Standard Hard Cider Recipe?

[onipar]

I've done a number of searches for hard cider recipes, but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

I'd like to make a sweet, still hard cider. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I don't want to make the Apfelwein. I've seen that recipe, and it's not quite what I'm looking for.

There are also a few things I've read in passing, but aren't completely explained, and so I'm confused about:

1. Should I use campden tablets when making hard cider, or is there a better way, or should I do nothing (I've read many recipes that say to simply put cider and yeast in a carboy, and that's it).

2. Will I have to back sweeten for a sweet hard cider? If so, what is the method of doing this?

3. Are most commercial hard ciders (woodchuck, etc) still, or sparkling? I haven't had a hard cider since college and I can't remember. What is the preferred way to make hard cider (still vs. sparkling). I figure it's mostly preference, but I haven't had it in so long, I don't necessarily know what I'd like better.

4. Is there anything different/special I should know about bottling? I'm only familiar with beer bottling.

5. A lot of threads say the cider should be aged for quite a while, but they don't specify if this is aging in the carboy or the bottle. Which is it?

If you have a recipe/link that covers everything, I'd be majorly appreciative. Sorry for all the questions, but the information on hard cider seems to be sort of mixed.

Thanks!

 

[Stuntman]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/

I have done this one several times. It will knock you on your behind!

 

[onipar]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/

I have done this one several times. It will knock you on your behind!

Very cool, thanks! I'm definitely going to give this one a try, but I'd also still like to make a straight forward hard cider. Are there any pictorial walk throughs like they have for AG and partial mashes. Or just a good, tried and true recipe?

Thanks!

 

[bpm2000]

I would read the yeast/cider experiments sticky - that will give you what you need to figure out how to make a sweet, still cider with no backsweetening, and the how and whys of the process.

 

[onipar]

I would read the yeast/cider experiments sticky - that will give you what you need to figure out how to make a sweet, still cider with no backsweetening, and the how and whys of the process.

Thanks! Yeah, i did read through a lot of that thread. I think it was a bit too dense for me, just starting out and all. The list of all the types of yeasts is nice, and gives good explanations, but I didn't see much in the way of a simple process and recipe.

So far, from everything I've read, it seems like I should buy some cider and add maybe a pound of sugar to each gallon, add a yeast of my choice, and ferment until it reaches my desired FG, then rack and age.

I'm still not too sure about bottling (if they might explode). That thread mentioned racking with certain yeasts stops fermentation, but I was under the impression there is always yeast in suspension. And there's the sticky on pasteurizing your bottles, I think that's only if I were to carbonate.

Thanks again for the mention. Seems like cider making is harder than I thought.

 

[thisone]

for my first batch, I used the Nottingham dry yeast and pasteurized cider. I was attempting to make sparkling cider, but after racking to secondary then bottling, nothing happened. the yeast had stopped fermenting, despite there being enough sugar to carbonate the cider and (perhaps dead) yeast that flocculated to the bottom of the bottle.

so in hindsight, I'm guessing that I could have crashed at any gravity and had a good still cider

 

[onipar]

for my first batch, I used the Nottingham dry yeast and pasteurized cider. I was attempting to make sparkling cider, but after racking to secondary then bottling, nothing happened. the yeast had stopped fermenting, despite there being enough sugar to carbonate the cider and (perhaps dead) yeast that flocculated to the bottom of the bottle.

so in hindsight, I'm guessing that I could have crashed at any gravity and had a good still cider

Thanks for your insight. That interesting how that happens, but I guess it is really helpful for attaining a sweetness/dryness specific to your taste.

So I can ferment out, checking the hydro readings till it gets where I want it, then rack to secondary and let age, then bottle with no worry about exploding bottles?

Cool cool. :rockin:

 

[thisone]

I haven't had any problems with it, but my cider was in secondary for a couple of months and in bottles for only a little over one month (that kind of stuff doesn't last long in my house). I didn't get any bombs, but be safe about it anyway

 

[bpm2000]

Thanks for your insight. That interesting how that happens, but I guess it is really helpful for attaining a sweetness/dryness specific to your taste.

So I can ferment out, checking the hydro readings till it gets where I want it, then rack to secondary and let age, then bottle with no worry about exploding bottles?

Cool cool. :rockin:

This doesn't seem to work for all yeast, which again that sticky is good for referring to. I would also not rely on just the rack, but a prior cold crash to make sure you get that yeast out of suspension before racking if you are trying to stop fermentation. It may take another rack to stabilize - you could test with a plastic bottle.

Making straightforward cider really is simple - just pitch yeast into apple juice and wait. The sweet part is what makes it a bit more difficult. I've done a couple of 1-gallon batches using the cold crash/rack method explained in the sticky (with nottingham and S04) and they have worked out well, plus you retain the natural sweetness without needing to backsweeten an apple-hooch base.

