Green Jolly Ranchers

[Barley-and-Hops]

So most of you purists will probably baulk at this thread which is totally ok...I was very skeptic at the idea at first. Being a novice apple cider maker my first batch was less than perfect. It was a college dorm room level 1 gallon of apple juice+champagne yeast (EC1118) and that was it. The alcohol level was very low and most of the apple flavor had fermented out. Although it was drinkable I had basically made an uncarbonated coors light with a slight apple flavor. So on my second batch I experimented with adding different sugars, I did a 3 gallon experiment, one had brown sugar (about a cup I think) the second had the same amount of brown sugar and 5 green jolly ranchers and the last had 12 green jolly ranchers. I like my apple cider with a green apple tartness to it so I may be a little bias but carboy number 3 tasted the best. It was still far from perfect but fairly drinkable. The brown sugar one still lacked that apple flavor and had kind of a molasses funk to it. My thoughts were that the yeast can ferment out the natural flavors of apples but were unable to ferment out the artificial ones and with such few jolly ranchers and being a mix it tasted natural. Nobody who drank it could guess there were jolly ranchers in there, but frowned when I said there were (understandibly.) Maybe theres something to this?

 

[Maylar]

Yuck.

If you want to add back some apple flavor, you can do it at the end ("bottling time", after fermentation is complete) by adding some apple flavor concentrate.

I recommend Nature's Flavors organic concentrates, like this one:
http://naturesflavors.com/organic-apple-cider-flavor-concentrate-27039

It's incredibly concentrated, and only a 1/4 teaspoon per gallon is needed. Any more than that and you get the jolly rancher artificial taste. It may seem expensive, but a 2 oz bottle will do about 50 gallons.

This suggestion no doubt will get the same roll-eyes from members here as the jolly rancher idea, but it works.

 

[phug]

How many grams of sugar in a jolly rancher? Would they be an effective priming dose? Food for thought

 

[gratus fermentatio]

This stuff tastes like green apple:
https://www.welchs.com/products/refrigerated-cocktails/star-fruit-kiwi-cocktail

There's also a hint of peach flavor, tho there's no peach in it. Green apple dominates. You could add some of this to your cider to get that green apple flavor.
Regards, GF.

 

[bernardsmith]

...Being a novice apple cider maker my first batch was less than perfect. It was a college dorm room level 1 gallon of apple juice+champagne yeast (EC1118) and that was it. The alcohol level was very low and most of the apple flavor had fermented out.

One of the secrets to a good cider is to use a good source of apple juice. The poorer the source of the juice the poorer the cider. A local farmers' market selling apple juice is going to provide you with far better juice than your supermarket's filtered juice.
Another secret is to use a less ferocious yeast. 71B has an affinity for malic acid - the main acid found in apples. You want to ferment the juice at the lowest optimal temperature for the yeast... At such temperatures the volatile flavor and aromatic molecules are not blown out the fermenter.
A third secret is that cider does not have to have a high ABV. You drink cider like beer and like most beers you want there to be a good balance between the tartness of the acids, the flavor of the sugar source (in this case the fruit) and the level of alcohol. Apples without added sugar will ferment to an ABV of about 5 or 6 percent...

 

[MindenMan]

I have a neighbor that was raised in apple country in California, and commented he has probably tasted every derivation that included apples and alcohol; wine, hard cider, applejack, you name it, and it was all pushed too far for the sake of high proof. I mention his comment for one reason; the 6 month old applejack he tasted last night was the best he had ever tasted. But the kicker is, he could not believe how simple it was to make. Okay, I did make it, but I am not blowing my own horn, as they say. In my previous posts, I talk about how I slowly ferment apple juice with only FAJC added to it to make applejack. It does take me almost two months to ferment a batch, as I add the FAJC one can at a time every two weeks or so ending with an ABV% of 18%. I then freeze the cider and pour off only two quarts or so of what should be the highest proof of the whole batch and lay those 12 oz bottles to age. What is left gets used in different ways, but does not get to age, as it is made into spritzers or shandys. When I first started making hard cider, I used aggressive yeasts, and produced a lot of low quality, alcohol hot tasting "rocket fuel". My results have been 100% reproducible from every batch I have made for almost two years.
Please forgive my long post as I only wrote it let more people know if they are patient and methodical, they can produce a product at home that will rival or exceed anything that can be purchased at a store, and for a lot less money.

 

[Barley-and-Hops]

MindenMan, I am very curious to learn more about this as it seems like a pretty sweet way to go about doing it. What strain of yeast and brand of juice/concentrate do you use? And what temp do you ferment at? do you add acid? Also how do you determine your abv once you have already started the ferm? I have a refractometer and hydrometer but I thought they only work with initial sugar content and don't mean much halfway through fermentation? Sorry for all the questions

 

[javalin]

So after reading this post, I decided to try going for the green apple flavor. After pasteurizing I dissolved 40 green apple jolly ranchers in one gallon of cider and force carbonated the batch. I wound up with a cider that tasted very much like a Somersby cider. For anyone who was curious what kind of result could be obtained.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Can't say I've ever heard of anyone using Jolly Ranchers to flavor a cider before. Guess there's a first for everything.

 

[MindenMan]

In my above post I mention laying 12 bottles down to age, yet I am only collecting 2 of the 4 quarts; 6 bottles is more like it...

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

How many grams of sugar in a jolly rancher? Would they be an effective priming dose? Food for thought

11g of sugar in 3 jolly ranchers acording to their website. Ive been meening to try that out myself, ive seen people make "wine" with it and use it in mead so it must be fermentable. Just dont use the chews, those have preservatives.

 

[MindenMan]

Eleven (11) grams of sugar is two average teaspoons; 4 times what would normally be used in one 12oz bottle for priming.

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

Yeah but thats for 3 peices. 1 peice would be about 3.6g

 

[MindenMan]

I missed the 3 pieces part, thanks for the correction...

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

Sorry I should have done the math before my first post