Starting simple everyday cider with unacidified juice

[bubbas45]

Howdy, folks. I'm looking at this old post: Everyday Simplest Dry Cider
phug stated "For a 5 gallon batch, purchase 19 litres / 5 gallons of store brand/whatever is cheapest filtered, pasteurized apple juice with vit c added. Avoid the low acid juices."

The only cider I have access to is 100% apple juice, pasteurized, but with no added ingredients. What are the consequences, for this recipe, of not having cider with Vitamin C? How can I mitigate any such consequences?

I've been reading and searching the forum, but (being a noob) I haven't found anything that I could recognize as relevant.

thanks, bws

 

[Chalkyt]

I understand that vitamin C is added as an anti-browning/oxidizing agent so that the product doesn't end up a yucky colour when sitting on the supermarket shelf. So, it probably has no bearing on the quality of your cider. The reference to Low acid juice (most bought juice) is probably because when fully fermented all the sugar is gone and so the dominant taste is acid. Most "store" juice is for drinking and made out of eating apples which typically are low in acid. It is unlikely that any bottled juice will say what the acid level is. For cider, around 6g/L is the target.

The simple cider recipe above should work O.K. although my comments are 1. EC1118 can ferment robustly and "blow off" flavour especially if the fermentation temperature is high "low (temp) and slow (time) is the way to go" i.e 10C-15C for a few weeks is better than 20C-25C. for a week. 2, For conditioning (i.e. carbonation) you need about 10 grams (two teaspoons) of sugar per litre, so if you are adding AJ concentrate for conditioning as well as enhancing flavour you need to do the math.

The bought juice will probably result in a cider with an ABV of 5%-6% which will be quite tart and dry when fully fermented. You might find that different yeasts (TF6, AS2, M02, S04... I expect that others will chime in with their favourites) can leave just a touch of sweetness which would make your cider more palatable. Fully fermented dry cider with EC1118 can be a bit of a shock for first-timers,

Have fun!

 

[Zambezi Special]

Yeah, I agree.
Vitamin C is a preservative, meaning it won't have been preserved with sulfates (metabisulfate and others).
If it got sulfates or sulfites you'll struggle to get it to ferment.
I use packs of juice (with vitamin C) that are in the standard section of the supermarket. Not in the cooling.

In my experience, all ferment very dry. I happen to like that.
If you don't, then the easiest way is to add a little apple juice when pouring.

My juice has a sg of 1.040 (10% sugar!)
Many others are even higher...

 

[DaveC73]

There are two reasons you would want to avoid "low acid" (i.e. high pH) juices:

1) the resulting cider will taste "flabby", or have no bite to it
2) sulfites cannot do their job as a preservative/antimicrobial in a low acid (pH at or above 3.8) environment, leaving your cider susceptible to spoilage/infection.

The ascorbic acid (vit C) is really only added to keep the juice from going brown. It's an aesthetic thing for the consumer. If you're concerned that your juice might be low acid, I'd suggest that you get a pH meter and some malic acid. If the pH is too high for your liking, add a little malic acid (the acid in apples) a little at a time until you get to where you want/like it.

 

[bubbas45]

Thanks everyone for the awesome advice.
I just got a pH meter this week, for testing my elderberries.
I've been wanting to make cider for years. I reckon I have years of experimentation ahead of me. We have Harrison, Virginia, and Wickson crabapples and a Liberty apple planted that should start producing in a few more years. Likewise, many (too many) pear trees for perry, among other things. My wife bought me a Jaffrey press years ago that I used this fall for the first time to press Calloway crabs; I've got that super-tart juice in the freezer to try to make something out of.