Spiced Cider w/ AS-2 (Open for suggestions)

[tenordrummer4life]

Hey guys!
I'm relatively new at homebrewing so I decided to try my hand at making a cider. I picked up a packet of SafCider AS-2, rehydrated half of it, and pitched it into a plastic 3 gallon fermenter filled with Walmart apple juice. I didn't add any sugar before putting the airlock on.

I really wanted to make a nice Thanksgiving style cider with cinnamon and vanilla and such. Any recommendations for how much flavoring to add? Also, when and how should I add the flavoring as I've never done this before?

With this yeast, I plan to keep the temperature in the 70-75 F range throughout the fermentation. Is this a good temperature for a more mellow cider or should I try to make it colder?

I've also seen videos and posts on here saying to leave the cider to ferment for a month before bottling. Should I do that, wait longer, or bottle earlier?

Again, I'm quite new at this and would appreciate any helpful advice you could give. Thanks and cheers!

 

[JohnSand]

The temperature range for the yeast should be on the pack. I've only made a little hard cider, and I used natural farm cider without preservatives. I think I bottled mine in a few weeks, but aging is reported to help. My theory on spices is that not enough is way better than too much. When learning, I try to follow an established recipe. See if you can find something well tested online or in print.
Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Rish]

Welcome to cider making! If you scroll down from this forum a little way you'll find a cider recipe forum. Do a search for "holiday" and you'll get some good ideas. As for adding spices, i make a tincture by putting the spices in a jar and covering with 4 oz of vodka. I replace the lid and set it aside for a couple of weeks, giving it a couple of good shakes each day. When you're ready to bottle, strain out the spices and add tincture to the bottling bucket. I'd start with half and add more to your taste, gently stirring after each addition.

I try to keep my cider at 68°F in the fv. Good luck!

 

[Raptor99]

I have not made spiced cider, but I made an orange spice mead. The spices I used for 1 gallon were 1 cinnamon stick, one whole clove, one whole allspice. Using whole spices makes it easier to remove them later on.

You can start with some spices in the primary, then taste it once you rack to secondary. If the spice balance is not right, you can add some more spices in secondary. Using the amounts above, I ended up adding more spices in secondary.

Another method is to make a tincture as @Rish suggests. You will get a different type of spice flavor from spices in the primary vs. spices in secondary vs. a tincture. Experiment!

I try to ferment my ciders around 65-68 degrees F. A lower temperature seems to preserve more of the apple flavor.

 

[tenordrummer4life]

Thanks everyone for your help! I had primary fermentation at about 71 degrees ambient and it went great, finishing off after 7 days. Due to work and life, I waited another two days before adding the spices. I took the terminal gravity and saw it was 1.004, so the cider really dried out. I realized I didn't have time to make a tincture, so I added 1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract for my 3 gallons.
However, I should have taken more care when adding the spices because as soon as I added the vanilla, WHOOM. Got myself a cider volcano out of my fermenter. Luckily, I was in the kitchen so I could just put it in the sink. After the foam started to settle, I resanitized my airlock and put it back on. I let the fermenter sit for 5 more days, tasting each day. After I was happy with the flavor, I added white sugar to prime to 2.4 volumes and bottled.
I just bottled 2 days ago. I'll let you know how it tastes in a couple of weeks after it has had some time to condition. Thank you again everyone for your help!

I have a few other questions too. In the case of making my cider sweet, what should I do? I've read somewhere that you can add sugar to taste and then add the sugar for bottle priming. In this case, you would open bottles up each day until you hit the optimum flavor profile. Then, you would pasteurize and drink as you see fit. Would this be a viable option? I'm curious to try more experimental techniques like this, but I just want to ensure it's a good idea first.
Also, is there a way to sweeten the cider after I pull it out of the bottles without losing the carbonation? I would add sugar after, but wouldn't that just add nucleation points to the drink, allowing it to foam up? I'm quite curious.

Thank you once again for your help! I really appreciate all the advice everyone has given! I would love to hear any expertise you have with making ciders and such. Thanks and cheers!

 

[Rish]

There's a sticky at the top of this forum on pasteurization that should help. Also, if you make a simple syrup with water and sugar, honey, agave, etc., you can sweeten your sparkling cider without losing the sparkle. Good luck!

 

[epicarmyman101]

One thing I tried is to add pear juice (or concentrate) to primary, as it really doesn't add any pear flavor but it does bring a good amount of sorbitol which is a sweetner that won't ferment. I like my ciders on the dry side so its less of a challenge for me. You can buy sorbitol if you want to add a lot.