Cider with black cherry juice - thoughts?

[Jimmycjacobs]

So, I’ve been thinking. I have had a long sabbatical from brewing do to space constraints but have now moved and am back in the game! I have been wanting to brew up a cherry-apple cider (emphasis on the cherry flavor). Here’s what I’m thinking:

Fermentation:
5 gallons Apple Cider
2 bags brown sugar
2 cans apple juice concentrate
Champagne Yeast

Post Fermentation:
3 or 4 cans of concentrate
2 32 oz bottles of Cherry Juice

The second dose of concentrate and the cherry juice would be for flavor and bottling conditioning (obviously checking often to make sure I don’t make bottle bombs).

Thoughts? Ideas? Recommendations?

 

[RPh_Guy]

That'll be way too much sugar for priming. I'd try with all the apple up front and then the cherry after the primary settles down. Add priming sugar in any form prior to bottling.
You're going to have a pretty high ABV.

I've had great results using flavoring (Brewer's Best), so there's an easy option.

 

[bmd2k1]

So, I’ve been thinking. I have had a long sabbatical from brewing do to space constraints but have now moved and am back in the game! I have been wanting to brew up a cherry-apple cider (emphasis on the cherry flavor). Here’s what I’m thinking:

Fermentation:
5 gallons Apple Cider
2 bags brown sugar
2 cans apple juice concentrate
Champagne Yeast

Post Fermentation:
3 or 4 cans of concentrate
2 32 oz bottles of Cherry Juice

The second dose of concentrate and the cherry juice would be for flavor and bottling conditioning (obviously checking often to make sure I don’t make bottle bombs).

Thoughts? Ideas? Recommendations?

Would be interested to hear what ya find the right ratio of cider to reconstituted black cherry juice to be [emoji57]

The fruit juice concentrates I use after fermentation have no h20 added...so 1-1.5/oz per gal is my sweet spot [emoji111]

Cheers & good luck!

 

[bmd2k1]

Would be interested to hear what ya find the right ratio of cider to reconstituted black cherry juice to be [emoji57]

The fruit juice concentrates I use after fermentation have no h20 added...so 1-1.5/oz per gal is my sweet spot [emoji111]

Cheers & good luck!

Just found & ordered some 100% black cherry juice concentrate (no h20) from vitacost.com - had very good reviews.

[emoji111]

 

[Jimmycjacobs]

That'll be way too much sugar for priming. I'd try with all the apple up front and then the cherry after the primary settles down. Add priming sugar in any form prior to bottling.
You're going to have a pretty high ABV.

I've had great results using flavoring (Brewer's Best), so there's an easy option.

Sorry for the late reply... I should have clarified, I am back-sweetening and priming at the same time with the intention of either cold crashing (short term storage) or “boiling” (longer term storage) to prevent bottle bombs. I am not a fan of sweeteners hence the convolution.

 

[Jimmycjacobs]

Would be interested to hear what ya find the right ratio of cider to reconstituted black cherry juice to be [emoji57]

The fruit juice concentrates I use after fermentation have no h20 added...so 1-1.5/oz per gal is my sweet spot [emoji111]

Cheers & good luck!

Yeah my idea is to check the gravity of some regular cider and sweeten to my preference then bring the batch up to that gravity with the cherry juice and apple concentrate before bottling. So as to prime and back-sweeten at the same time.

 

[bmd2k1]

Yeah my idea is to check the gravity of some regular cider and sweeten to my preference then bring the batch up to that gravity with the cherry juice and apple concentrate before bottling. So as to prime and back-sweeten at the same time.

What I like about the 100% fruit juice concentrates w/no h20 is it takes very little to get ya where ya wanna be & doesn't significantly impact ur ABV [emoji111]

 

[S-Met]

I would skip the brown-sugar additions unless you want a high abv. With apple and 2 cans fajc, you will probably have 7.5-9%abv. Adding 2 bags (assuming 1lb each) might push upwards of 11-12+%.

I would also consider 71B yeast. Its affinity for malic acid conversion will reduce some of the tartness. Hopefully enough to off-set the added tartness of the cherries. It also isn't as aggressive as champagne yeast, may end with a little residual sugar whereas champagne yeast will leave you dry.