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Daddyfoxuk

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Hi all, im looking at making my Mrs some strawberry or raspberry cider... can anyone tell me the correct ratio of juice, sugar and water. Also what juice should I use...? Thanks for any advice :)
 
I've made great hard cider with everything from cheap frozen apple juice concentrate to expensive organic pressed apple cider.

These days, more often than not, I just use apple juice from Sam's Club or White House apple juice from the grocery store, which make great ciders. You will get higher quality hard cider out of higher quality juice, but the curve isn't as high as the higher costs. I can make a 5 gallon batch with Sam's Club apple juice for $19 that is about 90% as good as a $60 batch made from pressed cider.

I don't add any sugar or extra water, just the juice, which will yield a cider in the mid to high 5s ABV. I typically use Nottingham yeast. I would recommend NOT using Cider yeast or Champagne yeast.

Remember that just fermenting juice will yield a dry cider. If you want a sweet cider, you'll need to backsweeten. If that's your intention, let us know if you bottle or keg, and I can give you the procedure options.

Good luck!
 
I use fresh pressed for Apple cider and FACJ plus for flavored ciders.

I have used 3-5 cups sugar per 5 gal. juice but not anymore! Just juice and fruit from now on.

Notty or S-04 Ale yeast was my fav. But I am falling in love with Brewers Best Cider House Yeast.
 
Hi... I have the Nottingham yeast just cant decide which juice to use.... It is just juice then no water added...? Then add sugar...? Thanks
 
There is water and sugar in the juice. No need to add either.

For juice, I've made some of my best ciders with White House apple juice, which is a national brand you can get at the grocery store.
 
Do you bottle or keg? Very easy to backsweeten cider in a keg, a bit complicated to backsweeten cider in a bottle.
 
Hi, think i would be using bottles first... could u please explain how to do this using both...? Thanks
 
There are soooo many threads about back sweetening that explaining it here would surely omit something. Go back and read those threads then read the sticky on bottle Pasteurizing. That's important to do.
 
So after reading forever lol... im thinking a 1 gallon batch... starwberry 1l and 3.5l apple juice... pitch yeast... leave to ferment... bottle (plastic) add suger per bottle to carb and back sweeten at same point with non fermentable sugar... remember im a rookie and this will be my first real attempt. Cheers for any advice.
 
So after reading forever lol... im thinking a 1 gallon batch... starwberry 1l and 3.5l apple juice... pitch yeast... leave to ferment... bottle (plastic) add suger per bottle to carb and back sweeten at same point with non fermentable sugar... remember im a rookie and this will be my first real attempt. Cheers for any advice.

That'd be 2.5gal of apple juice. A gallon is only ~3.8 liters, so you'd need to be careful about over-filling. Just remember to taste it first before you backsweeten, that way you dont overdo it.
 
In my opinion, you are not going to be happy with a cider backsweetened with a non-fermentable. You want to use sugar, but you obviously can't just dump sugar in there, as the yeast will ferment it out.

The easiest (but still a PITA) way to backsweeten in a bottle is to add about 1/2-3/4 of sweet apple juice to the bottle. You then literally have to make an educated guess on when the bottle is carbonated but not over carbonated (about 2-3 days, but very unpredictable), and either pasteurize by heating each bottle to 180 for 2-3 minutes or 140 for 10-15 minutes (sliding scale in between), or put the bottles at fridge temps in perpetuity until they are consumed to hibernate the yeast.

You can also add camden tabs to each one, but that can get a bit pricey and add a bit of a sulfury tinge to the final product.

The way the commercial cider makers do it is they typically add concentrated liquid sugar or sweetened juice to the precarbonated hard cider on the bottling line, cap, then run them through a pastuerization tube (like a counterflow chiller with a tube within a tube, bottle inside, hot water outside) where hot water kills the yeast.

In a keg (and this is how I do it), just add 1/2 a gallon of sweet apple juice to 4.5 gallons of fermented hard cider, and put it in the kegerator at fridge temps. Done.

PITA in bottles. Pretty easy in kegs if you have a refrigerated serving chamber.
 
I would suggest fermenting the apple juice by itself until almost finished, and than add the strawberry. Theoretically, there will be more strawberry flavor at the end due to less total time off gassing. I may be completely wrong, but I am running an experiment of my own. I poured out a pint of apple juice from gallon jug added back a 12 oz can of apple juice concentrate. I will let it ferment almost out, add another 12oz can-after pouring out 12 oz into another fermenter, ferment again and this time after tapping off 12 oz, will add a 12 oz can of apple-cherry concentrate, ferment almost completely and put into freezer to jack it. The following batch will be the same, except I will add the mixed flavor concentrate first. That way after freezing I can see if there is a huge difference in the flavor before bottling.

EDIT: My O.G. with one 12oz can of concentrate was 1.070, and one week later it was 1.004, and with another can added, in four days the S.G was 1.000. I just added a can of apple-cherry, and since I want to leave a tiny bit of residual sugar, I will have to taste it everyday until it gets close enough. It doesn't take long for a healthy batch of cider to burn through 0.020 worth of sugar.
 
Ok guys thanks for all the advice... think ill be starting on saturday one more question... how much yeast should i be using for a 1 gallon batch...? Thanks
 
Hi, looked at that calculator... does 2.5 grams sound about right for a 1 gallon batch?
 
Most yeast packets say 3-6 gal. I just split one packet between two 1 gal. batches.
 
Cool, my nottingham yeast comes in an 11g pack...?

