Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
Fruit flies being around it doesn't hurt anything. Are you saying some might have gotten in it?
Caramel Apple Hard Cider
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robbyhicks
Well-Known Member
My wife and I prefer this cider still... i have not pasteurized... I bottle and keep it in the keezer at around 35... our first batch we sparkled half and left half still...
They didn't seem to have found a way inside. Just hanging on the airlock.
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
Should be fine then. Sanitize the crap out of it and reattach 
No, they like co2. thats what is attracting them to the fermentor.
Leave a beer out and the co2 release from it will attract the fruit flies. there have been many times where i see a fat drunk dead fruit fly that did a kamikaze into the beer.
I made this as my first cider, following the recipe, and just tasted it last weekend. Everyone liked it, although there didn't seem to be any caramel flavor. Oh well. I just made labels without the word "caramel" on them, and no one will know the difference.
I'd like to try and adapt the recipe to make an "apples and honey" flavored thing by substituting honey for all the added sugar. Assuming 1.25lbs of honey has the same sweetening/fermenting power as 1lb of table sugar, my calculations say I should add 2.5lbs at the beginning and a little more than 2.5lbs more at bottling time (for priming and backsweetening). I'm pretty new at this, so does that sound like it would work? Or would I need to make other changes, too?
I'd like to try and adapt the recipe to make an "apples and honey" flavored thing by substituting honey for all the added sugar. Assuming 1.25lbs of honey has the same sweetening/fermenting power as 1lb of table sugar, my calculations say I should add 2.5lbs at the beginning and a little more than 2.5lbs more at bottling time (for priming and backsweetening). I'm pretty new at this, so does that sound like it would work? Or would I need to make other changes, too?
Id back sweeten it with the honey for honey flavor. Also i would boil it first. Honey is known to inhibit any bacteria growth but if there is bacteria in it (most likely there is) and you dilute it in apple juice, the properties of the honey that inhibit the growth will be too thin to stop the bacteria from growing. Ive heard of a story where someone forgot to add honey to the boil when making beer and added it while chilling the wort, only to find that the late honey addition contaminated the beer.
Oh and i brought a 6 pack of this cider too a party and gave it to the host to keep. She just threw it in the fridge and about 2 hours later tried one. She then ended up hiding the rest and was telling people how good it was and to try the bottle she was working on. People liked it so much they were stealing sips out of her bottle while she wasnt looking, and tried to find the rest that she hid. Had a couple dudes tell me its the best cider they ever had and that they normally hate cider. Great success!
Oh and i brought a 6 pack of this cider too a party and gave it to the host to keep. She just threw it in the fridge and about 2 hours later tried one. She then ended up hiding the rest and was telling people how good it was and to try the bottle she was working on. People liked it so much they were stealing sips out of her bottle while she wasnt looking, and tried to find the rest that she hid. Had a couple dudes tell me its the best cider they ever had and that they normally hate cider. Great success!
brewski09
Well-Known Member
So, about this honey debate. If you boil it at all you lose all those wonderful aromatic qualities from the honey. If you do that, you may as well add table sugar. I add my honey straight in without boiling or treating an have not had any honey related infections. I doubt this person with the beer picked it up from the late honey addition. Probably a siphon tube or racking cane that got a little too old or wasn't washed completely (those tips come off) or something.
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well im no expert on the subject and im just giving suggestions based off what i heard with contamination. Maybe pasteurize it some how in the jar it comes in so that nothing gets boiled off. 170 degree bath for 15-20 min to pasteurize.... . Also i would think if you added it before the fermentation that the yeast would just ferment the honey and thus losing the honey flavor? ive never used honey so idk....
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
I always thought mine was good when it hit the bottles, but I agree I always found the caramel part to be lacking.
But, last night I cracked a bottle from late last year and it was like drinking delicious caramel apple pie. It might get better for you too with some time to age.
tante
Well-Known Member
Sorry if this was already mentioned but i didn't read the entire thread. Has anyone used something like van gogh caramel vodka to get the caramel flavor? I made a graff last year and we would add a little vodka when we poured into a glass and it was insanely good. I may just dump a whole botte when i keg next time.
Ive had it with a shot of whipped cream vodka. Very good!!
I've been using cinnamon extract and putting a lot more than the recipe calls for since I like cinnamon flavor. Everyone who's tried it loves it. Says it's similar to the "Fireball" whiskey.
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
If it were me, I'd just add a hoot of vodka to each glass as it's served. Assuming you're doing a 5 gallon batch, that's a huge amount (read: expense) of vodka to get it working. TrustyOlJohnson did the math on the whipped cream vodka a while back and figured it would take too much to make it be worth it.
You may be able to get away with just adding some type of actual caramel sauce instead of the brown sugar primer indicated in the initial recipe. I can't say I've tried it personally but I feel sure it's been tried at some point.
+1 on the whipped cream vodka though. Hell add a shot of whipped cream AND caramel and have yourself a legit caramel apple pie drink...and probably a headache the next day to boot
If it were me, I'd just add a hoot of vodka to each glass as it's served. Assuming you're doing a 5 gallon batch, that's a huge amount (read: expense) of vodka to get it working. TrustyOlJohnson did the math on the whipped cream vodka a while back and figured it would take too much to make it be worth it.
You may be able to get away with just adding some type of actual caramel sauce instead of the brown sugar primer indicated in the initial recipe. I can't say I've tried it personally but I feel sure it's been tried at some point.
+1 on the whipped cream vodka though. Hell add a shot of whipped cream AND caramel and have yourself a legit caramel apple pie drink...and probably a headache the next day to boot
I was dating a girl a while back and served the shot of whipped cream vodka with this. She tasted it and jus took her panties off and threw em at me and said "Oh hell, might as well take em off now!" And I never looked back
Peruvian802
Well-Known Member
^^^ classy lady!!!
