My first cider

[damnitbeavis]

Hey All-

Reading on HBT has gotten me interested in cider, so I figured I would give it a try. Picked up 5 gallons unpasturized apple juice from "apple a day Ratzlaff ranch" in Sebastopol while I was out there this morning. $7 each jug, and I was shocked to find the SG of the juice alone was 1.062. I had bought some local honey to put in, but I wanted something with an alochol level that wouldn't blow me away. The juice itself is actually quite dark, perhaps a little more brown than a pete's wicked ale. I pitched some nottingham dry yeast, used 1/2 tsp of wyeast yeast nutrient, and away we go.....

I'll post up what it tastes like as it goes, wish me luck!

 

[Stuntman]

Good luck, I have only done BrandonO's Graff. One gallon of beer from DME and 4 gallons of Apple Juice. I really like it, probably this 5 gallons makes twenty for me to date. Let us know how it turns out.....

 

[dinnerstick]

you have done a good thing. just give it lots of time

 

[damnitbeavis]

Well, fermentation had started this morning (10 hours or so after pitching), and when I got home from work, I saw that the fermenting cider had formed a krausen which went all the way up into bottom of the airlock, but fortunately didn't clog it. The krausen has now fallen down, and it is bubbling happily away at 68 degrees F. The room smells like fresh apples. Yum!

 

[DodginBUIs]

how long after fermentation finishes does it take for this stuff to condition or be drinkable? I think I'm going to try a cider for the first time next week and I'm curious.

 

[oldmate]

I would give it a good three months after fermentation in bulk aging.

 

[gregbathurst]

An sg of 1.062 shows they were good ripe apples, should make a good cider without any additions.

 

[Papagayo]

If you have the patience, try a few ounces a few weeks after fermentation ends, then put the cider out of mind for at least 3 months, preferably more like 6. I'll bet it will taste like rocket fuel the first time, and then quite nice, if not excellent, after the wait. This comparison, in my experience, makes it easier to wait the next time. After aging it will be totally dry, so it might be fun to experiment with sweetening, which you can do as you drink. Cheers! Just remember that if you sweeten the bulk batch it will start fermenting again shortly.

 

[damnitbeavis]

This cider was awesome after 2 months of aging, I drank it all up. Next time I will make a bigger batch! It didn't ferment totally dry, I ended up with 6.9% ABV, and didn't back sweeten, just force carbonated and drank.

 

[Papagayo]

Congratulations! Sounds like your cider turned out great.

A couple of curiosities:

What was your final gravity? I've had ciders finish naturally at 1.003-4 but not much higher, unless you start playing with it. If yours was higher, I'd love to know what you did

What psi did you force carb at?

 

[damnitbeavis]

I think it finished at about 1.010 or 1.012 or so. I think I carbed it about 12 psi at 40 degrees F. I really liked it. No tricks, just the juice, yeast, and wyeast nutrient.

 

[nukinfuts29]

This excites me even more about the stuff in my one tank

"He's a smart guy that Rick"