canuckbrew
Member
So I am getting back into wine making after decades away and I wanted to start with cider. I have access to wild trees but of course no apples are ready right now.
To scratch my fermenting itch, I thought I would try my hand at making hard cider from available processed juice. To that end I looked here and selected 3 recipes that looked good, not too complicated and had lots of reviews.
To that end I chose:
Pappy`s Pub Cider - Award Winner!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/pappy-s-pub-cider-award-winner.408610/
EdWort's Apfelwein
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/edworts-apfelwein.33986/
Graham's English Cider
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/grahams-english-cider.107152/#post1178634
So now that I had my 3 recipes, my scientist background (and obsessive compulsive tendancies) came forward and made me wonder what is the ‘best’ yeast and ‘best’ juice to use for each.
So in the end I decided to experiment with a total of 12 different single gallon fermentations of combinations of different recipes/juice/yeast.
Of course I ideally want fresh pressed, preservative free, non-pasturized juice from cider apples. Per Claude Jolicour’s fantastic website and book the ideal juice would have the following charastitics:
SG 1.060 (minimum 1.050, best 1.070)
TA 0.45% - 0.8% as Tartaric acid (4.5 – 8 g/L)
Sparkling type, we would try to be in the upper limit of this range (i.e. 0.8% TA), flat styles with high tannins would be lower (0.45-0.6).
Instead it is summertime and so I have to accept what I can find. The only preservative free, non-concentrated juice I could find was from Whole Foods. Yes, I console myself that for $17-18/gallon at least I get a ‘free’ glass carboy. I got 2 varieties from Whole Foods, then a fresh pressed but WITH Sorbate from Costco and a 'from concentrate' without preservative (except vit C) from Costco as well.
The Apples:
1) Filsingers organic pasturized apple juice from Whole Foods. ($17.99 / 3.89L – OUCH!!!)
SG 1.048, pH 3.2, TA 10.22-10.44 g/L
Taste: Off sweet. More puckering acidity. Not much apple flavor though. Over-pasteurized with precipitate at the bottom.
2) 365 Whole Foods brand organic pasteurized apple juice ($16.99 / 3.89L – OUCH!)
SG 1.054, pH 4, TA 3g/L
Taste: Very flavorful, nearly pear tasting. VERY sweet. No acid at all. Pasteurized but still cloudy.
3) ‘Traditions’ fresh pressed apple juice WITH Potassium Sorbate (Costco – I don’t remember, I think $6.99/4L)
SG 1.040, pH 3.8, TA 5g/L
Taste: Very flavorful. VERY sweet. Mild acid. Pasteurized but still cloudy.
**** I will be over yeasting with a vigorus yeast (1118) to try and overwhelm the Sorbate.
4) Rougemont ‘Mellow’ apple juice from concentrate (Costco – $12.39/12L)
SG 1.040-1.042, pH 3.8-4.0, TA 4.33g/L
Taste: Off sweet. No acid. Mild apple flavor, better than Filsingers. From concentrate.
As you can see there is not enormous variations in SG or pH between juices but acidity varied from 3 to 10.44 g/L!
At bottling I will probably adjust some bottles with malic acid to a TA of 5g/L (flat) or 8g/L for sparkling. Other bottles I will leave unadjusted to do a true comparison of the baseline recipe.
The Yeast:
For yeasts I read through every thread of each recipe and compiled what yeasts sounded popular OR had a particular singular rave review.
For Pappy`s Pub Cider I am using 1118 per the recipe for all juices because at that sugar concentration you need something that can handle the alcohol. Juices are Filsingers, 365, Traditions and Rougemont.
For EdWort's Apfelwein I am trying 1118 (could not find Montrachet anywhere local) with both Rougemont and Traditions juice. D47 and Coopers Ale yeast with Rougemont.
For Graham's English Cider I am trying Nottingham and S-04, both with both Filsingers and Rougemont juice.
I resuspended all yeasts based upon the manufactures recommendations. Traditions sorbated juice got ½ pack of yeast in 1 gallon, all the rest got around 1/2-3/4 teaspoons per gallon.
The Sugar:
Based on the amazing work of CvilleKevin, I have used his recommended mixture of 2/3 turbinado (Costco organic sugar brand) and 1/3 dextrose for my chaptalization sugars.
