider. Made me nervous so I pitched them at that point.

It is interesting what a difference a couple of days make. Tasted again last night, the cider is clearly going to sleep for a while. Almost no flavor - just tart. Tiny whiff of sour cherry flavor. Pretty color though. I'm going to leave everything alone for a month or so. Might bottle age starting in January just so I can free up a couple of carboys.

 

[hroth521]

Tasted one of the safeale us05 today. Very pleasant. Almost clear. The intense tart is gone and instead there is a very nice fruity but somewhat dilute or muted taste of apples and flowers. I really think this is going to be very nice in a couple of months. I think I'll let it clear for a while then bottle.

 

[hroth521]

One of the safale carboys developed a white waxy film. Racked out from underneath it, 1/4 tsp sulfite - waited 24 hours. Then added 5 oz corn sugar in 1 cup boiling water and 1/4 cup EC1118 yeast/water and bottled.

Tastes great!! We'll see how it ages. The 2 other straight ciders, the cherry apple cider and the raspberry cyser do not have the film and are still in carboys. Probably bottle the cherry apple cider next - it is crystal clear at this point.

 

[hroth521]

Decided to backsweeten the cherry apple cider with honey. Mixed 2 lb honey with 1 quart boiled/warm water and put into the bottling bucket. Racked the cherry apple cider onto that. Was shooting for 1.012 - 1.014 but hit 1.016. Added 1/4 package (1/4 cup of a whole package EC1118 in 1 cup boiled cooled water). I added yeast because the cherry apple cider was crystal clear due most likely to being essentially cold crashed when I racked it onto the frozen cherries. Bottled and capped. Tasted today (48 hours later) no demonstrable carbonation yet. Will taste in 48 hours and then daily. Once adequately carbed plan on pasteurizing per sticky (190 deg F for 10 minutes). The taste at this point is awesome.

 

[truckjohn]

Sounds like you are on to something there....

My own 2010 cider batch was pasteurized mid December - and it is just starting to taste good now.... The yeastiness is finally going away and the apple cider notes are starting to show through.

Pasteurization wise - since you are bottle carbing, you may want to consider 160F for 20 minutes instead of 190F for 10.... If you make a very small mistake and let the water sit on the heat for a bit too long - it goes up over 200 and bottles start exploding soon after.... 160 gives a much larger margin of safety in that respect....

Thanks

 

[hroth521]

Pasteurization wise - since you are bottle carbing, you may want to consider 160F for 20 minutes instead of 190F for 10.... If you make a very small mistake and let the water sit on the heat for a bit too long - it goes up over 200 and bottles start exploding soon after.... 160 gives a much larger margin of safety in that respect....

Thanks

Thanks I was actually wondering about that. Do you store your pasteurized bottles in the refrigerator?

 

[truckjohn]

I don't have enough room for all of them in the fridge... I like to keep a supply in the fridge, but most of the bottles live in the basement...

Thanks

 

[hroth521]

I don't have enough room for all of them in the fridge... I like to keep a supply in the fridge, but most of the bottles live in the basement...

Thanks

Thanks, I guess my question was a backhanded way of asking once you have pasteurized, you have had no bottle bombs later? Even if stored at room temp?

 

[hroth521]

1) Cherry apple cider is delicious. No bottle bombs. Used 160 for 20 minutes after I lost 2 bottles at 190. SWMBO loves it.
2) Yeast film batch was sulfited, then primed and 1/4 pkg yeast added. Tasted now 3 weeks later. Delicious, tastes like granny smith apples. We'll see...

 

[truckjohn]

Thanks, I guess my question was a backhanded way of asking once you have pasteurized, you have had no bottle bombs later? Even if stored at room temp?

Just popped one from the basement open.... Nice and clear.... No bombing worries....

Thanks

 

[hroth521]

Just popped one from the basement open.... Nice and clear.... No bombing worries....

Thanks

Mine is also very very good. I do not think I will have any left at a year to taste!

 

[hroth521]

The raspberry cyser tastes like raspberry flavored rocket fuel

From what I've read that's about right for mead only 3 -4 months into it. It's crystal clear and I think the medicinal flavor is mellowing a bit. Probably bottle this week. Can't wait to see how this evolves over the next 9 months or so.

