Hard Cider with mead influences

[Toko3D]

I ground about half dozen of each, Granny Smith Apples + Braeburn Apples in a blender after coring them leaving the skins on. I then simmered them in: 1 cup water with 1 Cup honey, stirred in ¼ Cup turbinado sugar + 2 Tablespoons of Molasses. I also miced 1/4 C of raisins for yeast nutrient. I then mixed them together and place in a stainless steel 1 gallon pot and heat on low with a pocket food thermometer reading 90-100 degrees. (As I knew from culinary school that the proper proofing temperature for yeast was 110 Fahrenheit, this was a safe but beneficial temperature IF my thermometer was off slightly.) This made an ideal environment for the yeast to reproduce.

Perhaps i COULD have wanted longer... although after sampling it didn't seem to be getting significantly stronger.

1 quart I carbonated by placing in a stainless steel vacuum thermos and adding 1 T honey. I allowed it to carbonate for a couple of hours at room temperature. Unfortunately so much carbon dioxide was produce that I need a channel locks plier to remove the the lid and "POP" in a champain like surge I lost about 1/4 to 1/3 of my 'apple champagne':cross:

Note I did NOT have a hydrometer, I relied on the approximations from this software I found on the Internet.

View attachment Cider-recipe-template-XML.xml

 

[Toko3D]

Ok, I was looking fot feedback, advice, comments or opinions. This was my first ever real brew. I am not counting that nasty garbage I made from baking yeast and grape juice concentrate! YUCK! I really put the poll out there to find a 'minimum' time. I honestly couldn't wait more than a week or two. Curiosity got me.

Any comments are MORE than welcome. Being a brewbie newbie, I am definitely looking for stuff for thought. Thanks for the read. Thanks more for the poll vote. Thanks incredibly for any comments.

 

[Thegreatestgray]

now i havent brewed a cider yet but with beer you have to put it in the primary for 2 weeks minimum 3 weeks is better from what i have read ciders need at lest a month then bottled and aged to make good cider. In brewing patience is extremely hard to learn but is well worth the pay off

 

[Kashue]

Cider sits in primary until it is dry, generally. With a sweet brew and a fast yeast like Nottingham this can take about 2.5 weeks, but I've had it take 2 months for similar results.

When it's dry, you rack it to secondary. If the cider is pretty close to how you want it, then as little as 3 weeks will do. If it's too edgy, go ahead and ferment it for a few months. A year seems to be about the longest you want to go, and generally you won't need that. Some folks rack to a tertiary jug or beyond (top up the mix with juice or distilled water as needed).

When the tone is right, bottle. A lot of people add flavors at this time, vanilla, cinnamon, and juice concentrate being popular. Add any sugar to back sweeten. If you want a still cider you can chemically arrest the yeast or pasteurize it at this time. Time to carbonate in bottles is around 5 days, or up to 2 weeks with a very dry or cold cider. When bottles open with a satisfying pop and hiss, fridge them or pasteurize.

In most cases cider benefits from extensive bottle conditioning. Your cider will get continually better as it sits in your fridge, usually reaching peak awesomeness in a month or so.

NOW, prepare for a barrage of TOTALLY DIFFERENT experiences .

 

[Toko3D]

As far as yeast go, so far I have used Lavalin-1118. In the idea again of bumping up the alc content (and hoping to leave some sweetness,) I put some clover honey in it. I heat the cider, dissolve the honey and cool it before putting the yeast in. I definitely don't wanna kill the yeasties by giving them a hot cider bath!

If I ended up more with apple wine though, that would be ok too. I drink both sweet and dry grape wines. So I am not hung up on it being super sweet. I just would prefer not to pucker like it is pinot noir, lol.