What Sugar Is Best?
EdWort's Apfelwein and Pappy`s Pub Cider simply had their sugar reduced proportionally for 1 gallon no matter the initial sugar content of the juice. For Graham's English Cider I adjusted sugar to a calculated SG target of 1.070 (I did not retest because I did not want to lose 70-80ml of my precious juice measuring the SG again because I throw it away instead of returning it to the carboy and risking contamination.
The Acid:
As mentioned, I think 365 and perhaps Rougemont are going to be too bland at low acid. Perhaps Traditions as well. I will probably experiment with different concentrations of Malic acid (perhaps also compare to Acid Blend). Can’t do too much with only 1 gallon, the flat or low carbonation recipes can be bottled in Grolsch bottles at a smaller volume for a larger number of variations.
The Carbonation:
Depending on the recipe I will either bottle flat, primed for carbonation, or a mix of both to compare. Based on the taste I might use frozen concentrated apple juice vs dextrose for the priming sugar.
Conclusion for now:
So there you go. For now all twelve 1 gallon batches are in my basement. Most were just pitched tonight but the 2 Traditions with a ½ pack each of 1118 are bubbling away DESPITE the presence of sorbate so one experiment is working already!
Recipes for 1 gallon:
So if you are curious exactly how I manipulated the recipies for 1 gallon:
Pappy’s:
Tradition 18/07/07 am with ½ pack yeast., all others 18/07/07 PM Filsingers, 365, Rougemont = 4 x 1 gallon
1 Gallon Apple Juice. 908g sugar (600g organic, 300g dextrose)
5ml nutrient
All 1118 yeast
Pour ½ juice in carboy. Add sugar and nutrient – mix like crazy. Add rest of juice then add ½ teaspoon of resuspended yeast (except tradition, use 1/2 of package resuspended) then rinse with juice.
To do:
Primary till all bubbling of the air lock stops then wait a week. After the week is up rack to 2ndary (optional)
I used "super-kleer K.C."{kieselsol-chitosan} in 2ndary (optional) to clear the cider and the stuff is amazing. Cold crash in the freezer for an hour and bottle.
Adjust acid? Prime?
18/07/07 am
EdWort's Apfelwein:
1118 (Rougemont + Tradition), D47 (Rougemont), Coopers (Rougemont). = 4 x 1 gallon.
1 Gallon Apple Juice. 181g sugar (120g organic, 61g dextrose), 5ml nutrient
Pour ½ juice in carboy. Add sugar and nutrient – mix like crazy. Add rest of juice then add ½ (I used ¾) teaspoon of resuspended yeast (except more in Tradition – ½ pack) then rinse with juice.
To do:
It will become cloudy in a couple of days and remain so for a few weeks. In the 4th week, the yeast will begin to drop out and it will become clear. After at least 4 weeks, you can keg or bottle, but it is ok to leave it in the carboy for another month or so. Racking to a secondary is not necessary. It ferments out very dry (less than 0.999, see here)
If you want to bottle and carbonate, ¾ cup of corn sugar will work fine. Use as you would carbonate a batch of beer.
Adjust acid? Prime?
Graham's English Cider
Nottingham + S-04. Filsingers (x2) + Rougemont (x2) = 4 x 1 gallon.
1 Gallon Apple Juice. Sugar to bring to 1.070 (2/3 organic, 1/3 dextrose), 5ml nutrient, 0.8 tea bag. 1/5 lime juice.
Take juice of 1 lime and add to 3 cups water and boil. Steep 4 bags of tea for 7-10 min. Let cool a bit then add 150 ml to each carboy. (I only had 50 ml left over after putting 150ml in each instead of the 150ml I should have had so this might be more tannic than I wanted)
Pour ½ juice in carboy.
Add 5ml nutrient. Add sugar.
Filsingers SG 1.054 = 9oz sugar = 255g. 170g organic, 85g dextrose.
Rougemont SG 1.040 = 11oz sugar = 312g. 208g organic. 104g dextrose.
(to carboy via funnel then juice to rinse. Shake to aerate. Finally add ½ teaspoon.of resuspended yeast.
To do:
Primary for one month, then rack to secondary, topping off with juice. Leave in secondary until crystal clear (usually 2-3 months or so from pitching) then bottle with 4oz priming sugar.