I value her honesty, if nothing else...
If it were me, I'd just add a hoot of vodka to each glass as it's served. Assuming you're doing a 5 gallon batch, that's a huge amount (read: expense) of vodka to get it working. TrustyOlJohnson did the math on the whipped cream vodka a while back and figured it would take too much to make it be worth it.
You may be able to get away with just adding some type of actual caramel sauce instead of the brown sugar primer indicated in the initial recipe. I can't say I've tried it personally but I feel sure it's been tried at some point.
+1 on the whipped cream vodka though. Hell add a shot of whipped cream AND caramel and have yourself a legit caramel apple pie drink...and probably a headache the next day to boot
Hey I only read to page 30ish before I went a head and made this. Then skipped to page 172. Are people haveing trouble with the Carmel flavor coming through?
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
I don't think it's a pervasive problem, no. In my experience it got much more caramel-y (and SOOO much better overall) with a few months to condition.
I'm making this for my wedding. It's been in primary for one week. Next week I'm gonna put it in secondary etc. Then I have one month to the day. Should I use more Carmel to get a little more flavor or just say screw it.
My last cider was a honey cider and about 3 weeks after bottling the honey was coming through well.
My last cider was a honey cider and about 3 weeks after bottling the honey was coming through well.
Yes. I keg. It works quite nicely in a keg. Not a lot of head, but it is lightly sparkling (not quite as carbonated as "sparkling grape juice" but not still either.)
Awesome! Did you just add the caramel to the keg and let it condition? Did you force carb?
I force-carb. What I typically do is pour the carmel sauce in and then pour the cider in on top of it. Maybe shake it up a bit to help it mix, then add CO2, purge the keg a couple times and then let it sit to carb. I typically put it on about 10-12 PSI. Works out beautifully.
Thanks for the info! Cant wait to try this out!
You're welcome. If you really want to be sure you get it all mixed well, I'd mix the syrup and the cider before I moved it to the keg. Or you can try moving it back and forth between a couple kegs by hooking the liquid posts together.
Note -- be sure the PRV is open before you try this. For 5 gallon batch of cider My OG was 1.068 fermented down to 1.020 which brewers friend calculated to be 6.3% ABV. What will it be after I add five 12 oz cans of AJ concentrate to backsweeten/ prime? How can I figure that out?
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Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
The goal after you backsweeten is to get the sweetness to where you want it for consumption. In other words, you don't want the FAJC to be fermented anymore, unless you're wanting to bump the ABV after the initial fermentation stopped.
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
At first glance it looks normal, how does it smell/taste?
That seems to be a very high level of krausen (the lines on the bucket) for a cider. Granted I only ever used Notty for this recipe but that seems huge!
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
You're right, the ABV will be diluted but most likely it won't be enough to make a difference.
If you're only adding about 60 ounces in a 5 gallon (640 ounces) batch, the difference with ABV is minimal.
If we were to figure it out though, it still wouldn't be truly accurate (though it definitely doesn't make a bit enough difference to matter here) to what's being consumed if you bottle condition and pasteurize, since a slight bit more is being produced.
Most people just find their ABV at bottling and call it a day
You're right, the ABV will be diluted but most likely it won't be enough to make a difference.
If you're only adding about 60 ounces in a 5 gallon (640 ounces) batch, the difference with ABV is minimal.
If we were to figure it out though, it still wouldn't be truly accurate (though it definitely doesn't make a bit enough difference to matter here) to what's being consumed if you bottle condition and pasteurize, since a slight bit more is being produced.
Most people just find their ABV at bottling and call it a day
That's what I do. If there's any topping off or additional liquid for sweetening, it does lower the abv but not much.
1. Smells tastes fine. First cider and never had much if any top floating trub with my beers. So this made me worry a little
2. Thanks that makes sense. So the little bit of dilution will be offset by the little bit of alcohol produced at conditioning.
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2. Thanks that makes sense. So the little bit of dilution will be offset by the little bit of alcohol produced at conditioning.
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pathofexcess
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Hi all,
I am planning a half batch of this and was curious: should I also halve the caramel syrup ingredient amounts? I was concerned that it may thicken up too much if I cut the amount of initial ingredients, so thought I would make the full amount of syrup but only put 6 of the 12oz in the bottling bucket.
I am planning a half batch of this and was curious: should I also halve the caramel syrup ingredient amounts? I was concerned that it may thicken up too much if I cut the amount of initial ingredients, so thought I would make the full amount of syrup but only put 6 of the 12oz in the bottling bucket.
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
There's no right or wrong amount to add (provided you follow proper pasteurization or stabilizing techniques).
That being said, halving the amount sounds like a good idea. You might even find that it's too sweet, and might want to cut back on the amount of syrup added.
It's all a matter of preference. Play around and find what you want
That being said, halving the amount sounds like a good idea. You might even find that it's too sweet, and might want to cut back on the amount of syrup added.
It's all a matter of preference. Play around and find what you want
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
There should be some sediment if you bottle conditioned (if you haven't already, make sure you've read up on the pasteurization thread in the Cider forum), as it's a natural byproduct of adding carbonation.
However, it should all be at the bottom of the bottle. Have you refrigerated it? Toss it in the fridge for a few days and see if that makes a difference.
Most people on here don't filter any of their brews, but make sure they leave the trub at the bottom of the bottle when pouring.
However, it should all be at the bottom of the bottle. Have you refrigerated it? Toss it in the fridge for a few days and see if that makes a difference.
Most people on here don't filter any of their brews, but make sure they leave the trub at the bottom of the bottle when pouring.
