Cider Guidance Needed (secondary additions)

[MikeyBrew11]

Hi all,

I am new to these forums (and to brewing cider). I started my first two batches a few months ago. My first batch using Pasteur Champage yeast turned out fairly disappointing (1 month in secondary before bottling), however I also made a Nottingham Ale yeast at the same time which I bottled last weekend after 2 months in tertiary (tasted a small sample at bottling and I think it turned out MUCH better...excited to try it starting next weekend).

I started two new 1 Gallon carboys a little over a month ago now (they have been in secondary for about 3 weeks). Before fermenting I placed in 6 oz of frozen apple concentrate to both. I'd like to add in something to these two batches to start playing with flavors...I'm open to both fruit and spices. My question is if there is any downside adding in fruit/spice this late in the game? My thought was to add perhaps a basket or two of fresh blackberries (boiled with 1 cup water and 1/2 cup table sugar) to the champagne yeast batch and then rack off fruit in 5-7 days (and let rest in carboy for another month until clear). I'm not really sure what will compliment the ale yeast batch. Any recommendations or things i should be aware of?

thanks everyone!

 

[CvilleKevin]

I've had good results with raspberries. Wildflower honey also works well with ale yeast.

 

[MikeyBrew11]

Did you just throw the raspberries in or did you boil in water and sugar? I've heard people doing both. I have some head space in my carboy and so my thought was that if i boil some sugar and water with the raspberry it will fill it up a little.

 

[CvilleKevin]

I puree the raspberries in the blender and add them a few days before cold crashing (at the end of primary fermentation). I use 18oz berries for 5gal cider

 

[MikeyBrew11]

I notice a lot of people on this forum use the cold crash method. My research prior to coming here led me to believe it worked better to let the brew ferment all the way and then back sweeten (I'm using lactose) and carb using dextrose.

What is the upside/downside?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Pumbaa]

toasted wood chips or cubes . . . soak them for a few hours in just enough vodka to cover them and toss them into your secondary for a couple weeks

I prefer these

 

[MikeyBrew11]

So I spruced up my Champagne yeast as mentioned above...I boiled 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup table sugar and 2 containers of fresh blackberries for a few minutes breaking up the blackberries with a fork. I let it cool for about 10 minutes and then racked my cider over it (1 gallon). I also threw in a 1/4 tsp of pectic enzyme. For the first 10 minutes or so the whole thing bubbled like crazy and I thought I might have a blow out...however after 15 minutes the bubbles completely subsided. Any idea what reaction was taking place in there???

I'm hoping that I'll see the fermentation pick up tomorrow after 24 to 36 hours as I'm sure the yeast were dormant.

 

[bwittman]

just out of curiosity, what didn't you like about the one you used champagne yeast on?

 

[MikeyBrew11]

It didn't taste too great in my opinion. Also, I'm not sure why but it never completed the fermentation...I don't think it did at least. I didn't have a hydrometer back then (just got one yesterday) so it's hard to say for sure. However I made a batch exactly the same but used Nottingham ale yeast and it tastes quite a bit stronger to me and had a much more active fermentation. The blackberry batch mentioned above hasn't bubbled once since those first 15 minutes....so far I'm 0 for 2 with Champagne yeast...not sure why.

 

[CadillacAndy]

Not a secondary addition, but I use pear juice and a little dextrose in my bottling bucket. Our local grocery store sells 32oz bottles of pear juice. It's a little chunky and unfiltered, but adds a great flavor to the end product. Just be ready to stove-top pasteurize. Check out the stickies above for more info on that.

 

[MikeyBrew11]

That is my plan with my current batch (pasteurize that is). Everyone on this forum seems to have a lot of success with it and I'm currently using lactose to backsweeten and I'm not sure how much of a fan I am of that. Also, my carb has been VERY low in both my ale and champagne yeast....how much priming sugar should i be adding for a 1 gallon batch.