blasterooni
PIpe line is now well established
Shoot, I have been meaning to post this for well over a month, but I have mentioned it here and there on HBT.
I decided to try "lagering" a cider to see how it turns out following a method I found online, with a twist or two. My goal is to make a cider from store bought juice, going very low and very slow hoping to preserve as much apple flavor as possible, and to see just how different the final result is compared to cider fermented fast and furious using kveik strains, which is what I use primarily to make cider. I checked the gravity today, and it is sitting at just about 1.000, the temp is currently at 66F and has been there for about 2 weeks.
Here is the method I came up with with some details first.
Start Date 01/24/2020
5 gallons of Ratzklaff Ranch Apple-a-Day Juice (I have found that it comes out rather tasteless when fermenting it with kveik, but its fine when combined with gravenstein juice)
OG: 1.062
Yeast: WYeast 2007
pH: 3.6
Additions:
1) Pectic Enzyme
2) Tannin 4g
3) Dextrose and Brown sugar (1c each)
4) No nutrients
Method:
I made a starter with the yeast to bring the cell count up since it was recommended to do so. I have no idea what the cell count was when I pitched, but the amount of slurry was about double what was in the vial. I started out by bringing the temperature to 65F and pitched the yeast, and once fermentation was off to a good start, about a day, I began dropping the temperature by 1 degree per day until it reached 50% sugar break. The temperature reached 36F. Then I raised the temperature 5 degrees F every 12 hours until it reached 66F, and left it there until today, since its at 1.000. From here, I will begin dropping the temperature by 5F every 12 hours until it reaches the lowest temperature that my mini fridge can go until its clear. I tasted the cider today, and its pretty darn good though it needed a little kick with some tannin (3g), and some malic acid (dropped it by one point), and I will taste again in few days, and will do an acid test then.
I decided to try "lagering" a cider to see how it turns out following a method I found online, with a twist or two. My goal is to make a cider from store bought juice, going very low and very slow hoping to preserve as much apple flavor as possible, and to see just how different the final result is compared to cider fermented fast and furious using kveik strains, which is what I use primarily to make cider. I checked the gravity today, and it is sitting at just about 1.000, the temp is currently at 66F and has been there for about 2 weeks.
Here is the method I came up with with some details first.
Start Date 01/24/2020
5 gallons of Ratzklaff Ranch Apple-a-Day Juice (I have found that it comes out rather tasteless when fermenting it with kveik, but its fine when combined with gravenstein juice)
OG: 1.062
Yeast: WYeast 2007
pH: 3.6
Additions:
1) Pectic Enzyme
2) Tannin 4g
3) Dextrose and Brown sugar (1c each)
4) No nutrients
Method:
I made a starter with the yeast to bring the cell count up since it was recommended to do so. I have no idea what the cell count was when I pitched, but the amount of slurry was about double what was in the vial. I started out by bringing the temperature to 65F and pitched the yeast, and once fermentation was off to a good start, about a day, I began dropping the temperature by 1 degree per day until it reached 50% sugar break. The temperature reached 36F. Then I raised the temperature 5 degrees F every 12 hours until it reached 66F, and left it there until today, since its at 1.000. From here, I will begin dropping the temperature by 5F every 12 hours until it reaches the lowest temperature that my mini fridge can go until its clear. I tasted the cider today, and its pretty darn good though it needed a little kick with some tannin (3g), and some malic acid (dropped it by one point), and I will taste again in few days, and will do an acid test then.
