Quick drink cider

[reapernazara]

What is the highest alcohol cider you can make that is drinkable right after or very soon after fermentation? All that I have made are about 12% and need a few months aging. I'd like one that I could drink right away but I'd like it to be fairly high in alcohol.

 

[Yooper]

What is the highest alcohol cider you can make that is drinkable right after or very soon after fermentation? All that I have made are about 12% and need a few months aging. I'd like one that I could drink right away but I'd like it to be fairly high in alcohol.

You really have a choice here- quick and easy and lower ABV, or a wine (12% is a wine) that will take a bit to to age.

The easy early drinking cider is this- 100% apple cider + ale yeast.

I used S04 ale yeast the last time, and it cleared the cider well. I had a completely fermented clear cider in about 10 days, with an ABV of 6%.

Adding sugar boosts the alcohol level, but it changes the flavor (more "wine" instead of "apple cider") and it takes longer to age out.

 

[reapernazara]

So is 6% pretty much the limit? And if I use just apple juice/cider does it have to be ale yeast, or can I use d47 or k1v1116? I have quite a bit of those two yeasts but no ale yeast

 

[Yooper]

So is 6% pretty much the limit? And if I use just apple juice/cider does it have to be ale yeast, or can I use d47 or k1v1116? I have quite a bit of those two yeasts but no ale yeast

You can use any yeast you choose, but they do have different qualities. I really like k1-v1116 if I have tart apples that are especially high in malic acid, as that strain metabolizes more malic acid than other strains. But it takes longer, and it takes longer to clear, and it has a higher alcohol tolerance. So, there are some advantages (if you have high malic acid apples particularly) but some disadvantages also.

D47 is ok, but it also is a wine yeast strain that will remove much of the "apple cider" flavor from the cider. I love it in meads and chardonnays, as well as peach wines, but not so much in cider. If I'm doing MLF, that's a good strain but I never do MLF on cider.

 

[Hello]

You really have a choice here- quick and easy and lower ABV, or a wine (12% is a wine) that will take a bit to to age.

The easy early drinking cider is this- 100% apple cider + ale yeast.

I used S04 ale yeast the last time, and it cleared the cider well. I had a completely fermented clear cider in about 10 days, with an ABV of 6%.

Adding sugar boosts the alcohol level, but it changes the flavor (more "wine" instead of "apple cider") and it takes longer to age out.

Is that just apple juice and yeast? You didn't add sugar to ferment?

 

[Yooper]

Is that just apple juice and yeast? You didn't add sugar to ferment?

Correct. I took a bunch of apples (bittersweet, sweet, tart, and some very sharp crabapples), pressed them, and added yeast.

The OG was around 1.050 (don't have those notes right in front of me.)

Sugar ferments out completely- which boosts the ABV. I use it in apple wine. The thing is, when it ferments out it leaves nothing behind except alcohol so it means less flavor of apples and a bit of a drier finish. That sounds counterintuitive, but that makes sense when you remember that sucrose is 100% fermentable.

 

[Hello]

Correct. I took a bunch of apples (bittersweet, sweet, tart, and some very sharp crabapples), pressed them, and added yeast.

The OG was around 1.050 (don't have those notes right in front of me.)

Sugar ferments out completely- which boosts the ABV. I use it in apple wine. The thing is, when it ferments out it leaves nothing behind except alcohol so it means less flavor of apples and a bit of a drier finish. That sounds counterintuitive, but that makes sense when you remember that sucrose is 100% fermentable.

Thanks so much! I need a quick cider and I can back sweeten and stabilize before I keg.

 

[MindenMan]

Back sweeten with FAJConcentrate for a little more apple flavor. I now like Pasteur Red yeast for making ciders. It leaves a lot of the fruit flavor, ferments quickly, and isn't too finicky about fermentation temperature like most ale yeasts are. Granted, it will ferment down to 0.009 or so, but with stabilizing you can make it as sweet as you want in the keg.