Adjust acid? Prime?
To scratch my fermenting itch, I thought I would try my hand at making hard cider from available processed juice. To that end I looked here and selected 3 recipes that looked good, not too complicated and had lots of reviews.
To that end I chose:
Pappy`s Pub Cider - Award Winner!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/pappy-s-pub-cider-award-winner.408610/
EdWort's Apfelwein
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/edworts-apfelwein.33986/
Graham's English Cider
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/grahams-english-cider.107152/#post1178634
So now that I had my 3 recipes, my scientist background (and obsessive compulsive tendancies) came forward and made me wonder what is the ‘best’ yeast and ‘best’ juice to use for each.
So in the end I decided to experiment with a total of 12 different single gallon fermentations of combinations of different recipes/juice/yeast.
Of course I ideally want fresh pressed, preservative free, non-pasturized juice from cider apples. Per Claude Jolicour’s fantastic website and book the ideal juice would have the following charastitics:
SG 1.060 (minimum 1.050, best 1.070)
TA 0.45% - 0.8% as Tartaric acid (4.5 – 8 g/L)
Sparkling type, we would try to be in the upper limit of this range (i.e. 0.8% TA), flat styles with high tannins would be lower (0.45-0.6).
Instead it is summertime and so I have to accept what I can find. The only preservative free, non-concentrated juice I could find was from Whole Foods. Yes, I console myself that for $17-18/gallon at least I get a ‘free’ glass carboy. I got 2 varieties from Whole Foods, then a fresh pressed but WITH Sorbate from Costco and a 'from concentrate' without preservative (except vit C) from Costco as well.
The Apples:
1) Filsingers organic pasturized apple juice from Whole Foods. ($17.99 / 3.89L – OUCH!!!)
SG 1.048, pH 3.2, TA 10.22-10.44 g/L
Taste: Off sweet. More puckering acidity. Not much apple flavor though. Over-pasteurized with precipitate at the bottom.
2) 365 Whole Foods brand organic pasteurized apple juice ($16.99 / 3.89L – OUCH!)
SG 1.054, pH 4, TA 3g/L
Taste: Very flavorful, nearly pear tasting. VERY sweet. No acid at all. Pasteurized but still cloudy.
3) ‘Traditions’ fresh pressed apple juice WITH Potassium Sorbate (Costco – I don’t remember, I think $6.99/4L)
SG 1.040, pH 3.8, TA 5g/L
Taste: Very flavorful. VERY sweet. Mild acid. Pasteurized but still cloudy.
**** I will be over yeasting with a vigorus yeast (1118) to try and overwhelm the Sorbate.
4) Rougemont ‘Mellow’ apple juice from concentrate (Costco – $12.39/12L)
SG 1.040-1.042, pH 3.8-4.0, TA 4.33g/L
Taste: Off sweet. No acid. Mild apple flavor, better than Filsingers. From concentrate.
As you can see there is not enormous variations in SG or pH between juices but acidity varied from 3 to 10.44 g/L!
At bottling I will probably adjust some bottles with malic acid to a TA of 5g/L (flat) or 8g/L for sparkling. Other bottles I will leave unadjusted to do a true comparison of the baseline recipe.
The Yeast:
For yeasts I read through every thread of each recipe and compiled what yeasts sounded popular OR had a particular singular rave review.
For Pappy`s Pub Cider I am using 1118 per the recipe for all juices because at that sugar concentration you need something that can handle the alcohol. Juices are Filsingers, 365, Traditions and Rougemont.
For EdWort's Apfelwein I am trying 1118 (could not find Montrachet anywhere local) with both Rougemont and Traditions juice. D47 and Coopers Ale yeast with Rougemont.
For Graham's English Cider I am trying Nottingham and S-04, both with both Filsingers and Rougemont juice.
I resuspended all yeasts based upon the manufactures recommendations. Traditions sorbated juice got ½ pack of yeast in 1 gallon, all the rest got around 1/2-3/4 teaspoons per gallon.
The Sugar:
Based on the amazing work of CvilleKevin, I have used his recommended mixture of 2/3 turbinado (Costco organic sugar brand) and 1/3 dextrose for my chaptalization sugars.
What Sugar Is Best?
