Analysis of my first 2 batches of hard cider

[thespiff]

So I brewed my first hard cider this year, after about 10 5-gallon batches of beer were under my belt (only 3 or 4 all-grain). Well, not all the beer ended up under my personal belt. But a decent portion did. I thought I'd post my experiences here as a journal of sorts, for the benefit of myself and maybe even others.

My objective was to brew 2 batches of hard cider. 1 fortified with sugar, fermented with wine yeast, treated with campden, aged on oak, and named Torin Oakencider. The goal was a white wine made from apples. The other fermented with an ale yeast and mostly un-altered from how I received it, named Arwen Evencider. The goal was a standard English Dry Cider.

I acquired 12 gallons of Cold-Pasteurized (with UV light) apple cider from Solebury Orchards in New Hope, PA.

OG: 1.050
PH: 3.8


Based on the cidermaking instructions of Andrew Lea (http://www.cider.org.uk/frameset.htm) I was lead to believe that 18 campden tablets were needed to properly inhibit wild yeasts.

Torin Oakencider
============
6 Gal cold pasteurized cider
3LB Table Sugar
18 campden tablets
1 pack Red Star Premier Cuvee Yeast

OG: 1.073
PH: 3.8

10/19/15 - Cider into 6.5 gallon glass carboy, on top of crushed campden tablets.
10/20/15 - Pitched yeast. Did not rehydrate.
10/28/15 - No yeast activity. Why did I use so many freaking camden tablets? Rehydrated and pitched a second pack of same yeast.
11/5/15 - Significant yeast activity FINALLY.
11/22/15 - SG: 1.002, racked onto 2 medium toast american oak spirals in 6 gallon glass carboy. Lots of lees settled out. Tastes pretty good. Definitely brings white wine to mind.
11/29/15 - Still a little airlock activity, but yeast is settling out well and this batch is getting very clear. I'll taste test after another week or 2 on the oak.
12/12/15 - SG: 0.992. Bottled 6 gallons with 4oz of corn sugar. No bottling yeast. It is very oaky, boozy, and tannic tasting. I think I will let this sit for a few months before cracking any bottles.

Arwen Evencider
============
5.5 Gal cold pasteurized cider
1.5L starter of Wyeast 1318 London Ale III (yeast harvested and stored from a previous IPA brew)

OG: 1.050

10/20/15 - Overzealously filled 6 gallon plastic bucket with cider even though my starter wasn't done.
10/22/15 - Pitched yeast. Cider had a distinct vinegar aroma. Fears began to develop that I'd already failed.
10/25/15 - Vigorous fermentation. Basement smells like rotten egg vomit. Fears that I'd failed were really taking hold. Later learned this smell is known as "Rhino Farts".
11/2/15 - SG: 1.002, racked into 6 gallon glass carboy because the bucket had me worried about oxygen turning my Cider into vinegar. Lots of yeast flavor in the Cider at this point. No sulfur. Nice appley character. Smells like bananas.
11/16/15 - SG: 0.998, racked into a 5 gallon plastic carboy with 3 crushed camden tablets and filled it to the top. First racking was pointless. Second racking had a lot more lees. Banana aroma is gone. Cider has not cleared but a lot of yeast has settled out and the complex fruity flavors are gone.
11/29/15 - Cider doesn't look any clearer than when I racked it. This yeast is probably to blame. Into the fridge for a cold crash. Hopefully it'll start to show signs of clearing in a week.
12/3/15 - Cold crash wasn't clearing it to my satisfaction. Added 1/2 tsp of gelatin dissolved in 1/2 cup of hot water.
12/9/15 - Cider is reasonably clear and I don't think it's getting any clearer. Kegged, carbed, and on tap.

OK there will be no more updates on the original post. If anyone has any questions/comments let me know!

 

[madscientist451]

Did you use Campden tablets in batch #2 before the yeast? What was your fermentation temperature?
I've found it takes months for cider to clear. My basement gets down into the 40's in the winter, and I think that helps somewhat.

 

[bernardsmith]

What seems to be missing is any addition of pectic enzyme to break down the pectins before you pitch the yeast. Apple wine /cider clears bright with the addition of the enzyme. Without it, I have no idea how long it may take to clear..That said, I think you can add the enzyme after fermentation has ended but I think you may need to double the dose of the enzyme. Yeast and the action of the enzyme don't play well together

 

[thespiff]

Yeah I did not add any campden pre-fermentation to the Ale-yeasted cider. I was willing to accept some wild yeast character in that one (actually sort of hoping for it).

You're right I did not use any pectic enzyme and maybe should have. However, the champagne-yeasted cider has fallen almost perfectly clear in the week since I racked to secondary.

Both batches fermented in open air in my basement which has been pretty stable at about 65F for the past couple of months, though I do not keep close tabs on the temp.

 

[dmtaylor]

Gelatin will clean up your cider in 24 hours flat. No worries.

 

[thespiff]

I've updated my original post with some final process notes and won't update it any more.

I did end up fining the ale yeasted cider with gelatin. It helped clear the cider, but even after that and a week in the keg it's still a bit hazy. Ah well, who really cares? At 6.5% it drinks very easily, but really doesn't have any body to speak of. There's a nice tang and effervescence up front but not much else. I think my overly sweet cider was part of the problem, and also the fact that I fermented bone dry.

The champagne yeasted and sugar fortified batch cleared well and also finished very dry. I aged on 2 oak spirals for 3 weeks and got more oak than I really wanted, but I suspect it will mellow in the bottle. I think this one is going to benefit from an extended aging. Right now I'm not super enthusiastic about drinking it based on the samples I took at bottling.

 

[thespiff]

So what will I do next fall? I think 1 batch will be plenty. I will either do a dirt simple champagne yeast fermentation of whatever cider I can get my hands on, or I will try for a funky cider with a farmhouse yeast blend. The stuff I made tastes fine but just doesn't have any body to it and really doesn't motivate me to drink it, maybe some souring would help. I think I will use a light hand with camden tablet addition next time.

But really I think my big takeaway is that I like beer more than cider, and as the primary consumer of my product that means cidermaking probably isn't something I'm going to get very serious about.