Hard cider actually using cider!

[rjolin01]

I plan on brewing some hard cider using 5gal of actual cider and not apple juice or concentrate. I am using a wine yeast: Lalvin 71B-1122 which should leave some the actual apple flavor behind.

I am contemplating if I should/need to add any sugar to help with the conversion. I have seen people adding as much as 1lb per gallon of apple juice. Not sure what should add to cider. Gonna also add some pectin to help clarify.

 

[centralpabrewer]

Definitely add the pectic enzyme if you can a clear cider. Take an SG reading of the cider before you add anything. Determine what alcohol content you want your finished cider to have, then decide if you need to add sugar. Remember that cider will ferment to less than 1.000. You might also want to add some yeast nutrient as well.

I have a cider going right now that had an OG of 1.048. If this ferments out to about .999, the alcohol content will be about 7%, so i did not add any additional sugar.

 

[Yooper]

Using a wine yeast may well strip out all of the apple flavor. An ale yeast like so4 will probably give you more of what you are looking for.

Here's my hard cider recipe:

Press apples and crab apples in a good mix of tart, sharp, sweet and bittersweet
Add 1 campden tablet per gallon
12 hours later add pectin enzyme
12 hours after that, add yeast

That's it!

 

[rjolin01]

Lalvin 71B-1122: A rapid starting and constant fermenting semi-dry white wine yeast that will enhance fruit flavors and add fruity esters, ideal for fermenting with neutral grapes or concentrates. Limits phenol extraction and may neutralize up to 40% of malic acid producing a smooth and rounded "nouveau" wines that will mature quickly. A low foaming strain. Whites, roses, nouveaus and concentrates. Also known as the "Narbonne" strain. 59-89° F (15-° 30C) Alcohol Tolerance: 14%.

Enhance fruit favors. Hoping to also get little higher ABV with it. But not sure is plain cider has enough sugars in it to convert

 

[rjolin01]

Do people usually do a starter when making 5 gallon batches of cider?

 

[MaxStout]

Do people usually do a starter when making 5 gallon batches of cider?

Not with dry yeast. Just rehydrate per mfr's instructions.

 

[rjolin01]

I decided instead doing a five gallon batch with the wine yeast I would do a single gallon. So I simply poured a gallon of cider into a gallon fermenter added the pectin and eventually the yeast. Been about 5 days and I have seen very little bubbling in fermenter and none in air lock. I made sure no leaks and there are none.

I am wondering if I should of added some sugar for the yeast to munch on. I guess I could take a gravity reading. I didn't do an OG since gallon batch by I do have another gallon of cider I could us as a control.

Can I still add some sugar after yeast been added? Is it to far along to try this?

 

[JKaranka]

What is the difference between apple juice and cider in American English?

 

[phug]

What is the difference between apple juice and cider in American English?

Juice is filtered, cider is generally unfiltered. But I have seen filtered " cider"

 

[Yooper]

I decided instead doing a five gallon batch with the wine yeast I would do a single gallon. So I simply poured a gallon of cider into a gallon fermenter added the pectin and eventually the yeast. Been about 5 days and I have seen very little bubbling in fermenter and none in air lock. I made sure no leaks and there are none.

I am wondering if I should of added some sugar for the yeast to munch on. I guess I could take a gravity reading. I didn't do an OG since gallon batch by I do have another gallon of cider I could us as a control.

Can I still add some sugar after yeast been added? Is it to far along to try this?

You can always add sugar- but without knowing the SG and whether it's done fermenting, or if the yeast is dead, it would be a bad idea to add more sugar.

 

[rjolin01]

I am going to use the unused cider and test OG on it and then sneak a sample out of the one in fermenter and see where it's at

 

[z-bob]

My best hard cider (from cheap apple juice and a little sugar) has been with 71B yeast. I have an S04 batch going now, and I haven't tried D47 yet.

Premier Cuvee and EC-1118 strip out the apple flavor and accentuate the tartness. They worked okay for very strong apple wines where I just make 1 gallon and added a bunch of apple jelly and apple juice concentrate.

 

[2grit]

Using a wine yeast may well strip out all of the apple flavor. An ale yeast like so4 will probably give you more of what you are looking for.

Here's my hard cider recipe:

Press apples and crab apples in a good mix of tart, sharp, sweet and bittersweet
Add 1 campden tablet per gallon
12 hours later add pectin enzyme
12 hours after that, add yeast

That's it!

I'm pressing apples this week and making 6 gallons hard. Is one packet of S04 (11.5g) sufficient? Thanks

 

[Yooper]

I'm pressing apples this week and making 6 gallons hard. Is one packet of S04 (11.5g) sufficient? Thanks

Yes, it is. That's what I normally do.

 

[JKaranka]

Juice is filtered, cider is generally unfiltered. But I have seen filtered " cider"

Thanks! Didn't make much sense this side of the pond. I wonder what is the etymology of 'hard' before cider in the US, something to do with prohibition maybe? Apple juice / non alcoholic cider is a relatively recent thing anyway, as you couldn't really stop the stuff fermenting back in the day until refrigeration became widespread.

 

[rjolin01]

This is a picture of my cider that's been fermenting for about week and half. Haven't seen what I consider "normal" fermentation but I have never used wine yeast so maybe it's not as noticeable as beer yeast. I plan on doing a gravity reading today and if it shows nothing I will most like add some sugar and rest of the yeast packet which I have in freezer and see what happens.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1443021729.771688.jpg

I did use some pectin to clarify but what I am wondering is if I should siphon off the top of stuff that settled (which I don't think is yeast but "cider" sediment) or would it contribute to flavor more if I include the sediment?

 

[phug]

When you get the sediment in the bottle it looks gnarly until you pour it out. Sometimes it flips in the most unattractive way. Tastes good some times too though.

 

[slym2none]

I will most like add some sugar and rest of the yeast packet which I have in freezer

As I have recently found out, that cold of temps might actually damamge your yeast. I tried hydrating a half-pack pack of Nottingham I had in the freezer for ~2 months, and it did very little. I had to add fresh Notty to make it wake up.

 

[phug]

I'm going to chime in with the opposing view. I stick partial packs of yeast in the freezer and come back to finish them months later with no problems

 

[landwaster]

I add a bit of powdered tannin to get the juice a little closer to that made from true cider apples. I did some tests last year and recommend White Labs English Cider yeast. You can take a look at the discussion here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=503461