 

[onipar]

Yeah, I'm slowly starting to realize that if I just put cider, sugar, and yeast in a carboy, let ferment, rack to secondary and age, I'd be all set with an easy albeit dry hard cider.

I'm starting to think I may have to do this the first time, just to get an easy cider out of the way.

It's just that I don't want the final product to taste like wine, you know? I'd like it to be a darker, apple-flavored hard cider. I'm not too stuck on it being *very* sweet. Just as long as it's not bone dry.

I found that list of recipes on the site and have been looking through them. Maybe I'll find something there too.

 

[Foomoochoo]

I ferment dry and backsweeten with splenda for the wife. I like a dry cider.

I would ferment dry then backsweeten. Helps relieve the worries about bottle bombs and is the easiest way I know of to make a sweet cider.

For a still cider you could use "Wine Conditioner" after fermentation. It will stabilize and sweeten the cider.

You could use potassium sorbate after fermentation and backsweeten with apple juice concentrate. Usually 1 can for a 5g batch for not too sweet not too dry. Adds some apple flavor as well.

For a sweet carbed cider, ferment dry, backsweeten to taste with splenda or lactose, then use Coopers carb drops when bottling.

 

[jcobbs]

I've been making very basic still dry ciders with just AJ and ale yeast. They taste quite nice to me and only require a couple of months at most to age. Should be easy to sweeten with some non fermentable such as splenda, xylitol, or wine conditioner. I'm sure carbing would be nice but for now my goal is tasty-but-easy. Can't get much easier than pitch, shake, wait, drink.

 

[onipar]

I don't think I want to carb either. I found an interesting recipe using molasses and black tea that I might give a try. It was under the recipe list on this site.

 

[NiteBeest]

Traditional cider is just the juice and yeast. Just a quick note on the 1 lb of sugar to 1 gallon of juice... this is going to give you closer to an apple wine. I've done it a couple times with DV-10 and it has fermented dry to around 12%. Another option would to be bumping the SG with some sugar prior to fermentation and ferment out with a sweet mead yeast that will leave a couple points of residual sweetness in the finished product.

 

[onipar]

Thanks everybody for the guidance.

After looking through some recipes, I think I have settled on brewing Branden O's Graff.

When i first read the ingredients, I got turned off thinking it was going to be a beer flavored cider, but after closer examination, it seems like the wort is there mostly to balance out the flavors to create a slightly sweet cider. At least, that's what it sounds like.

The one thing I sort of don't like is that it is carbonated, but it seems like a very popular recipe, so i might give that one a go.

Any positive or negative experiences with that brew?

 

[seabass07]

If you use a low alcohol tolerant yeast and push the sugar levels past what it can handle, you should end up with a sweet cider. IOW if you use an ale yeast that can tolerate up to 10%, mess around with the OG until you will end up with enough residual sweetness when it reaches above the alcohol tolerance of the yeast. I did this as an experiment and I'll see how it turns out in another week.

I used half a gallon of unfiltered apple juice and .75lbs of sugar caramelized with a little bit of the juice. The OG was around 1.110. The yeast should give up around 1.015 at 12.5%ABV. I used pacman yeast which is tolerant of up to 12%. Unfortunately the real tolerance isn't exact.

Anyone else use this method?

 

[cameronf]

hey i made this recipe it has been bottled for about 3 months now and it still tastes nasty its dry and tart it tasts alot like a dry whit wine what did i do wrong
this was my first try im sure it was me not the recipe

 

[NiteBeest]

@Cameron: What recipe did you use? And define nasty... dry and tart are how most ciders are going to ferment out. If you want a sweeter cider, back sweeten or use a yeast and enough sugar where you will get residual sugar.

@Seabass: Make sure you don't push your yeast to the point of getting off flavors. Sounds like it should work... be curious to see how it turns out.

@Onipar: I've heard (read) good things about that recipe. Planning a 5 gallon batch in the very near future. I'm wondering how it would taste still though. Don't have a kegging setup and haven't gotten around to getting bottles/caps yet. Just been re-bottling in my 1 gallon containers the apple juice comes in.

 

[onipar]

@Cameron: What recipe did you use? And define nasty... dry and tart are how most ciders are going to ferment out. If you want a sweeter cider, back sweeten or use a yeast and enough sugar where you will get residual sugar.

@Seabass: Make sure you don't push your yeast to the point of getting off flavors. Sounds like it should work... be curious to see how it turns out.

