First try. What do you think?

[Pocketsx]

I've been making wine for years now and this will be my first attempt at cider. After a lot of reading on this site and a huge help from the author of "making homemade hard cider" I think I'm ready.

Let me know what you think of my method. It's basically the exact method described on the making homemade hard cider but I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything while reading. Please feel free to correct anything you see fit. To make this shorter I'll assume everything im using is clean.

1 Add one gallon of grocery store apple juice to a glass jug. Bottle claims is only contains juice from apples and victim c. (pasteurized)
2 Add approx 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Check with hydrometer. Looking for around 1.050 SG. Add more sugar to raise level if needed.
3 Add 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
4 pitch the yeast. I have two options both recommended on the MHHC site. Lavlin e1118 and Nottingham. Just not sure which to use. Is one best for a noob?
5 Cap the jug with an airlock and let er go. My room is approx 65 -70 degrees
6 after fermentation check with the hydrometer. Looking for around 1.005 - 0.99 rack it and let it go for another couple weeks.
7 back sweeten with xylitol to suit my pallet and bottle. I plan on using some champaign bottle I've left over.

I would of liked to back carb the bottles but I'm worried of making bottle bombs. If I cold crashed with Nottingham yeast could it start fermenting again if placed back in warm temps?

Let me know what you think.
Thanks

 

[UpstateMike]

1 Add one gallon of grocery store apple juice to a glass jug. Bottle claims is only contains juice from apples and victim c. (pasteurized)

Hmm, I've never tried fermenting the blood of my victims in with apple juice. Keep us posted on how this turns out. I wonder what they did with victim A and victim B.

4 pitch the yeast. I have two options both recommended on the MHHC site. Lavlin e1118 and Nottingham. Just not sure which to use. Is one best for a noob?

EC-1118 is a very hardy yeast, in my opinion a bit fast and a bit harsh for cider. It will turn your cider dry. It is what i turn to when I have a tough batch to ferment, like my lemon wine / Skeeter Pee.

Nottingham is an ale yeast, and one I use quite frequently. A bit slower fermentation, and I feel that it produces a fruitier result. Safeale S-04 is another that is similar to Nottingham.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

...victims...

I find this extremely funny for some reason...might be the excessing libations this evening.

 

[Kashue]

Bottle bombs will not be a big deal for you because you are adding so little sugar to begin with- you should see a pretty slow, consistent ferment and carbing will be slow too. You can reduce the risk by filling up a plastic soda bottle- when it is stiff with CO2, you're done. It's also possible to add enough sugar that you get carbonation but the cider is still sweet after arresting fermentation. But I use beer bottles, which are easier to arrest using stovetop pasteurization. Cold may be your only option.

 

[Pocketsx]

Thanks for the help.

 

[Pocketsx]

I transferred my batch into secondary today after just over two weeks. Gravity was 1.005. I've read a lot of posts about this point being the worst your cider will ever taste but to my surprise I thought it was dam good. I'll put it up against the strongbow I was drinking all weekend any day.

Am I correct in calculating the alcohol when I say the starting point was 1.056 and end was 1.005 so im looking at around 6.5% ?

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Did you end up going with the 1118 yeast option? The only reason I ask is because my nottingham is usually only at 1.020 at the 2 week mark.

Good to hear it turned out well for you!

You are correct on your ABV. I get 6.69% using this online calculator.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

 

[Pocketsx]

Thanks for the calculator link.

I used the Nottingham yeast. It was really slow. The quickest I seen the air lock move in over two weeks was once every six seconds. Room temp was around 67 degrees. I started a batch of white wine a few days after the cider and used the 1118 yeast. Wow did that take off. The airlock was dancing up to three times a second.

 

[ciderjunky]

notty should be kept on the lower side of the temperature spectrum. I've had good results at around 58 to 65 degrees. sounds like you did alright though.