Nottingham is .5 to 1.0 grams per liter for dosing. Since a gallon is around 3.8 liters, that means you need ~2.0-3.8 grams of Notty per gallon. My first batch was done at about the 3.8gram mark, and my second batch was done at the 3gram mark. Out of the same 11gram packet no less. My third gallon batch I'll be recovering the yeast out of the yeast cake and using that if the remaining yeast in the packet are no longer viable.


edit: woops, forgot to mention, if you arent using the entire packet at the same time, fold over the open end once, then using scotch tape, tape the folded end to the main part of the packet, sealing the opened area. Then place it in a ziploc bag (serving size bags are perfect), press out the air, then close the bag. Store in fridge and it'll hold viability for at least 1-2 weeks.
 
Hi all, just started a 1 gallon batch... og was just over 1.40 is this looking good? Was origially 1.35 so i added a wee bit more sugar.... used nottingham yeast. What can i expect? Thanks
 
Rhino farts. You can expect rhino farts. You might want to watch your decimal places though, you wrote 1.400, I am fairly sure you meant 1.040. I'm just sayin' mate. ABV of 4.1%, or so. I don't know if you have ready access to a LHBS or not. If not, boil 1/2 tsp baking yeast in water or a small amount of cider and add it to your fermenter. I could not believe killing bakers yeast and feeding it to live yeast would make a difference, but now I am a believer. At $3.00 US for a pound of bakers yeast, that is the cheapest nutrient I can think of.
 
Hi, day 7 fermentation seems to have stopped... no bubbles in the air lock but bubbles in the juice / cider itself. What does this mean...? Took a reading its down to about 1020. Its also very cloudy... thanks for any advice.
 
Hi, day 7 fermentation seems to have stopped... no bubbles in the air lock but bubbles in the juice / cider itself. What does this mean...? Took a reading its down to about 1020. Its also very cloudy... thanks for any advice.


If bubbles are rising the airlock should bubble. Make sure the stopper/bung and airlock aren't leaking. I've had that problem before. If you use the S shape airlock and the fluid in both sides is the same its a good sign there is a leak.
 
Checked it looks like you were right i had a leak going on... its bubbling away now... its still really cloudy tho... is there anything i could be doing to help clear? Thanks
 
Hi guys, my cider is still bubbling away it's now day 14... took a reading yesterday and it's down to 1006... still looks cloudy just wondering I didn't add any pectolase at the beginning is it possible to add now or after fermentation has finished? It's smells ok and dosent taste bad either. Thanks for any advice.
 
Hi guys, my cider is still bubbling away it's now day 14... took a reading yesterday and it's down to 1006... still looks cloudy just wondering I didn't add any pectolase at the beginning is it possible to add now or after fermentation has finished? It's smells ok and dosent taste bad either. Thanks for any advice.

I'm a beginner as well when it comes to Cider Making. I'd use Sparkloid to clean up the clumsiness. It can be used after fermentation. It will bond all the proteins and stuff to the bottom. It would go in the secondary for clarification. It will take a few weeks for it all to settle and clean up nicely.
 
Hi guys, my cider is still bubbling away it's now day 14... took a reading yesterday and it's down to 1006... still looks cloudy just wondering I didn't add any pectolase at the beginning is it possible to add now or after fermentation has finished? It's smells ok and dosent taste bad either. Thanks for any advice.

Add pectic enzyme after fermentation and racking to secondary. I added it post ferment on my current batch and within a week is clear from a previously very cloudy and muddy looking liquid ( a few more days should get to brilliantly clear).
 
Add pectic enzyme after fermentation and racking to secondary. I added it post ferment on my current batch and within a week is clear from a previously very cloudy and muddy looking liquid ( a few more days should get to brilliantly clear).

Is that like the peclin like making Jelly?
 
Pectin is what you need to make Jelly. Pectin enzyme is what you need to break down pectin. Use it so cider doesn't look like jelly. I always add mine before yeast and primary fermentation. Don't know if it works later. Doesn't work after heating cider up too much. I've never used sparkoloid or similar clearing agents. My ciders clear within a month after primary fermentation is done and without cold crashing. Crystal clear!
 
Pectin is what you need to make Jelly. Pectin enzyme is what you need to break down pectin. Use it so cider doesn't look like jelly. I always add mine before yeast and primary fermentation. Don't know if it works later. Doesn't work after heating cider up too much. I've never used sparkoloid or similar clearing agents. My ciders clear within a month after primary fermentation is done and without cold crashing. Crystal clear!

Gotcha.
 
Morning guys, took a reading last night its now down to 1.000 this meaning it's done...? Left the sample in a glass over night but there's loads of like sediment in the bottom of the glass this morning is this normal and how do I get this to dissappear? Cheers all!
 
Morning guys, took a reading last night its now down to 1.000 this meaning it's done...? Left the sample in a glass over night but there's loads of like sediment in the bottom of the glass this morning is this normal and how do I get this to dissappear? Cheers all!

Did you ever add pectic enzyme? (I assume its very cloudy)
 
I have added it but a few days after fermentation had started... It is very cloudy yes :( please help!
 
It could be done. It could be done at 1.004 or 1.000 or 0.996
The way to know is if the S.G. stays the same for several days.
 
I have added it but a few days after fermentation had started... It is very cloudy yes :( please help!


Even with adding pectic enzyme, you can still get sediment dropping. It will slow down but takes months to stop completely.

But it should clear a lot within 2-4 weeks. Give it time.
 
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