@Onipar: I've heard (read) good things about that recipe. Planning a 5 gallon batch in the very near future. I'm wondering how it would taste still though. Don't have a kegging setup and haven't gotten around to getting bottles/caps yet. Just been re-bottling in my 1 gallon containers the apple juice comes in.

Yeah, I'm also wondering what recipe Cameron is referencing?

Nitebeest, it does sound like a good recipe, but having never even made a regular hard cider, I am a little worried. I didn't really want a carbonated cider, but it sound like making a sweet cider is pretty tough, and the Graff is supposed to have a bit more sweetness and body than a normal cider.

Seabass, that sounds like an interesting way to go, but my being so new at cider, I'd probably want to just follow a recipe the first time to make sure I don't mess up.

 

[seabass07]

Seabass, that sounds like an interesting way to go, but my being so new at cider, I'd probably want to just follow a recipe the first time to make sure I don't mess up.

That's why I made a half gallon batch with yeast I already had lying around. I'm pretty new to it as well.

 

[onipar]

That's why I made a half gallon batch with yeast I already had lying around. I'm pretty new to it as well.

Not a bad idea. I might try that. Thanks!

 

[cameronf]

I was referring to mcgraffs slightly hopped apple cider and it tasted like a bitter dry white wine you the cheap crap u get in a box I keep hoping it will get better with age but its still nasty it does get u pretty hammered if you can make it though 2 bottles of it though lol

 

[Gatoreye]

Thanks everybody for the guidance.

After looking through some recipes, I think I have settled on brewing Branden O's Graff.

When i first read the ingredients, I got turned off thinking it was going to be a beer flavored cider, but after closer examination, it seems like the wort is there mostly to balance out the flavors to create a slightly sweet cider. At least, that's what it sounds like.

The one thing I sort of don't like is that it is carbonated, but it seems like a very popular recipe, so i might give that one a go.

Any positive or negative experiences with that brew?

That's a good one to start with, I was happy the way mine turned out. I'm getting ready to start another batch......be carefull with the hopps they will shine through when the graff is green

 

[onipar]

Just an update: A couple weeks ago I brewed Brandon O's Graff. I put one gallon of it into a separate 2 gallon bucket for a test batch. I'm planning on pouring a gallon of cider directly on top of the yeast cake left behind in the 2 gallon bucket (when the graff is bottled) and simply letting it ferment out, cold crash, rack to a gallon jug, age, then bottle "still".

I *may* add some apple juice concentrate or splenda to it before bottling, if it tastes too dry.

That's the plan anyway.

 

[NiteBeest]

Just a heads up... If you backsweeten with apple juice concentrate you may want to stabilize first because the yeast can kick back up. People have been known to backsweeten/bottle carb with concentrate. Splenda on the other hand isn't fermentable so if you just want to sweeten up the finished product without stabilizing prior to bottling this would be the way to go.

 

[onipar]

Just a heads up... If you backsweeten with apple juice concentrate you may want to stabilize first because the yeast can kick back up. People have been known to backsweeten/bottle carb with concentrate. Splenda on the other hand isn't fermentable so if you just want to sweeten up the finished product without stabilizing prior to bottling this would be the way to go.

Thanks, Nitebeest! I'd hate to have bottle bombs.

Now, if the concentrate has Potassium Sorbate, wouldn't that keep it from fermenting again? I'm not planning on carbonating, so I don't much mind if the yeast are killed.

Although using the concentrate as priming sugar sounds kind of cool. I don't suppose there are any amounts/weights of how much to use for volumes of co2, are there?

 

[NiteBeest]

From what I recall, if you're going to carbonate with sugar, then it is one ounce per gallon. If you are going to carbonate with concentrate, look at the package and see how many grams of sugar are in each ounce. You'll want to add 28-30 grams of sugar from the concentrate per gallon of cider. So if you're making a 5 gallon batch and the sugar content in the concentrate is 15g/oz then you'll want to add 2 oz of concentrate per gallon (or in this case 10 oz). If you are planning on kegging then I think you just do it at 2 volumes (roughly 10 psi at 45ºF).

If the concentrate has sorbate, then there is a chance it'll still carbonate. With the amount of sorbate that you'll be introducing into that size of a batch, not really sure if it'll do that much. If you don't want to worry about it starting up again I'd stick with Splenda or some other no fermentable sugar. That way there is no fuss... just add sugar, bottle, chill, and drink.

 

[NiteBeest]

Also you should check out Pappers stove top pasteurizing thread. He carbonates to where he wants it and then pasteurizes to make sure it doesn't continue. People also have done it when they backsweeten and don't want it to carbonate. Worth a shot to check out.

 

[onipar]

Great info, thanks so much! I'll probably stick with splenda or not back sweeten at all. I'll give it a taste before I decide, who knows, I might like it on the drier side.