Noob looking into brewing first cider

[TheUKPete]

Hi folks,

I've generally always preferred cider to beer. Over the last few years a few of my mates have been brewing their own beers. I've been bugging them to try a cider for a long time but I'm determined to get this done now. I'm getting married in August and I want to brew up a batch for my stag do. I like the sound of getting some rustic cloudy apple juice from a farm shop and using that as a base. I absolutely love Aspalls Peronelles Blush though so was wondering if I could use blackcurrant cordial (Ribena) in some way. Anyone got any advice on a simple recipe to create something sweet, tasty and boozy by July?


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[alane1]

To back sweeten with a cordial would require pasteurizing the cider, as for the recipe the rustic juice would work as long as it doesn't contain preservatives. Nottingham yeast is a good choice for cider. Are you familiar with using a hydrometer?

 

[BigFloyd]

+1 on Nottingham. It works great on cider, but you must use it in the upper 50's to mid-60's. Never warmer than 68*F.

If you don't mind serving your cider "still" rather than carbonated, that opens up the possibility of cold crashing then adding potassium sorbate + campden in the bottling bucket to inhibit yeast activity. Then you can backsweeten without further fermentation activity.

 

[icanbenchurcat]

It is more difficult to get a sweet and carbonated cider, but there are methods.

I prefer a dry, highly carbonated cider. Some people add juice to their glasses to sweeten


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[gratus fermentatio]

Hi folks,

I've generally always preferred cider to beer. Over the last few years a few of my mates have been brewing their own beers. I've been bugging them to try a cider for a long time but I'm determined to get this done now. I'm getting married in August and I want to brew up a batch for my stag do. I like the sound of getting some rustic cloudy apple juice from a farm shop and using that as a base. I absolutely love Aspalls Peronelles Blush though so was wondering if I could use blackcurrant cordial (Ribena) in some way. Anyone got any advice on a simple recipe to create something sweet, tasty and boozy by July?


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Any apple juice that is preservative free will make cider, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is OK though. Here's a really EASY recipe that most people like:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/man-i-love-apfelwein-14860/

Apfelwein can take a few months to get really good though. Here's a slightly more involved, but still really easy recipe that a lot of people (myself included) think is better (and better sooner) than apfelwein:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/

Here is some helpful info for cider components like yeast strains & types of added sugars:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/

And just in case you were thinking about a sweet, carbonated cider:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/

I think the addition of black currant juice would be good, but many of the Ribena products contain preservatives like potassium sorbate & that would best be avoided. Ribena does make preservative free juice, so just make sure you read the ingredients to make sure there are no preservatives.

Something else, Black currants have a LOT of ascorbic acid in them, that's why unsweetened, they're pretty tart. The fermentation is going to eat up those sugars & leave the acid, making it seem more tart. (A "tarted up" cider!) So you might want to go easy on the black currant, or if you plan on pasteurizing, you could add it at bottling.

I think you'll like the results you get from an ale yeast like Nottingham, you should still be able to reach a high ABV if that's something you're interested in. I've hit 9.5% ABV with graff & it was dangerously smooth.
Hope this info helps. Good luck & congrats on getting hitched.
Regards, GF.

 

[podz]

Pretty simple way to get sweet, strong, carbonated cider:

1. add 1kg sugar to 20 litres juice, as a ratio, in addition to your yeast. use some DAP as well or you'll be waiting 4 weeks before you can proceed.
2. bottle into pressure-rated PET when gravity has dropped to 1.020 (this is the rough border for cider sweetness)
3. put them somewhere cool, like a cellar

They will be crystal clear, sweet and highly carbonated after a few weeks.

If you try this with glass, they will most definitely all explode and violently. Not a problem with pressure rated PET bottles - I have done it many times already.

This stuff doesn't need to be as complicated and technical as a lot of people like to make it, but to each their own ;-)