EdWort's Apfelwein and Pappy`s Pub Cider simply had their sugar reduced proportionally for 1 gallon no matter the initial sugar content of the juice. For Graham's English Cider I adjusted sugar to a calculated SG target of 1.070 (I did not retest because I did not want to lose 70-80ml of my precious juice measuring the SG again because I throw it away instead of returning it to the carboy and risking contamination.
The Acid:
As mentioned, I think 365 and perhaps Rougemont are going to be too bland at low acid. Perhaps Traditions as well. I will probably experiment with different concentrations of Malic acid (perhaps also compare to Acid Blend). Can’t do too much with only 1 gallon, the flat or low carbonation recipes can be bottled in Grolsch bottles at a smaller volume for a larger number of variations.
The Carbonation:
Depending on the recipe I will either bottle flat, primed for carbonation, or a mix of both to compare. Based on the taste I might use frozen concentrated apple juice vs dextrose for the priming sugar.
Conclusion for now:
So there you go. For now all twelve 1 gallon batches are in my basement. Most were just pitched tonight but the 2 Traditions with a ½ pack each of 1118 are bubbling away DESPITE the presence of sorbate so one experiment is working already!
Recipes for 1 gallon:
So if you are curious exactly how I manipulated the recipies for 1 gallon:
Pappy’s:
Tradition 18/07/07 am with ½ pack yeast., all others 18/07/07 PM Filsingers, 365, Rougemont = 4 x 1 gallon
1 Gallon Apple Juice. 908g sugar (600g organic, 300g dextrose)
5ml nutrient
All 1118 yeast
Pour ½ juice in carboy. Add sugar and nutrient – mix like crazy. Add rest of juice then add ½ teaspoon of resuspended yeast (except tradition, use 1/2 of package resuspended) then rinse with juice.
To do:
Primary till all bubbling of the air lock stops then wait a week. After the week is up rack to 2ndary (optional)
I used "super-kleer K.C."{kieselsol-chitosan} in 2ndary (optional) to clear the cider and the stuff is amazing. Cold crash in the freezer for an hour and bottle.
Adjust acid? Prime?
18/07/07 am
EdWort's Apfelwein:
1118 (Rougemont + Tradition), D47 (Rougemont), Coopers (Rougemont). = 4 x 1 gallon.
1 Gallon Apple Juice. 181g sugar (120g organic, 61g dextrose), 5ml nutrient
Pour ½ juice in carboy. Add sugar and nutrient – mix like crazy. Add rest of juice then add ½ (I used ¾) teaspoon of resuspended yeast (except more in Tradition – ½ pack) then rinse with juice.
To do:
It will become cloudy in a couple of days and remain so for a few weeks. In the 4th week, the yeast will begin to drop out and it will become clear. After at least 4 weeks, you can keg or bottle, but it is ok to leave it in the carboy for another month or so. Racking to a secondary is not necessary. It ferments out very dry (less than 0.999, see here)
If you want to bottle and carbonate, ¾ cup of corn sugar will work fine. Use as you would carbonate a batch of beer.
Adjust acid? Prime?
Graham's English Cider
Nottingham + S-04. Filsingers (x2) + Rougemont (x2) = 4 x 1 gallon.
1 Gallon Apple Juice. Sugar to bring to 1.070 (2/3 organic, 1/3 dextrose), 5ml nutrient, 0.8 tea bag. 1/5 lime juice.
Take juice of 1 lime and add to 3 cups water and boil. Steep 4 bags of tea for 7-10 min. Let cool a bit then add 150 ml to each carboy. (I only had 50 ml left over after putting 150ml in each instead of the 150ml I should have had so this might be more tannic than I wanted)
Pour ½ juice in carboy.
Add 5ml nutrient. Add sugar.
Filsingers SG 1.054 = 9oz sugar = 255g. 170g organic, 85g dextrose.
Rougemont SG 1.040 = 11oz sugar = 312g. 208g organic. 104g dextrose.
(to carboy via funnel then juice to rinse. Shake to aerate. Finally add ½ teaspoon.of resuspended yeast.
To do:
Primary for one month, then rack to secondary, topping off with juice. Leave in secondary until crystal clear (usually 2-3 months or so from pitching) then bottle with 4oz priming sugar.
Adjust acid? Prime?