 

[hroth521]

Both remaining carboys of cider (safale and notty) are clearing well. Very tasty stuff. The Safale batch that was almost undrinkably tart is now much more delicious. Think about bottling in another month or so.

I served the cherry apple cider at a dinner party last night and it was very well received. Seems less sweet than when I bottled it. Recipe is definitely a keeper - will probably make 10 gallons this year.

 

[hroth521]

Bottled the notty sparkling - 4 oz corn sugar/5gallons. Going to be hard to keep my hands off of it til summer.

 

[hroth521]

Opened a 12 oz bottle of the raspberry cyser. It is much better! Definitely delicious raspberry flavor, still a lot of alcohol but less than earlier and there is a lovely longish finish developing. Quite tart but in a "goes with any food" kind of way. I am very excited to see how this evolves over the next 6 months.

The plain ciders all get better and better. I still have one 5 gallon carboy left. I'm thinking I'll backsweeten this one and bottle it still for SWMBO. She likes the sweeties.

 

[hroth521]

Almost 3 months since backsweetening/carbing and pasteurizing the cherry cider. Opened a bottle tonight with my son. It is very good. Sweetness has moderated some, still tastes like sour cherry cider but flavors are integrating better. Tannins from the cherries make a very well balanced drink. No bottle bombs - stored at room temp, served chilled. Hope I have some left to serve at Thanksgiving but I doubt it.

 

[hroth521]

Forgot to post my notes from a tasting last month. Opened a 12 oz raspberry cyser. Beautiful clear pink sparkling drink. Smells of raspberries, slight whiff of alcohol. Tastes like off dry sparkling pomegranate rose wine. Very nice. Very slight medicine after taste but clearly resolving. Probably will serve as an aperitif for Thanksgiving.

 

[kappclark]

One of the safale carboys developed a white waxy film. Racked out from underneath it, 1/4 tsp sulfite - waited 24 hours. Then added 5 oz corn sugar in 1 cup boiling water and 1/4 cup EC1118 yeast/water and bottled.

QUOTE]

SAME here ! I will take your advice and do the sulfite thing ....

What a great forum !

 

[hroth521]

One of the safale carboys developed a white waxy film. Racked out from underneath it, 1/4 tsp sulfite - waited 24 hours. Then added 5 oz corn sugar in 1 cup boiling water and 1/4 cup EC1118 yeast/water and bottled.

QUOTE]

SAME here ! I will take your advice and do the sulfite thing ....

What a great forum !

Agree. This is a remarkable forum. I have learned so much here. This cider with the film yeast was bottled in January. I have a few bottles left. The ones I have sampled have been delicious.

PS See also this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/not-sure-what-but-220336/ for a picture of what mine looked like.

 

[kappclark]

YES - exactly what I have .. got the sulfite today

I see you sulfited after racking ... I saw another post to sulfite before racking, wait 24h, then rack ...

Should I worry ? The cider is abt 7 months old

 

[hroth521]

YES - exactly what I have .. got the sulfite today

I see you sulfited after racking ... I saw another post to sulfite before racking, wait 24h, then rack ...

Should I worry ? The cider is abt 7 months old

'

I'm pretty much a newbie at this so I may not be the best to ask. My thoughts though were to physically remove as much of the contaminant as possible by racking, then sulfite the rest.

Here's a cider google group (based primarily in England) you might be interested in. Andrew Lea, who is a very respected cider expert, properly diagnosed my contaminant and prescribed proper treatment on this group:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cider-workshop

Also, this is a very useful cider digest:

[email protected] for subscribe/unsubscribe/admin requests

 

[hroth521]

It was just so tart/sour. Never became drinkable. So I uncapped what is left (about 1 1/4 cases) and poured it into a bottling bucket. I added sugar syrup to make S.G. 1.012 and rebottled. Plan to leave alone for 10 days or so, check for carbonation and pasteurize. Tasted before bottling and after sugar - it was much tastier. Still think working with red raspberries leaves too much "mediciney" taste for me to want to do this again. Might try with blackberries though. I once tasted a blackberry mead that was extraordinary.